Specs in Viewfinder?

[jjphotos]

I see little specs and squiggles on my Viewfinder but they don't affect the actual picture outcome. Any idea what that is? Maybe it's on the mirror?

 

[Light Guru]

Probably just dust in the viewfinder.

 

[Alexr25]

Probably just dust in the viewfinder.

Or to be more precise dust on the focusing screen. If it's on the underside you might be able to blow it off with a blower but if its on the top surface you would have to remove the focusing screen to clean it. Depending on the camera model this may be easy, hard and not worth the effort or impossible without a major strip down. In any case it isn't going to affect the image quality so the best approach IMO is train yourself to ignore the squiggles, take a page from Microsoft and think of them as a bonus feature.

 

[Derrel]

When looking through an SLR, you can never see specks on the mirror. Ever. Never ever.

You are seeing dust that is on the viewfinder screen, which is above the mirror. If your camera has an interchangeable viewfinder screen, you can unlock the clasp, remove the viewfinder screen, and clean it properly. Do some on-line investigating before trying anything, and NEVER, and I mean never-ever-ever-ever, try to clean the mirror. Leave the mirror alone, even if it's filthy. Blow it off with a bulb blower, but never touch it.

 

[astroNikon]

On my d7000 and d600 I haven't had to remove the viewfinder screen. I just use a bulb blower and blow up to it with the lens mount facing down. Blow several times to make sure things exit the camera body.

 

[jjphotos]

Probably just dust in the viewfinder.

Or to be more precise dust on the focusing screen. If it's on the underside you might be able to blow it off with a blower but if its on the top surface you would have to remove the focusing screen to clean it. Depending on the camera model this may be easy, hard and not worth the effort or impossible without a major strip down. In any case it isn't going to affect the image quality so the best approach IMO is train yourself to ignore the squiggles, take a page from Microsoft and think of them as a bonus feature.

When looking through an SLR, you can never see specks on the mirror. Ever. Never ever.

You are seeing dust that is on the viewfinder screen, which is above the mirror. If your camera has an interchangeable viewfinder screen, you can unlock the clasp, remove the viewfinder screen, and clean it properly. Do some on-line investigating before trying anything, and NEVER, and I mean never-ever-ever-ever, try to clean the mirror. Leave the mirror alone, even if it's filthy. Blow it off with a bulb blower, but never touch it.

On my d7000 and d600 I haven't had to remove the viewfinder screen. I just use a bulb blower and blow up to it with the lens mount facing down. Blow several times to make sure things exit the camera body.

Okay thanks for the advice! Would you say to just leave it alone if it doesn't affect the IQ?

 

[astroNikon]

it annoys me looking through the viewfinder.
So .. leave it if it doesn't bug you.