SLR camera. (what if i touched the inside of the camera...(finger prints/dirty)?
- Thread starter PHiuR
- Start date
When the mirror on my SLR gets smudged or has some dust on it, I just use a q-tip to clean it up.
hmphm...well i dont know..my friend just gave me this camera...(everything seems to be in 'working' conditions) cept for when i look thru the viewfinder like 3/4th of the screen has a darkish brown tint to it. and its not the lens because i put a diff lens over the body and the 3/4th dirty part is still there. so basically the camera is pretty messed up lol..i guess ill try to qtip the mirror then . whatever other part to try to get rid of the 'dirty spot' when i look thru the viewfinder.
also... is there a part of the camera where i cant touch at all..and if its touched it is completely trashed?
also... is there a part of the camera where i cant touch at all..and if its touched it is completely trashed?
DannyBoy
Diamond Member
Originally posted by: DannyBoy
Since when did the viewfinder affect the quality of the pictures the camera takes with the lens?
it doesnt. but im saying. from what im seeing from the viewfinder its really dirty. and i dont know if it will affect the picture or not.
DannyBoy
Diamond Member
Probably got some gunk on the mirror. Be careful with it, because it's pretty fragile. Most of them have the silver foil exposed on top the glass, and it's easy to scratch, but you can clean it. You never said if it's a digital SLR or not, but if you were unlucky enough to get soething on the sensor, you'd best leave that to someone who knows what they're doing. There is a plastic anti-aliasing filter on top the sensor and you can scratch that pretty easily, but it too can be cleaned if you're careful. There's nothing in there that you can trash with just a touch.
This doesn't make a lot of sense.. the inside of a normal SLR isn't really very complicated.
But to answer your question - the part of the camera that you're never supposed to touch is the mirror.
It has been a long time since I was into photography, but rule #1 when playing with the camera was always don't put fingerprints on the mirror. Honestly I don't recall what cleaners would be safe/unsafe to use on it, as it was always drilled into me never to get anything on it. Common sense would say to just clean it gently, but common sense would also say that it is probably very succeptable to damage.
However, what you're describing doesn't seem right - you should be able to EASILY see anything inside of the camera that would cause a dark brown reflection into the viewfinder... When you remove the lens, you should be staring right at the mirror, and if you look up into the top of the camera, you should see the prism that redirects the image to the viewfinder?
Edit: there is some decent viewfinder-smudge troubleshooting advice in this thread from some camera forum.
But to answer your question - the part of the camera that you're never supposed to touch is the mirror.
It has been a long time since I was into photography, but rule #1 when playing with the camera was always don't put fingerprints on the mirror. Honestly I don't recall what cleaners would be safe/unsafe to use on it, as it was always drilled into me never to get anything on it. Common sense would say to just clean it gently, but common sense would also say that it is probably very succeptable to damage.
However, what you're describing doesn't seem right - you should be able to EASILY see anything inside of the camera that would cause a dark brown reflection into the viewfinder... When you remove the lens, you should be staring right at the mirror, and if you look up into the top of the camera, you should see the prism that redirects the image to the viewfinder?
Edit: there is some decent viewfinder-smudge troubleshooting advice in this thread from some camera forum.
Something else to look at before you start jobbing Q-tips in there is the viewfinder shutter. Some cameras have a shutter inside the viewfinder to flip down for long exposures so stray light doesn't get in. If it's partly flipped down I guess it could cause what you're seeing.
how old is the camera. old camera's are pretty durable. if it's something on the mirror, it should be ok. All the mirror does is ... mirro the reflection through the view finder. When you click the shutter, it just flips up and lets the light in.
A dark region in the view finder could be due to a damaged or dirty mirror. If it has been improperly cleaned some of the reflective surface could have been lost. This would apear as a dark region in the view finder. I do not know of a proper way to clean this type of first surface mirror (That does not mean there is not one, I am just now aware of it) I do not think rubbing it with a qtip is the way to go. A can of air would be your best bet.
What ever, if it is the mirror it will not effect the final photo. Take some pictures, that is final test.
What ever, if it is the mirror it will not effect the final photo. Take some pictures, that is final test.
i think you have the mirror confused for the shutter in your post... as long as the mirror is able to move through its range of motion during a shutter release, the picture will not be affected in anyway. it will affect what you see in the viewfinder though. OTOH, you could easily screw up a shutter and render the camera inoperative if you are careless.
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