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Posted by jay on June 14, 2002 at 12:27:29:
there is a lot of dust and debris when i look through my camera eyepiece / viewfinder making it difficult to focus at times. any tips on how to clean this? thanks
Posted by John Ayres on June 14, 2002 at 19:16:51:
If it's on the exterior of the viewfinder, a Q-tip and a drop of lens cleaner will do the trick. On SLR cameras it's usually the mirror that's dirty. You have to be really careful cleaning the mirror. It can easily be scratched or damaged. Use a lens brush, the type that has an air bulb on it. Try blowing the dust off with it. If you're careful you can clean it with a lens cloth. I clean mine by fogging the mirror with my breath, and GENTLY wiping it with a lens cloth. If it's the focusing screen that's dirty, leave the job to a professional repairman.
Editor's Note: most of the dust and particles observed in a 35mm camera viewfinder eyepiece are actually on the underside of the focusing screen and can be reached by removing the camera lens, turning the camera upside down, then using a small camel hair brush to brush the dust particles towards you and out of the camera. NEVER use a can of compressed air to clean the mirror housing because you will strip the silver particles right off the top-silvered mirror. If the mirror actually needs cleaning, this is really a job for a camera repair technician, but no fluid of any kind should be used on the mirror. Fogging the mirror with your breath is ok but some people tend to spit when they do this and will create a worse problem then what they started with.
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