Easiest way to get dust of focusing matte on 20D?

[nick_breedlove1]

Hey all,

 

I was wondering what the easiest way to get dust of focusing matte

on the 20D is? There's a few particles on there. I switch lenses all

the time and its not on the mirror, just on the bottom of the semi

frosted focusing screen up top. Will a Q-tip suffice? I know Canon

would want you to send it to them, but what's the easiest way?

 

Thanks

Nick

[peter_phan]

Don't use a Q-Tip. I use a soft, fine-tipped art brush from an art supply store. These brushes are very soft and come in a variety of shapes. You can have a pointy tip for pin-point accuracy, or a slightly broader brush to sweep across the screen. I use them to gently brush my mirror, too.

[jon_austin]

Try a bulb blower first. I use one of the soft blue rubber ones you can buy at a drugstore, that are actually intended as ear syringes.

[peter_phan]

The problem with the blower is that sometimes you just end up blowing the dust somewhere else inside the mirror box. At least with the art brush method, you can better control where that dust goes. Sometimes, you can gently sweep the dust right out. Other times, the dust will adhere to the brush hairs and you can remove the dust that way. I never quite trusted the idea of blowing a strong stream of air right into the camera. You have no idea what kind of stuff it can kick up.

[mike_elek]

A Q-tip will simply shove the debris around and possibly leave tiny cotton fibers. The best is either the tiny camel's hair brush or the StaticMaster brushes, though I don't think there are any that are tiny enough to correctly clean the screen because of the cramped space. Plus, it's probably more than you want to spend.

 

Compressed air might work but also will probably simply redeposit it. The rush of cool air over the plastic screen might give it a slight static charge that might attract dust (I can't remember my basics here, so I could be wrong on this point).

[jimstrutz]

Not that it can't be cleaned, but why do it? You've got to know that in a very short time more dust will be on the screen. Since none of this will show in the images, why bother?

 

Besides, the good reason not to clean the viewscreen is that any time you do anything to the screen (or the mirror) you are incurring a risk of damaging a *very fragile* part. There is no good reason to do that unless there is a whole lot of gunk on it.

 

BTW, the viewscreen is easily removed from a 20D as well as other Canon DSLRs. Instructions with pictures are on the web. But personally I think you are better off learning to ignore it.

[jbq]

Soft artist/hobbyist brush.