[bonfireheart]

Hey guys! So I will probably ask series of very dumb questions but I am a beginner so bear with me (please).

I have recently cleaned my K-3's mirror with a regular Lenspen (originally intended for lens cleaning). The Lenspen I own has got a dry dust removal brush and a carbon cleaning tip so basically, I tried to remove dust with the brush and then used the carbon tip. Having read some threads on here, I realized this was completely unnecessary (and dumb) so the question is - what possible damage could such cleaning cause? Could the mirror be scratched by the brush, or could there be some carbon leftovers in there? Could something migrate from the mirror to the sensor?

Thank you so much, and so sorry for such dumb questions

[vonBaloney]

I never use the brush side of lenspens -- they tend to add as much dust as they remove and sometimes the bristles fall out. The carbon side should not damage your mirror (not from itself, anyway, you have to be careful about the pressure you are applying), but they also will leave a bit of residue, which will blow off, but only after it dries. (There is just the tiniest bit of inherent moisture [or something] from the lenspen -- its carbon dust will blow off, but it has to sit a while first.)

[mixberry]

Hey guys! So I will probably ask series of very dumb questions but I am a beginner so bear with me (please).

I have recently cleaned my K-3's mirror with a regular Lenspen (originally intended for lens cleaning). The Lenspen I own has got a dry dust removal brush and a carbon cleaning tip so basically, I tried to remove dust with the brush and then used the carbon tip. Having read some threads on here, I realized this was completely unnecessary (and dumb) so the question is - what possible damage could such cleaning cause? Could the mirror be scratched by the brush, or could there be some carbon leftovers in there? Could something migrate from the mirror to the sensor?

Thank you so much, and so sorry for such dumb questions

Yup, may be you can make scratch the mirror by the brush, but if you brush lightly look like it's not a problem, i usually use blower and than lens cloth to clean the mirror
PS: don;t try to clean view finder with lens pen, it could scratch your view finder and make it like foggy and make hard to see

[Spodeworld]

Best not to touch the mirror with anything. Easiest thing to damage in the camera

[vonBaloney]

Best not to touch the mirror with anything. Easiest thing to damage in the camera

The focusing screen is even easier to damage!

[bonfireheart]

Thank you all SO much for your answers. How do I know if I damaged or scratched the mirror though?

[Na Horuk]

Eh, if it was damaged, you would know. There would be marks when you look through the viewfinder (since the viewfinder shows the mirror). So if you see spots in the viewfinder, they could be on the mirror. Or focusing screen, or on the pentaprism.
I wouldn't worry about it until I actually notice damage, but I wouldn't repeat that "cleaning", either. For inside the camera, the best thing to use is a rocket blower, because it is just air pressure. But! Even this thing has to be clean, or you are just blowing dust on there.

[bonfireheart]

Yeah, I won't touch the mirror again. It's just I have some incredibly annoying spots on my photos (have a look at an image I attached) and I assumed they were over the mirror because I found lots of dust over it. And so I "cleaned" it. But, I guess the actual problem is sensor dust.

[bonfireheart]

I never use the brush side of lenspens -- they tend to add as much dust as they remove and sometimes the bristles fall out. The carbon side should not damage your mirror (not from itself, anyway, you have to be careful about the pressure you are applying), but they also will leave a bit of residue, which will blow off, but only after it dries. (There is just the tiniest bit of inherent moisture [or something] from the lenspen -- its carbon dust will blow off, but it has to sit a while first.)

Any chance some of that carbon could get inside the sensor?

[cyclone3d]

Definitely the sensor. Have you tried the dust removal function on the camera?

Do you have automatic dust removal enabled?

Try pointing the camera vertically down and then use the dust removal function multiple times in a row.

If the dust removal function doesn't help, then it needs to be serviced.

How exactly does one get a lot of dust on the mirror or anything else inside the body in the first place?

[Na Horuk]

It's just I have some incredibly annoying spots on my photos (have a look at an image I attached) and I assumed they were over the mirror because I found lots of dust over it.

Nope! The mirror does not affect the photo! You can have a mirror sprayed with red paint and it will not affect the image, as long as the mirror moves out of the way correctly.
You see, when a shot is taken, the mirror moves out of the way, then the shutter courtain opens, exposing the sensor for the shutter speed number, and then the shutter closes and the mirror closes after it.
Those spots you see are dust spots on the actual sensor. You can turn on the dust removal function in the camera (many people set it up to automatically do that on shut down. These options are in the Menu, feel free to check the manual).
The other thing you can do is use the sensor cleaning function and use a rocket blower to blow off the dust, being careful not to actually touch the sensor. There are many threads and tutorials about sensor cleaning btw, just search these forums or the net. There are other tools for sensor cleaning, but the air blower should be enough to begin. Some shops offer this as a service. In some countries you even get a free sensor cleaning as part of the warranty (or extended warranty).

