cleaning glass inside the body

[friviloususeofspace]

Hi,
Still pretty new to photography and (D)SLRs and all, especially to maintenance and such. I've got a Canon 20D and I've got a lot of specks in the pictures I take lately. There is an image attached and you can see what I'm talking about.

On another website, I found out about setting the camera to permit cleaning the sensor. I did it and found no improvement. I tried cleaning off the sensor or mirror that sits diagonally over the sensor (the part that gets locked away to reach the sensor) and that did nothing. Then I found what looks like frosted glass that sits perpendicular in a seat (it gets covered up when the sensor is revealed) that would be at the top of the sensor area and when I tried to reach it to clean, that seemed to move the smudges around.

I've been trying for an hour now to try to "clean" this glass and all I do is move dust. How do I get this part clean?

 

[memento]

you have to lock the mirror up to clean the sensor. there are cleaning kits you can buy on line to do it yourself or you can take/send it somewhere to get it 'professionally' cleaned; which is probably the best idea.. as it's pretty easy to scratch the sensor.
a rocket blower will get big stuff off, Amazon.com: Giottos AA1900 Rocket Air Blaster Large (Black): Camera & Photo

 

[friviloususeofspace]

memento,
Thanks. I figured out the sensor lock and I don't think it's the sensor that is the problem. I tried cleaning that and it made no difference. I think it's the frosted-looking glass seated in the "roof" of the sensor/mirror area that is holding dirt. I need help to figure out how to get that part cleaned.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

That part is more than likely the focusing screen, which doesn't come into play when taking a picture.

It's most likely there is still dirt on your sensor.

 

[tirediron]

That is definitely "sensor" dust; the focusing screen (that frosted glass "thing") isn't in the optical path when taking a picture. Contrary to popular belief, cleaning your own sensor is easy, and difficult to screw up. You should have a few tools though. My preference is for the Visible Dust line of products, in particular the Arctic Butterfly; it's a little pricey, but worth it.

First as mentioned get a Giottos rocket, DO NOT use one of those cheap blower bulbs with a built in brush. They're dust/lint traps. Remove the lens, and holding hte camera at a 45 angle with the lens opening pointing down, thoroughly blow out the mirror chamber. Now, lock up the mirror and clean off the sensor. Once you've blown off the "big chunks" use the Arctic Butterfly to clean off the small stuff.

If that doesn't work, then you'll need to go to a wet cleaning system, which is a little more difficult, but still easy to do. In ten years of digital photography, I've never had to use a wet cleaning system on any sensor.

Remember that you're not actually cleaning the sensor, you're cleaning the low-pass filter in front of the sensor which is usually made of mineral glass or other very tough material. It's actually quite difficult to scratch or damage. It is easy to get streaky if you **** up with a wet-cleaning system, but that's not permanent.

 

[friviloususeofspace]

TiredIron, thanks for your help! I will definitely look into those visible dust items.

 

[photoguyjoelb]

I also have a Canon 20d, and at one time I had spots on my prints as well. Although they did look a little different than your problem with my situation it was cleared up when I cleaned the back of the lens.

I really thought that it was a sensor problem as well, but it wasn't.
Just a thought and Good Luck!

 

[friviloususeofspace]

photoguyjoelb,
Thank you. There was a little bit of dust there. I cleaned it off pretty easily. However, there is one piece of dust that seems to have worked it's way between the first piece of glass in the back of the lens and the next layer of glass. NO IDEA how to remove that, or how it even got in there, but it doesn't seem to show up in any images, so I'm not too worried about it.