Dust on or in camera

[abaddon07]

Hello,

I have a Canon 5D and I noticed the other day that there is some dust or specks when I look though the viewfinder. I have taken several test shots and there are no visibile marks on the image itself. I have tried another lens but I still see the marks. I have cleaned the camera and the lenses as a precaution but this has not worked. I still can see the tiny black spots. Is it possible that dust has gotten into the viewfinder? I figure it is not on the sensor or lenses because it does not show in my photos. I also cleaned and there is no improvement.

I would hate to bring it in to be serviced for a sensor cleaning if I don't have to. Any advice?

 

[dsp921]

Could be in the viewfinder or on the mirror. If it was on the sensor you'd see it in the images and not through the viewfinder.

 

[Big Mike]

When you look into the viewfinder, you are looking into the mirror and out the lens. Dust on the lens will probably not be clearly visible. Clearly visible dust is most likely on the mirror on the viewfinder. The mirror flips up and out of the way, when the shutter is fired, so dust on the mirror or viewfinder will not appear in the image. Dust in the viewfinder is annoying and fairly common. I'm not sure of the best way to remove it.

Dust on the sensor will appear in the image...probably as small, grayish spots that are noticeable in clear areas like blue sky....especially at smaller apertures. Cleaning the sensor is not really all that hard and it's not as easy to damage as some people will tell you. Google will help you find many products and techniques for sensor cleaning. I've never had any dust spots that I couldn't get rid of with a small blower bulb.

 

[abaddon07]

Thanks. I do have a bulb blower and cleaned the sensor by following the manual. I did some test shots and everything seems fine. It's likely then that it is on the mirror or somehow lodged on the viewfinder. I also forgot to mention that I have been using the mirror lockup for some of my tripod landscape shots so it is possible that this could be a factor in the dust gathering.

In either case I will try to research how to remove dust from the viewfinder and see if I can find anything.

Thanks for all of your help.

p.s. - if dust in the viewfinder is fairly common then do people go around using their cameras with specks and spots in their line of sight?

 

[Big Mike]

The mirror flips up every time...so using MLU shouldn't make a difference in how much dust gets in there.

Dust on the mirror can be carefully blown or dusted off...but don't try to clean any marks off...the mirror is quite delicate. Dust in the viewfinder, unless there is a lot, can usually be ignored. I know that it's hard to ignore...especially on a $3000 camera...but it's not really hurting anything (besides your sanity ).

You can take off the eye cup and clean the outer surface of the viewfinder window...but cleaning the penta-prism or focus screen would be more involved. Someone else might have a better answer than me...or you could call Canon and see what they say.

 

[abaddon07]

Good point about the mirror.

Thanks. I'll probably just stick it out for now. Thinking about cleaning that stuff myself seems downright silly at this point! I will wait until things get too annoying to deal with and then I'll send it in. I just read on the internet that under warranty Canon does your first cleaning for free (if it's in the first year). I'm not sure if that's true or not but I'll be checking on that.

Thanks for your help and your time!

p.s. - are you a big Oilers fan?

 

[Big Mike]

p.s. - are you a big Oilers fan?

How did you guess

I went to a Pre-season game last night...they are looking good this year.

 

[abaddon07]

How did you guess

I went to a Pre-season game last night...they are looking good this year.

I guess I'm just psychic!

They do have a good team. I'm about a half hour outside of Philly so I'm a big Flyers fan. In fact, as a kid I went to the Stanley Cup finals against that amazing Oilers team with Gretzky, Kurri, Messier, Coffey, Fuhr (the list goes on and on!)

I can't wait for the season to start again!

 

[Big Mike]

I go to about half the games during the season...but I went to every playoff game during the run they had last year. My wife certainly wasn't happy about how much I spent on tickets...but man, what a ride.

 

[abaddon07]

I go to about half the games during the season...but I went to every playoff game during the run they had last year. My wife certainly wasn't happy about how much I spent on tickets...but man, what a ride.

Yeah, I'm hoping the Flyboys can do something this season but I'm not counting on it. Something always seems to go wrong. I worry about their defense and or course.....Forsberg's health.

I don't blame you for spending the dough. I would have done the same!