Dirt on my mirror ! help

[Random-Rabbit]

Just a quick one ...

I noticed a dark mark through my viewfinder on my EOS, it dosn't appear int he pictures so I am guessing its dust or dirst on the mirror ?

anyway I'm off on hoiday in a few days so I'm undecided whether to attempt to clean it myself, have it done at a service centre or leave it till I get back ..

I have googled the cleaning process and watched the youtube vidsas I havent done it before but there seems to be a real mix of advice out there

some say dont even try and clean the mirror get it done professionally others say its easy get the kit and do it yourself ...

any thoughts ?

 

[Rojin]

If it's a speck of dust on the mirror just get yourself a rocket blower. Things only get a little bit trickier when you get into cleaning the sensor and to be honest that's pretty simple as well. (It does sound like you are getting the mirror and the sensor confused?)

 

[Random-Rabbit]

hhmm maybe, I thought marks on the images was dust ont he sensor ... this mark I have is in the viewfinder only but not on my pictures.

I was told that the mirror is specially treated to allow 40% of the light through to the AF and cleaning it can screw up this balance ...

thanks for the shout on the rocket blower .. I've never really new how effective that would be, suppose that can't hurt

 

[Stupot_]

It won't be on the mirror. It will be on the focus screen, most likely above it. Depending on what camera you have, this may be removable. If it's pro level, take it out, give it a blow and put it back. If it's not, leave it. It won't affect your pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf-4G4wGe-Y

 

[Random-Rabbit]

ahhh okay I will take a look, I have a 500D so a hobbiest body. not sure if that means the focus screen is fixed or not.

I will give it a blow but if it wont effect my shots then I will leave till after my vacation and if its reall still bugging me I'll send it into a service centre.

also I heard some horror storys online of people leaving dust on mirrors/focus screens and the dust dislodges and finds its way onto the sensor ... is that possible on the 500D
?

Thanks again for all your help

 

[Camoe]

Dont attempt cleaning ANYTHING inside your camera. Just take it to the nearest Cannon shop and get it done, it will be about £30

 

[Stupot_]

Yeh I don't think you can remove those easily.

As for horrer stories... It's only dust! The 500d self cleans, theres still probably some dust on it anyway. Take a picture of a white wall at f/22, open it in photoshop and bang up the levels. You may be surprised

EDIT:

Dont attempt cleaning ANYTHING inside your camera. Just take it to the nearest Cannon shop and get it done, it will be about £30

What? There's no harm in cleaning the sensor if you buy the right tools and know what you're doing.

 

[Cuchulain]

Dont attempt cleaning ANYTHING inside your camera. Just take it to the nearest Cannon shop and get it done, it will be about £30

Cannon shop? LOL

Anyway, ignore this advice, it's very easy to clean both your sensor and mirror, I'd get a sensor cleaning kit and do both with it.

 

[Rojin]

As for horrer stories... It's only dust! The 500d self cleans, theres still probably some dust on it anyway. Take a picture of a white wall at f/22, open it in photoshop and bang up the levels. You may be surprised

Doing this may cause tears! Seriously though carrying this out will show you how dirty your sensor is, and it is very straighforward to clean even for a meat handed Ox like me!

It is most likely a bit of dust on your mirror, take your lens off and have a look you can probably see it. A rocket blower will work fine in this instance, even if the fluff is on the underside of the focus screen (this is above the 45deg inclinde mirror). It may be above the focus screen or in the view finder assembly which can only be sorted by a service on the 500d. At the end of the day though it doesn't hurt anything so just enjoy taking pictures

 

[aztechnology]

ahhh okay I will take a look, I have a 500D so a hobbiest body. not sure if that means the focus screen is fixed or not.

I will give it a blow but if it wont effect my shots then I will leave till after my vacation and if its reall still bugging me I'll send it into a service centre.

also I heard some horror storys online of people leaving dust on mirrors/focus screens and the dust dislodges and finds its way onto the sensor ... is that possible on the 500D
?

Thanks again for all your help

You can hear my horror story if you like. It involves dust on the focus screen of a canon 400D, a blower brush and me. Ended up with a scratched focus screen, and a £120 bill for a replacement!

Now when the other half complains about a dust in the viewfinder, I tell her to put up with it.

 

[Side5wipe]

Same thing has happened to me as the op. i have quite a bit of dust in my view finder and cant get it out. I wont clean it myself, tbh its not that annoying once a get shooting.

 

[Stupot_]

You can hear my horror story if you like. It involves dust on the focus screen of a canon 400D, a blower brush and me. Ended up with a scratched focus screen, and a £120 bill for a replacement!

Now when the other half complains about a dust in the viewfinder, I tell her to put up with it.

You're not supposed to stab at it with the thing!

Anyway, if you're seeing dust, it's not on the mirror as I said before The mirror is too far out of focus. The focusing screen (clues in the name, geddit?!) is where everything converges and you get lovely crisp images, so if you're seeing dust then either give it a blow (ooh err), dismantly your camera and take the screen out (not advisable) or suck it up and live with it

 

[aztechnology]

You're not supposed to stab at it with the thing!

Anyway, if you're seeing dust, it's not on the mirror as I said before The mirror is too far out of focus. The focusing screen (clues in the name, geddit?!) is where everything converges and you get lovely crisp images, so if you're seeing dust then either give it a blow (ooh err), dismantly your camera and take the screen out (not advisable) or suck it up and live with it

It was with a blower brush! and I didn't touch it hard enough to even move the dust! When I took it to the shop for a fix I got lot's of helpfull "ooh yuou don't want to do that!" comments. Mostly from people who already had, and now won't again, like me.

 

[griffo_001]

Its do-able yourself, but don't use compressed air, and don't touch the focus screen, at all, ever, only use a rocket blower Don't feel confident take it to a local independent camera place, they can usual help