Edit: One more thing. Similar spots can be caused by dust on the back of the lens, but that is more rare. Anyway, you can check that as well, but be careful, as the back of the lens is more sensitive than the front. Generally its advisable to use those air blowers to remove dust without touching anything.

[bonfireheart]

Definitely the sensor. Have you tried the dust removal function on the camera?

Do you have automatic dust removal enabled?

Try pointing the camera vertically down and then use the dust removal function multiple times in a row.

If the dust removal function doesn't help, then it needs to be serviced.

How exactly does one get a lot of dust on the mirror or anything else inside the body in the first place?

I haven't tried it... I did enable the automatic dust removal, I will take some photos tomorrow to see whether or not it worked. And, I don't know how all that dust got inside the body. Perhaps, when I was switching lens. But honestly, this is just sad because this camera is brand new. Barely used it for 2 months.

---------- Post added 06-14-15 at 03:10 PM ----------

Nope! The mirror does not affect the photo! You can have a mirror sprayed with red paint and it will not affect the image, as long as the mirror moves out of the way correctly.
You see, when a shot is taken, the mirror moves out of the way, then the shutter courtain opens, exposing the sensor for the shutter speed number, and then the shutter closes and the mirror closes after it.
Those spots you see are dust spots on the actual sensor. You can turn on the dust removal function in the camera (many people set it up to automatically do that on shut down. These options are in the Menu, feel free to check the manual).
The other thing you can do is use the sensor cleaning function and use a rocket blower to blow off the dust, being careful not to actually touch the sensor. There are many threads and tutorials about sensor cleaning btw, just search these forums or the net. There are other tools for sensor cleaning, but the air blower should be enough to begin. Some shops offer this as a service. In some countries you even get a free sensor cleaning as part of the warranty (or extended warranty).

Edit: One more thing. Similar spots can be caused by dust on the back of the lens, but that is more rare. Anyway, you can check that as well, but be careful, as the back of the lens is more sensitive than the front. Generally its advisable to use those air blowers to remove dust without touching anything.

Thank you SO much for taking the time to explain all this to me, I really appreciate your help.

Just to get things straight - dust on the mirror, focusing screen or on the pentaprism DOES NOT affect the image in any way? And if there is any dust inside the body, it CANNOT spread to the sensor itself?

I set the camera to automatically remove dust upon shut down, however, I am very confused about the recommendation in the previous post - pointing the camera vertically down and enabling this function. Any thoughts on this?

I will look into sensor cleaning as in professional cleaning but I know that there are no official Pentax shops where I live (Paris, France). And I am reluctant to send the camera to the service center that Pentax partnered with because well, I am scared that shipping would damage the camera.

And... sigh... I used a Lenspen on the back of the lens as well... Honestly, I feel so ashamed about the lack of my knowledge on camera cleaning. I guess I should have really taken time to research this topic... again, thank you so much!

[DeadJohn]

Sensor dust is a usual occurrence with any removable lens camera. You just need one lens change as a bunch of dust comes floating by - boom, dust in the mirror box that gets past the shutter when you snap photos.

The best tool for cleaning sensor dust is a rocket blower (never use canned air because it can spit wet propellant on your sensor). That will get rid of most dust spots. A stubborn spot might need a sensor cleaning kit but dry dust always comes off with the blower.

[vonBaloney]

Any chance some of that carbon could get inside the sensor?

Well *on*, not inside. So it is potentially just more dust in your mirror box that may end up on your sensor at some point, so then you clean the sensor, not the mirror. The substance is not harmful -- LensPen actually sells a sensor cleaner that is the same as a normal LensPen but with a smaller tip and it articulates a bit. You haven't done any damage to anything doesn't sound like. I recommend a rocket blower and the EyeLead sticky gel stick. The EyeLead (or similar, there are others but I got a bad one time that wasn't sticky and didn't do much good) is the only thing other than a wet cleaning that actually picks up particles and takes them away (rather than just blowing them around and hoping they go away), but wet cleaning is usually overkill and often leaves its own residue. In fact the only way I've ever been able to clean a sensor that had any stubborn particles that wouldn't blow off and not leave some sort of new residue behind was with the gel stick.

[niceshot]

Looks like you got the dust off the Lens Pen onto the Sensor, never put that thing inside your Camera never ever