Cleaning out the focusing screen and the inside.

LeDave · 08-21-2009, 06:46 PM

So I popped out the focusing screen and the shims, I use microfiber cloth and rocket blower to clean the focusing screen. I also try using rocket blower to blow the inside of the area where the focusing screen covers. I can't seem to get it fully fully cleaned. I pop it out to re-clean it and pop it back in like 8 times already just to try to get it to stay clean, but always always there are at least 2 or so black specks when looking through my viewfinder, the black specks you can see clearly. Everytime I clean it out, a new one would show up somewhere else.

I am trying to clean this because school is starting soon, it's starting on Monday and I am excited for my digital photography class. But I can't seem to fully clean it, I feel like I need to buy a fully new focusing screen and install it in a Rolex watch repair room with a bunny suit if I can ever access one.

Is there specks inside my viewfinder area inside through the focusing screen placing? How do I clean that out when I can't even see it? I try cleaning my focusing screen over and over and over but everytime a new speck would appear. I do everything correctly, I use a tweezer and not touch it with my fingers. I even use microfiber cloth and rocket blower. This is kind of annoying.

How do you fully clean it out? Well not exactly fully clean it out, but clean it so that no specks appear on the focusing screen when you look through the viewfinder. The black specks are sometimes hairlines, sometimes dots, etc. etc. but you can CLEARLY see it through the viewfinder, I mean like literally clearly see it. It SHOULD be cleanable but somehow I am missing something, I am doing something incorrectly, I think it's because I'm not cleaning it out in a clean enough room.

What room do you guys even use to do the clean-up and the swap. I mean seriously. Do you like have a built-in watch-repair factory in your house or something? Some of you guys can do it, but I try doing it and it never works. I do it fully, I read instructions off google, I watch videos off youtube, I do everything they do yet the black specks are just annoying.

And no it's not on the mirror, I cleaned everything.

Last edited by LeDave; 08-21-2009 at 07:00 PM.

Damn Brit · 08-21-2009, 09:37 PM

If it isn't affecting your pictures and it doesn't stop you focusing, sometimes it's just best to live with it.
You won't get downgraded because you have a couple of specks on your focusing screen.

Wheatfield · 08-21-2009, 10:28 PM

About 40 years ago I came to the realization that dust happens and trying to keep a camera scrupulously clean is a fools game that is both impossible to win and may well damage the equipment.
One of these times, you'll pop the screen out of the camera and bend a shim or scratch the screen or damage the retention frame.
You can beat your dog, you can beat your wife and you can beat your meat, but you can't beat dust in a camera.
Find something else to occupy your time.

Daveinozbikes · 08-22-2009, 03:52 AM

Vacuum cleaner???????????

GerryL · 08-22-2009, 02:32 PM

I'm a stickler for clean viewfinders but there are time that I just have to give up!
Maybe try some other day..but if I find myself doing more damage than good then I just stop.
Good luck on your endeavor though!

StevenVH · 08-22-2009, 08:46 PM

Originally posted by Wheatfield

You can beat your dog, you can beat your wife and you can beat your meat, but you can't beat dust in a camera.

ahahaha...excellent advise except you can't really beat your dog or your wife either. So that leaves....

Eruditass · 09-08-2009, 11:05 AM

i have these black specks too - I have no idea how they got there! I got them over the weekend at a camping trip but I never changed lenses.

res3567 · 09-09-2009, 01:53 AM

Originally posted by StevenVH

ahahaha...excellent advise except you can't really beat your dog or your wife either. So that leaves....

.............WHAT??????

HA!!!!!!

mikeSF · 09-11-2009, 09:42 PM

it is called OCD my friend and welcome to the club. the dust once bothered me so much, i pulled the bugger out and soaked it in a solution of windex and rinsed it in distilled water and then used canned air to blow it dry before re-installing it. (all in a humid shower stall that had been thoroughly scrubbed to minimize airborne particles)
well, it looked fantastic!
then the very first time i changed lenses, i noticed a few pieces of dust making their way up to the screen again and when i took my blower to it to knock them off, several more pieces clung to it, and so on...these days i am shooting through a dusty, scratched and smudged focusing screen and at first it bugged me but now i hardly notice.
i say just leave it alone.

KungPOW · 09-11-2009, 10:42 PM

This question comes up over and over with new DSLR owners. I stopped caring about dust years ago.

So just to amuse myself, I just counted the visable dust specks on my view finder.

I have 24 specks, and at least 2 small threads.

Maybe I should give it a clean....

ihemiola · 09-11-2009, 10:45 PM

LeDave,

Does this dust affect your pictures?

The reason this question comes up is that when you see black spots on your photos and they're in the same place from photo to photo then we're not talking OCD.

jmc7104 · 09-12-2009, 05:28 AM

Originally posted by ihemiola

LeDave,

Does this dust affect your pictures?

The reason this question comes up is that when you see black spots on your photos and they're in the same place from photo to photo then we're not talking OCD.

If this happens it still isnt going to help by cleaning your focusing screen.
It means you need to clean your sensor which is a much more delicate operation.

**TER-OR** · 09-14-2009, 06:55 AM

I had some bad dust on my sensor a while ago. I did find the instructions to use the cleaning mode and used a blower to remove that dust, which worked well. I did scratch my focusing screen from another ill-advised foray into the camera interior. So now I have a focusing screen which looks like hell, but the pictures are immaculate.

Maybe I'll buy a new focusing screen if it bothers me too much.

