can we clean our mirrors?

[OceanRider]

hey all, can anybody tell me if they have had any luck cleaning their mirror in the DSLR's? Mine came back form Canon with very small spots (like spit) on one side of the mirror. I just got my pec pad and cleaning solution so I was thinking I might be able to gently clean it.

Any advice??

Joel

[tim]

Pec pads an eclipse worked fine for me - just be very, very gentle. It's not recommended, so I have to suggest that you only do it if you're confident, and it's at your own risk.

[PhotosGuy]

It's a front-silvered mirror & it's VERY delicate! Best to live with it, or return it for repair.

[OceanRider]

Will it move if you press to hard? Whats the danger with them? I am pretty handy,and feel I could do this, but I am not sure what the danger is. Does the mirror float, move..? How is the tech going to clean it? Does spot on the mirrow affect anything?


I am sick of running to Canon for all this (sensor, dust) blaa bla. Man my point and shoot digital and and my slr film were so simple!
:evil:

[kb244]

I just used the same speckgrabber I used for my sensor, and I dabbed it accross the mirror, but also you gota look up above the mirror typically the dust is up there and not on the mirror that hangs down, also there seems to be a lil mirror behind the big one, but dabbing the speckgrabber got it.

[CaseyScofield]

I have to suggest that you only do it if you're confident, and it's at your own risk.

I have to agree with Tim. I tried my best to clean the mirror on my old ElanII (in the middle of a nature photography workshop mind you:confused: ) don't do it yourself unless you are confident...and very very gentle.

I cleaned it well enough to get through the workshop..but I had it professionaly cleaned when I returned back home. I won't even attempt it with my DSLR...I figure a professional can do it much better than I.:)

[Jesper]

Having a clean mirror is also not so important as having a clean sensor - a dirty mirror doesn't give you dust spots in your images. So unless dust and dirt on the mirror shows in the viewfinder and annoys you so that you can't make a good photo, don't clean the mirror, or just use a blower to blow off the dust very gently.

[tim]

I'm easily annoyed, enough so that I cleaned my mirror with eclipse, as I said earlier. No problems at all, but like I said, try it at your own risk, knowing if you b*gger it up it'll cost you a fair bit to have the mirror replaced.

[OceanRider]

when you say "bugger it up" what the heck does that mean? Does the silver coating come off? Does it move? Scratch? Misalign....what can we do to it to screw it up? BTW Thanks for the advice so far.

[Andy_T]

I think all of the things you mentioned, with the potential of ruining it :cry:

From all I've read, the mirror is MUCH MORE DELICATE than the sensor!

The silver coating can come off easily and it can easily be scratched ... making it more difficult for you to see in the viewfinder, and maybe leading to light leaks.

If you misalign it, then the AF won't work properly any longer, because it is part of the AF system.

If it came back from cleaning with the spot on, I'd raise hell over having it cleaned again and returned to you in good state.

Best regards,
Andy