1dX dust in viewfinder

[tx8koibito]

had a small dust on my viewfinder after using high speed mode........thought i could quickly blow out the dust with the rocketblower.....but to my surprise somehow that pushed dust right into the pentaprism....OOPSSS...!!!

Luckily I am a CPS GOLD member.........brought it back to Canon in Melbourne, they disassemble my camera to clean the dust as good will (free)......however they unable to clean the dust so they end up replacing a brand new pentaprism for free....that over $1000 worth of service right there...now my VF is spotless...!!!

I LOVE CPS....!!!

 

[Studio1930]

I have dry and wet cleaned my 1Ds3 and 1D4 (Arctic Butterfly as well). No problems but you really need to learn what you are doing (3 different wet solutions to do it right). I have not needed to clean the 1DX yet. The new sensor cleaner wave technology thingie is working like a champ. I saw some big particles on a few images and then they were gone probably due to turning off and on the camera which made it clean the sensor. ;D

 

[victorwol]

I have dry and wet cleaned my 1Ds3 and 1D4 (Arctic Butterfly as well). No problems but you really need to learn what you are doing (3 different wet solutions to do it right). I have not needed to clean the 1DX yet. The new sensor cleaner wave technology thingie is working like a champ. I saw some big particles on a few images and then they were gone probably due to turning off and on the camera which made it clean the sensor. ;D

Really? May be mine is not working... The before and after test I've done, always come the same dust wise... It's like the dust doesn't even move...

 

[Studio1930]

Doing a little cleaning...

 

[R1-7D]

I managed to change lenses a few times today and some dust must have blown into the camera. I had dust on both my sensor and focusing screen when I got home, despite trying to be careful.

I was able to get the dust off the sensor no problem, but the dust on the focusing screen turned out to be another issue altogether.

I took a rocker blower and tried to gently blow the dust out; unfortunately what happened was more dust got blown behind the glass leading to the pentaprism. There's no way to get to it.

Does anyone think it's worth taking the camera in to have it serviced, or is it something I should live with? There are I'd say at least 20-30 small particles.

 

[M.ST]

Use the CPS Service or the cleaning liquid from Visible Dust.

 

[Shawn L]

For those who have to send the camera away for cleaning, how do you pack it? And then how do you ship it (UPS, FedEx, next day, etc)?

I live in the bay area, and the closest Canon service is near LA.

I'll admit that physically sending my camera somewhere seems unsettling to me.

Thanks.

Shawn L.

 

[Loswr]

For those who have to send the camera away for cleaning, how do you pack it? And then how do you ship it (UPS, FedEx, next day, etc)?

I've never shipped a camera to Canon, but I've loaned a 7D to a friend. Wrap it in bubble wrap, then place that in a box large enough for a few inches of packing material on all sides. If sending to Canon, do not include anything but the camera (no battery, no strap, etc.), ship it with the body cap installed.

Ship UPS or FedEx so you can get a tracking number that means something (USPS reports delivery, but does not actually track regular shipments). Enter the proper declared value and pay the insurance.

 

[Shawn L]

Thank you, neuroanatomist.

Shawn L.

 

[Studio1930]

I have shipped several cameras to Canon. Keep in mind that you will need to insure the camera and when you are talking about an $$ body like the $8000 1Ds3 (back when it was $8K) or the 1DX, that gets very expensive. Lots of bubble wrap inside of lots of peanuts (pink non static) inside a box inside of a box. Body cap on, battery removed, memory cards removed. Not sent in original box.

 

[Shawn L]

Thanks, Darrin.

Shawn L.

 

[nightbreath]

I've experienced the same kind of issue with my copy. The only difference is that I've got only one irritating speckle in the viewfinder which is always noticeable. It doesn't look like dust, but Canon-authorized service center wants to charge $250 to remove the speckle. Official response from the service center is: "Dust and dirt in the block of mirrors due to careless use".

Attached image is a reproduction of how I remember the speckle (dark long line). Could anyone confirm that this is likely to be my fault or is there a chance that it is an internal oil / lubricant particle?

 

[nightbreath]

I've experienced the same kind of issue with my copy. The only difference is that I've got only one irritating speckle in the viewfinder which is always noticeable. It doesn't look like dust, but Canon-authorized service center wants to charge $250 to remove the speckle. Official response from the service center is: "Dust and dirt in the block of mirrors due to careless use".

Attached image is a reproduction of how I remember the speckle (dark long line). Could anyone confirm that this is likely to be my fault or is there a chance that it is an internal oil / lubricant particle?

Anyone?

 

[Nazareth]

that almsot looks like a fiber of soem kind- kinda hard to tell though from small photo- most likely oil spots or particle spots from the defective mirror box assembly would be rounder- although an oil splotch could smear out liek that- but it does rather look liek a fiber of soem kind-

 

[mrsfotografie]

Today I noticed some black specs in the viewfinder of my new 5D Mark III. I decided to take a relatively powerful rocket blower to the focusing screen and blow them away, but it was no use. In fact it seems a little worse and now there is a tiny hair lodged in one corner. Not really very noticeable but still, I hate it when new equipment turns out not to be 'perfect'. I compared the situation to the viewfinder of my Mk II and it, too has some black specs that built up over the years (it was perfectly clean when I got it). The situation in both camera's is now similar save the little tiny hair in the Mk III and I know now that I should leave it as there is a change I might make it worse, after all it's not possible to take the focusing screen out of the Mk III and I'm afraid I'll blow the tiny hair further into the viewfinder (it may be behind the focusing screen already). Just go out and shoot, and accept the inevitability of dust building up in the camera despite careful use... But still I feel the pain...

