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Posted by Mike Graham on April 12, 2000 at 04:53:14:
In Reply to: Mirror cleaning posted by Kerry on April 11, 2000 at 20:06:38:
Kerry,
it's not that it's really a secret, but I suspect those who've put railroad tracks in their SLR mirrors never own up to it, and those who succeed in cleaning their mirrors keep quiet about it!
Problem number one: the mirror is front-silvered and VERY sensitive to scratching. Problem number two: No matter how often you clean the mirror, you'll always get dust on it again.
I use a DustOff pressure spray to blow the biggest rocks off the mirror, but I keep the jet at least 10 cm away from the surface to avoid driving particles into the silvered coating. The next stage is to get few cc's of Windex in a saucer, and have a whole box of Q-tips handy. Dab a Q-tip into the windex, letting it absorb just a half drop of Windex, and use it to wipe feft to right along one surface of the mirror. (OK, right to left works too...) Never use a Q-tip twice, (how many boxes of Q-tips can you buy for the price of having a new mirror fitted?) throw it away as soon as you've wiped. Don't put any pressure on the Q-tip, just let it travel gently over the surface. Move progressively along the mirror, and by the time you've used about twenty Q-tips, your mirror should reflect light again.
This is not an excercise you want to do every week, only when it's REALLY necessary, i.e. your viewfinder image is so degraded you can't see anything to focus on, and you think you've gone blind...
Mike
Editor's Note: I would not recommend using either of the above procedures. Pressurized canned air can actually blow the silver coating from the mirror and camera repair technicians recommend against its use in the mirror housing. Windex and all window cleaners contain alcohol and other solvents - do you want to dissolve the silver coating? If you can't remove the dust with a gentle touch of an anti-static brush, let a professional clean the mirror.
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