Noob question: Is it advisable to clean the mirror by yourself?

[noobie]

Today, when I unmount my lens I noticed there are specks of dust lying on the mirror of my DSLR. Is it advisable to just use a swab and lightly wipe the dust off? My concern is I may "spoil" the mirror inadventently. (e.g the angle might change or the mirror surface might get damage...etc.). Thanks.

 

[night86mare]

Simply put, only do it if you have enough confidence. If you are jittery then the above scenarios that you describe will come to reality more easily because of the psychological barrier.

Be gentle, and nothing will go wrong. The dude at Orient Photo whipped out some cotton buds and started cleaning my mirror when I told him the focussing screen was dirty, so I guess there's no real issue.

Another point would be that you might want to consider using a blower first, it is generally the safest thing to use on your body. And if it ain't broken don't fix it. If the dust on the mirror is not causing much problems, leave it alone.

Same goes for other stuff like dust on your sensor. If it's one small speck that is only clearly visible at apertures smaller than f/22.. Leave it alone, hehe!

 

[noobie]

thanks night86mare, however won't blowing the mirror with a blower increase the risk of inadventently getting more dust into your sensor becasue you may unknowingly blowing dust into the body leh.... oh well, maybe I am paranoid but dun you think it is possible?

 

[night86mare]

thanks night86mare, however won't blowing the mirror with a blower increase the risk of inadventently getting more dust into your sensor becasue you may unknowingly blowing dust into the body leh.... oh well, maybe I am paranoid but dun you think it is possible?

Well, dust is an inherent problem for all DSLR users, and you'd have to get dust cleaning tools for sensor sooner or later.

In a sense, yes, I think it would. But nothing that a good sensor brush won't solve, really.

And besides, simply taking out your lens would already be increasing the chances of your sensor's exposure to dust so.. Well, it's just part and parcel of using a DSLR, I guess. =/ You can minimise, but you can't stem it completely.

 

[cantaresg]

The only danger in cleaning the mirror yourself is the risk of misaligning the mirror, I think. That is, apart from the risk of getting more dust. In any case, this will cause view that you get from the viewfinder to be less accurate.

 

[noobie]

Right, that is exactly my concern. So means that let the mirror accumulate more dust until to a point that it affects your picture badly then send in to canon for cleaning?

 

[denniskee]

The only danger in cleaning the mirror yourself is the risk of misaligning the mirror, I think. That is, apart from the risk of getting more dust. In any case, this will cause view that you get from the viewfinder to be less accurate.

wah, the mirror would have fallen out from the holding bracket 1st, if using cotton bud to clean can cause misalignment of the mirror.

Right, that is exactly my concern. So means that let the mirror accumulate more dust until to a point that it affects your picture badly then send in to canon for cleaning?

dirt on mirror dust not affect the picture. to find out why, pls go to library to borrow photography books for beginner, they have pictures of the slr construction and the basic operation.

 

[Denosha]

Dun get ur mirror alignment out or damaged. My 300D has a misaligned mirror (the viewfinder is no longer accurate) and Canon wants $250+ to replace the whole mirror assembly. Zzz.

 

[cantaresg]

The only thing that the mirror can cause any effect is the view on the viewfinder. Not picture quality. I think the mirror mechanism is quite delicate. As far as I'm concerned, I don't use anything more than a blower to blow the dust off the mirror. It's better be safe than sorry. Haha.

 

[scenar]

Right, that is exactly my concern. So means that let the mirror accumulate more dust until to a point that it affects your picture badly then send in to canon for cleaning?

Mirror won't affect image quality... actually, are you referring to dust in the viewfinder?

In either case, won't be a problem with the image.

I use a blower for everything, viewfinder dust n sensor dust. Works good for me. I don't shoot @ any aperture smaller than f8-f11 most of the time though

 

[ExplorerZ]

I use normal artist brush to dust off the dust... :embrass:

 

[fatigue]

Simply put, only do it if you have enough confidence. If you are jittery then the above scenarios that you describe will come to reality more easily because of the psychological barrier.

Be gentle, and nothing will go wrong. The dude at Orient Photo whipped out some cotton buds and started cleaning my mirror when I told him the focussing screen was dirty, so I guess there's no real issue.

Another point would be that you might want to consider using a blower first, it is generally the safest thing to use on your body. And if it ain't broken don't fix it. If the dust on the mirror is not causing much problems, leave it alone.

Same goes for other stuff like dust on your sensor. If it's one small speck that is only clearly visible at apertures smaller than f/22.. Leave it alone, hehe!

I agree with night86mare.

You can also to do some practice before cleaning actual the camera.
Try practicing on a simple glass.