DSLR mirror cleaning?

Silverstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2005
Messages
1,246
Location
Marion, Iowa
Car(s)
'11 Impreza STI Sedan
Well guys, the D40 has been great to me so far..but I am noticing I am getting specks on the mirror. I'm guessing it's mostly from when I am in the car switching out lenses while I am taking shots of storms, and though I am as quick as possible to switch..always those couple seconds that it's exposed.

I bought a rocket air for cleaning mirror and sensor it worked fine for the sensor, but now I have spots lingering on the mirror and it's getting a bit irritating. What should I use to clean it? I know focus wise it will not be bothered apart from a smudge on the mirror...but I haven't been able to pinpoint online a good solvent, cloth, kit to keep it clean.

Any help would be awesome!
 
If its on the mirror, dont bother. Unless its REALLY obvious. Remember the mirror is how you see through the lens, but when you press the shutter release, the mirror flips up, so the dust wont be on the photos. Of course, anything on the CCD/CMOS will be on the photos :)
 
Yeah, so I've heard. But unless the spots are really noticable, and distracts from day to day use, I wouldn't bother really. :)
 
Thanks for the replies. I keep telling myself the mirror's specks will never touch the sensor, but I keep thinking that the odd one will fall off the mirror an migrate to the shutter :p.

I'll see if my local camera shop has the Eclipse fluid, I'd hope they would. If and when I clean it, do I use a certain cloth? Or does the cleaner come with it's own cloth.

Thanks in advance for the replies, heading out to the lake to have a fun 4th and snap some good shots :thumbsup:
 
I'll see if my local camera shop has the Eclipse fluid, I'd hope they would. If and when I clean it, do I use a certain cloth? Or does the cleaner come with it's own cloth.

I generally use Pec Pads for cleaning with Eclipse, or Sensor Swabs if cleaning the sensor.
 
Best of luck Silverstar. Have a nice 4th. :)
 
I've never cleaned my sensor. :blush: I've had ma d50 for 1.5 years. There have been ocasional spots, but they go away in a while :D And I don't change lenses that often.

So, what's the best way to clean it. Buy that air blowing thingy or something else?

The thing is, I did not want to touch it myself, don't want to do something wrong. And the local Nikon dealer told me that they clean cameras, but If I heard him correctly, they replace the mirror too, and that would cost round 55EUR! And since I don't see any spots, I don't see a reason for doing it there.

So, I wan't to be able to do it myself. And when things get really messy, then I'll go to the dealer! :)
 
I like the look of this:

0502.jpg


http://www.flaghead.co.uk/pages/greenclean-products.html

Basically it's an aerosol can with an attachment on it to create a vacuum which sucks the dust off the sensor or mirror instead of blowing it away. No propellant residue.

They are quite expensive, nearly ?50 for a 400ml kit. But I suppose you could just buy your own air tins after this one is empty.
 
I always send mine away to a lab for a clean. It's much cheaper than you might expect. It only takes a few days at most. Some places will do it on the spot for you.
 
My D70 was so riddled with dust on the sensor it took me at least 15 minutes per image to clone out the spots. I researched most of the Do-It-Yourself solutions, but ended up just taking it to the local Nikon dealer and it came back spotless and has been ever since. Well worth the money.
 
I suspect they will do it if you ask them to. I would spend some time cleaning the body itself myself, though, as it's a nice little fiddly job with a small brush. I use a brush with one soft brush and one hard, the soft one to just brush off small dust from the camera itself, and the hard one to get into hard-to-get-at spots on the camera. Works like a charm.

Well, at least if they charge extra for cleaning the body itself. Then I'd do that job myself. But sensor and mirror, that's another story. :)
 
+1 for the DIY crowd.

I would recommend using a product like the Giottos Rocket Blower to get most of the stuff off. If that doesn't do the trick, then use the "wet method" with Pec Pads and Eclipse fluid. Many people refer to that as the "copper hill method".

A quick search on Google will give you the results you need for how to do the procedure. The mirror would be even easier than the sensor.

Good luck!
 
Top