Cleaning question

maddog.mark

maddog.mark

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Mark
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I mistakenly posted this in Talk Photography, so if any Mods are here can they close that thread please:)

Anyway I have a lot of dust on what I believe is called the focussing screen on my 400d, by which I mean the glass(?) element above the mirror with the AF points printed on it. Apologies if this is the wrong description of the part.

I've tried cleaning it with a rocket blower with limited effect. What else can I use to clean it and is it one of those jobs where you really need to know what your doing?

Mark
 
If you can live with it I'd recommend just leaving it alone! it is very easy to make things much worse.

That said I have cleaned the focus screen successfully in situ on an old film camera. Plan A which worked quite well but didn't get everything off was a soft lens pen brush which I charged up to have some electrostatic attraction by blowing the bristles with canned air, then lightly touched it to the screen surface inside the camera body.

As a further measure I used the same method as i do for cleaning the sensor - swabs and pec pads - and that did get it completely clean. They need to be very nearly dry as you will have big problems if eclipse fluid can soak round/behind the screen.

Not tried something as fiddly as a 20D. If the 400 is similar there is a small cover plate held by screws that makes access to the screen difficult and would probably have to be removed.
 
Thanks Robert, I can live with it, just very noticeable when looking thru the viewfinder.
 
Doing a similar search myself, as a result of some dust I noticed yesteday.

I found this link on another thread.

http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning

But again, if it becomes a problem, I will touch it up in Photoshop, as I don't want to risk making the problem worse.
 
CCD or sensor cleaning is different to viewfinder cleaning that this thread is about. Dust you see through the viewfinder is usually on the ground glass screen at the top of the camera and gets covered up by the mirror when the picture is taken so will not have any effect on the picture.

My copperhill thread is here btw.
 
I have your problem too Mark, it's as if you need a small right-angled brush to get in there to clean it properly. I've tried umpteen places to find something suitable but with no luck so far.

If you find a way ... let me know

Gary
 
I watched a video on DSLR TV which gave out a good tip to use when changing lenses. He said to always point the camera down when you change a lens, that should stop falling dust from landing inside the camera.

I know it doesen't really help with your problem, but thought it was a handy tip to share (y)
 
Thanks for the comments folks, I've decided to live with it for the moment as it's not affecting the image, for the reasons outlined by Robert P.

I'm going to get the sensor cleaned later this year, I'll shell out a few quid for it to be done and see if they can clean the viewfinder at the same time.

Mark:)
 
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