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06-22-2016, 09:47 PM   #1
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There is a dead ant stuck on my camera's mirror.

How do I get it off?

06-22-2016, 10:00 PM   #2
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I'd say take it somewhere to get it professionally cleaned.
06-22-2016, 10:02 PM   #3
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I'm in the middle of nowhere. Anything I can do myself with a standard camera cleaning kit?
06-22-2016, 10:08 PM   #4
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You can try it that way, if anything you can look on youtube on how to do it yourself if you don't know how to do it.

---------- Post added 06-22-16 at 10:10 PM ----------

You can find the cleaning kits at a good price, in most cases around $10 for a small, basic kit either on adorama.com or B&H.com

06-22-2016, 10:17 PM   #5
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It won't blow off with a Rocket blower?
06-22-2016, 10:20 PM - 1 Like   #6
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Shutter operator died on work[*]
06-22-2016, 10:21 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Outis Quote
How do I get it off?
Ant-rid?

06-22-2016, 10:41 PM   #8
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Haha how on earth did this happen? Try to carefully pick it off with tweezers?
06-22-2016, 10:41 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kennod Quote
Ant-rid?
beat my by 18 minutes....which sorta means I got in 12 minutes before you.
06-22-2016, 11:28 PM   #10
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I recently cleaned couple of film era mirrors. Hope you are not referring to a K1! My cameras had old sticky mirror damper foam attached. Used isopropanol on cotton buds to clean off. Isopropanol left a little light smear which was easily removed with cotton buds damped in distilled water. Just be extra careful not to scratch mirror or spread any gunk further across the mirror. I'm sure this subject has been covered elsewhere. Astronomical mirrors have silver or aluminium coatings and cleaning/polishing is covered in books and web sites.
06-23-2016, 12:08 AM   #11
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I just had to clean my sensor for a shoot tomorrow. No ants on it, though!

QuoteOriginally posted by stillshot2 Quote
Haha how on earth did this happen? Try to carefully pick it off with tweezers?
Seconded.

Here's the kit I've used to clean my sensor. It's a wet clean kit, but is often effective even if you stick to the wipe-sticks. I know it looks expensive, but apparently I bought my kit back in 2013 and still have plenty of pads and the original sticks. I seem to go through the liquid more frequently.
06-23-2016, 01:00 AM   #12
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maybe he can help: Anteater
06-23-2016, 03:48 AM   #13
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holy ant! how did this happen?
06-23-2016, 05:07 AM   #14
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Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) on a cotton swab may be your best bet. Supermarkets usually carry 70% solutions, and pharmacies 100%. The latter should work better because it will leave less slow evaporating liquid. This was the advice given for removing dust from a mirror in the April/May 2016 issues of photolife.com
06-23-2016, 06:02 AM   #15
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This thread is useless without pics! Can you post a pic of the mirrored ant for us?
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