Dust in Viewfinder

I have an EOS Elan IIe film camera with dust visible in the viewfinder. Can this be removed by me or should it be cleaned by a camera shop or Canon USA instead? Thanks.

If the dust is trapped between the focusing screen and the penta-prism mirror, the focusing screen would need to be very carefully removed and cleaned with a few good burst of air from a foot pump blower, ideally.

How comfortable you would feel doing that versus letting an experienced service shop perform that chore will answer your question for you.

I have a 1DsMkII and have done this task myself with success but then the focusing screen on my camera comes off and back on with a fairly quick procedure. Your camera body may well have a more involved number of steps to accomplish that in terms of removing tiny screws and also needing the proper tool to grab the screen without scratching it...and they do scratch VERY easily. so please beware!

Cheers!

Thank you for your reply!

Dust in the viewfinder has absolutely nothing to do with the images the camera makes, it's merely a nuisance.

If the camera is in warranty, send it to Canon. If it's not, take it to a local camera repair shop if you can. This is a simple service item and shouldn't be a big expense.

Sorry, but the 1D-series focus screens are designed to be user interchangeable (as are 1V, EOS-3, 5D, 40/50D). I'd wager your camera's screen is *not* designed to be user changeable, so won't be simply a matter of snapping it open and using the right tool to remove it.

Besides, what you see in the viewfinder may or may not even be on the focus screen. It can be trapped elsewhere in the pentaprism assembly. Usually, if it looks in-focus, it is on the lower side of the focusing screen. And, if it looks fuzzy or out of focus, it's usually on the surface of the mirror.

These are far and away the most likely places for dust to settle, because they are exposed directly to the air around us whenever you remove the lens from the camera. Dust trapped above the focus screen, between it and the pentaprism assembly, or in other parts of the pentaprism assembly, is pretty unusual. It's more common on cameras with user interchangeable focus screens, in fact.

If you wish, you might try puffing on it with a bulb blower to see if you can dislodge the dust specks (don't used "canned air", it has a liquid propellant that can damage the mirror or focus screen). If this doesn't help, I'd recommend a trip to a local camera repair shop for a cleaning. Sure, you could try it yourself... But damage the very delicate mirror assembly or the shutter behind it and you'll have an expensive repair! The focus screen is also easily damaged, and might be pricey to repair if it involves a lot of labor replacing it.