Dust/lint!!

Slinky0390

I noticed today that when I look through the viewfinder, it seems like there is one piece of lint smack dab in the middle of the viewfinder, its real focused too, not like dust or lint that I'm used to. It doesn't show up in the final picture so I'm not too concerned, but I am anal, real anal. I tried a blower but to no avail. Could the mirror or something else be scratched :scratch .

ziggy53

Probably some lint up on the viewfinder ground glass. If you turn the camera upside down and look inside you can probably see the viewfinder more easily. Use care since most viewfinders use plastic elements. A static brush works pretty well (with a light touch) as does a blower, but the blower might leave something that big inside the camera.

Also be extremely careful not to scratch the mirror.

Slinky0390

Ive tried a blower and a soft brush up on the viewfinder glass but the lint or whatever it is simply won't move or get blown off. I dont want to do any damage to the camera so I'm being super super gentle. And just out of curiosity, what would happen if the mirror were to get scratched?

pathfinder

The mirror, in a DSLR, is a front surface mirror - that is the silver reflecting surface is on the top of the glass facing the real world, not hidden behind the glass like most mirrors in your bathroom. That sliver surface is easily scratched, and if scratched, short of sending the camera back to factory service for an expensive replacement, there is nothing you can do to fix it. But you will get to see the scratch every time you look through the viewfinder.

Try not to be too uptight about a little bit of dust or hair in your viewfinder - it will not be in your images, and you can make things worse by trying too hard to fix it. A gentle camel's hair brush or a rocket blower are usually the best choices for the ground glass screen. You do not want to touch your mirror at all.

Slinky0390

Hm, idk, I've been using the upmost care to avoid touching the mirror. I'm going to give up with trying to clean the viewfinder glass so I don't accidently come into contact with the mirror. Will a scratched mirror have any ill effects on the camera?

ziggy53

Slinky0390 wrote:

... Will a scratched mirror have any ill effects on the camera?

Part of the mirror is only partially silvered and allows some of the image to pass to a secondary mirror and then to the autofocus block. If you were to scratch that portion it could conceivably affect autofocus.

Slinky0390

Well the camera is still working fine so I'm not going to worry. Thanks though

Slinky0390

Miracles happen, I just picked up my camera and the dust or lint or whatever it was, was there in the view finder, I clicked a few pictures, viola, no more annoying line/lint/whatever in the viewfinder. Still a little dust, but it's whatever, it doesn't show up in the final photo. Thanks for the input guys!

Scott_Quier

Slinky0390 wrote:

Miracles happen, I just picked up my camera and the dust or lint or whatever it was, was there in the view finder, I clicked a few pictures, viola, no more annoying line/lint/whatever in the viewfinder. Still a little dust, but it's whatever, it doesn't show up in the final photo. Thanks for the input guys!

Which would give me to think that it (whatever "it" is) is somewhere in the mirror box. I would be strongly tempted to use the rocket-blower and give the mirror box a good once-over to flush that stuff out. Of course, do this with the camera facing down so as to allow the stuff to fall out of mirror box and not onto the shutter, etc.

Slinky0390

Scott_Quier wrote:

Which would give me to think that it (whatever "it" is) is somewhere in the mirror box. I would be strongly tempted to use the rocket-blower and give the mirror box a good once-over to flush that stuff out. Of course, do this with the camera facing down so as to allow the stuff to fall out of mirror box and not onto the shutter, etc.

I did eventually pull the lens off and gave it some bursts of air with the rocket.