08-21-2009, 06:46 PM	#1
LeDave Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Minneapolis - St. Paul Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,067	Cleaning out the focusing screen and the inside. So I popped out the focusing screen and the shims, I use microfiber cloth and rocket blower to clean the focusing screen. I also try using rocket blower to blow the inside of the area where the focusing screen covers. I can't seem to get it fully fully cleaned. I pop it out to re-clean it and pop it back in like 8 times already just to try to get it to stay clean, but always always there are at least 2 or so black specks when looking through my viewfinder, the black specks you can see clearly. Everytime I clean it out, a new one would show up somewhere else. I am trying to clean this because school is starting soon, it's starting on Monday and I am excited for my digital photography class. But I can't seem to fully clean it, I feel like I need to buy a fully new focusing screen and install it in a Rolex watch repair room with a bunny suit if I can ever access one. Is there specks inside my viewfinder area inside through the focusing screen placing? How do I clean that out when I can't even see it? I try cleaning my focusing screen over and over and over but everytime a new speck would appear. I do everything correctly, I use a tweezer and not touch it with my fingers. I even use microfiber cloth and rocket blower. This is kind of annoying. How do you fully clean it out? Well not exactly fully clean it out, but clean it so that no specks appear on the focusing screen when you look through the viewfinder. The black specks are sometimes hairlines, sometimes dots, etc. etc. but you can CLEARLY see it through the viewfinder, I mean like literally clearly see it. It SHOULD be cleanable but somehow I am missing something, I am doing something incorrectly, I think it's because I'm not cleaning it out in a clean enough room. What room do you guys even use to do the clean-up and the swap. I mean seriously. Do you like have a built-in watch-repair factory in your house or something? Some of you guys can do it, but I try doing it and it never works. I do it fully, I read instructions off google, I watch videos off youtube, I do everything they do yet the black specks are just annoying. And no it's not on the mirror, I cleaned everything. Last edited by LeDave; 08-21-2009 at 07:00 PM.

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08-21-2009, 09:37 PM	#2
Damn Brit Guest	If it isn't affecting your pictures and it doesn't stop you focusing, sometimes it's just best to live with it. You won't get downgraded because you have a couple of specks on your focusing screen.

08-21-2009, 10:28 PM	#3
Wheatfield Moderator Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: The wheatfields of Canada Posts: 15,991	About 40 years ago I came to the realization that dust happens and trying to keep a camera scrupulously clean is a fools game that is both impossible to win and may well damage the equipment. One of these times, you'll pop the screen out of the camera and bend a shim or scratch the screen or damage the retention frame. You can beat your dog, you can beat your wife and you can beat your meat, but you can't beat dust in a camera. Find something else to occupy your time.

08-22-2009, 03:52 AM	#4
Daveinozbikes Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Dawesville,Western Australia. Photos: Gallery Posts: 128	Vacuum cleaner???????????

08-22-2009, 02:32 PM	#5
GerryL Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: CA Posts: 2,731	I'm a stickler for clean viewfinders but there are time that I just have to give up! Maybe try some other day..but if I find myself doing more damage than good then I just stop. Good luck on your endeavor though!

08-22-2009, 08:46 PM	#6
StevenVH Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: N Carolina, USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 475	Originally posted by Wheatfield You can beat your dog, you can beat your wife and you can beat your meat, but you can't beat dust in a camera. ahahaha...excellent advise except you can't really beat your dog or your wife either. So that leaves....

09-08-2009, 11:05 AM	#7
Eruditass Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,207	i have these black specks too - I have no idea how they got there! I got them over the weekend at a camping trip but I never changed lenses.

09-09-2009, 01:53 AM	#8
res3567 Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Houston Tx. Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,876	Originally posted by StevenVH ahahaha...excellent advise except you can't really beat your dog or your wife either. So that leaves.... .............WHAT?????? HA!!!!!!

09-11-2009, 09:42 PM	#9
mikeSF Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,622	it is called OCD my friend and welcome to the club. the dust once bothered me so much, i pulled the bugger out and soaked it in a solution of windex and rinsed it in distilled water and then used canned air to blow it dry before re-installing it. (all in a humid shower stall that had been thoroughly scrubbed to minimize airborne particles) well, it looked fantastic! then the very first time i changed lenses, i noticed a few pieces of dust making their way up to the screen again and when i took my blower to it to knock them off, several more pieces clung to it, and so on...these days i am shooting through a dusty, scratched and smudged focusing screen and at first it bugged me but now i hardly notice. i say just leave it alone.

09-11-2009, 10:42 PM	#10
KungPOW Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Vancouver, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,699	This question comes up over and over with new DSLR owners. I stopped caring about dust years ago. So just to amuse myself, I just counted the visable dust specks on my view finder. I have 24 specks, and at least 2 small threads. Maybe I should give it a clean....

09-11-2009, 10:45 PM	#11
ihemiola Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Texas Photos: Gallery Posts: 10	LeDave, Does this dust affect your pictures? The reason this question comes up is that when you see black spots on your photos and they're in the same place from photo to photo then we're not talking OCD.

09-12-2009, 05:28 AM	#12
jmc7104 Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Rock Island, Illinois 61201 Photos: Gallery Posts: 436	Originally posted by ihemiola LeDave, Does this dust affect your pictures? The reason this question comes up is that when you see black spots on your photos and they're in the same place from photo to photo then we're not talking OCD. If this happens it still isnt going to help by cleaning your focusing screen. It means you need to clean your sensor which is a much more delicate operation.

09-14-2009, 06:55 AM	#13
TER-OR Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dundee, IL Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 6,699	I had some bad dust on my sensor a while ago. I did find the instructions to use the cleaning mode and used a blower to remove that dust, which worked well. I did scratch my focusing screen from another ill-advised foray into the camera interior. So now I have a focusing screen which looks like hell, but the pictures are immaculate. Maybe I'll buy a new focusing screen if it bothers me too much.