 

[Sporgon]

Today I noticed some black specs in the viewfinder of my new 5D Mark III. I decided to take a relatively powerful rocket blower to the focusing screen and blow them away, but it was no use. In fact it seems a little worse and now there is a tiny hair lodged in one corner. Not really very noticeable but still, I hate it when new equipment turns out not to be 'perfect'. I compared the situation to the viewfinder of my Mk II and it, too has some black specs that built up over the years (it was perfectly clean when I got it). The situation in both camera's is now similar save the little tiny hair in the Mk III and I know now that I should leave it as there is a change I might make it worse, after all it's not possible to take the focusing screen out of the Mk III and I'm afraid I'll blow the tiny hair further into the viewfinder (it may be behind the focusing screen already). Just go out and shoot, and accept the inevitability of dust building up in the camera despite careful use... But still I feel the pain...

This is inevitable with a fixed screen camera. Rule of thumb: if the dust is dark and sharp it's on the inside, if it's soft and blurred it's on the outside. Gentle blowing may dislodge it from the outside; aggressive blowing can push it inside. Brushing the screen with a lens brush can charge the screen with static turning it into a dust magnet.
One of the little camera vacuum cleaners is best. Dust in a modern DSLR is to be avoided, not because of the screen, where it has no effect, but you don't want a dusty AF sensor.

I much prefer cameras that have user interchangeable screens for this reason. They get dirt on the inside of the screen more quickly but at least you can whip it out and give it a blow. With a fixed screen camera you just have to ignore dust specs on the inside and then maybe have the camera cleaned by a proper service centre every year or so.

 

[mrsfotografie]

Today I noticed some black specs in the viewfinder of my new 5D Mark III. I decided to take a relatively powerful rocket blower to the focusing screen and blow them away, but it was no use. In fact it seems a little worse and now there is a tiny hair lodged in one corner. Not really very noticeable but still, I hate it when new equipment turns out not to be 'perfect'. I compared the situation to the viewfinder of my Mk II and it, too has some black specs that built up over the years (it was perfectly clean when I got it). The situation in both camera's is now similar save the little tiny hair in the Mk III and I know now that I should leave it as there is a change I might make it worse, after all it's not possible to take the focusing screen out of the Mk III and I'm afraid I'll blow the tiny hair further into the viewfinder (it may be behind the focusing screen already). Just go out and shoot, and accept the inevitability of dust building up in the camera despite careful use... But still I feel the pain...

This is inevitable with a fixed screen camera. Rule of thumb: if the dust is dark and sharp it's on the inside, if it's soft and blurred it's on the outside. Gentle blowing may dislodge it from the outside; aggressive blowing can push it inside. Brushing the screen with a lens brush can charge the screen with static turning it into a dust magnet.
One of the little camera vacuum cleaners is best. Dust in a modern DSLR is to be avoided, not because of the screen, where it has no effect, but you don't want a dusty AF sensor.

I much prefer cameras that have user interchangeable screens for this reason. They get dirt on the inside of the screen more quickly but at least you can whip it out and give it a blow. With a fixed screen camera you just have to ignore dust specs on the inside and then maybe have the camera cleaned by a proper service centre every year or so.

Thanks, I guess I have to accept it as is; am just a little mad at myself trying to resolve the issue by blowing onto the focus screen and now have made it a little worse. Should have consulted the forum before but treated the situation like it was my 5D2.

My 7D also has no interchangeable screen but I never felt it had dirt to the extent that I wanted to try to remove it; that camera however has a little speck of dust behind the rear lens of the viewfinder. On my 5D2 which has an interchangeable focus screen It was completely clean when I bought it and then managed to install my precision matte screen without any dust entrapment so with that camera at least my need for 'perfection' was satisfied when it was new.

At least the shutter is normally closed when you take off the lens and use a blower inside the camera, so I hope my sensor is still clean.

 

[Canonite]

Why don't you just remove the screen, clean it and reinstall it?

Here are instructions on how to remove the screen.

http://www.focusingscreen.com/work/5d3en.htm

 

[mrsfotografie]

Why don't you just remove the screen, clean it and reinstall it?

Here are instructions on how to remove the screen.

http://www.focusingscreen.com/work/5d3en.htm

Thanks, but that's the type of extensive operation I prefer to keep until it becomes absolutely necessary to clean the screen...

 

[nightbreath]

Why don't you just remove the screen, clean it and reinstall it?

Here are instructions on how to remove the screen.

http://www.focusingscreen.com/work/5d3en.htm

According to the feedback from service center particles are in the mirror box, not on the focusing screen.