michael_taylor16 Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 What is the best way to clean the mirror of my Canon 20D? <p>I got the water on the mirror during a lens change during a light rain. I didn't recognize it at the time, because I knew the lenses needed cleaning and cleaned them. However, all of my photos have the water spots on them and I can tell that the mirror has the water spots, not the lenses. By a quick search on the net, many say let the camera repair shops handled it and others have had success doing it themselves. <p>So, which is it? Clean the mirror myself or have a camera repair shop take care of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
William Kahn Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Unless you really know what you're doing, take it to a shop. The fact that water spots are showing up in your shots suggests that you have water on the sensor as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awindsor Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Water spots on the mirror will not show up on your photos. I am surprised that you could get water on the sensor, as it is behind the closed shutter when you change lenses) but if you are seeing these spots then they must be on the sensor. It is of course possible that they are the standard dust spots and you have not noticed them before. Cleaning the sensor is fairly easily done yourself. I typically use the dry brush cleaning method (using Sensor Brush or Sensor Sweep) but if you truly have water spots then you will need to use the wet cleaning method (Eclipse fluid and Pec pads). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnicholson Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 My guess is that what you think are water spots are actually dust particles on the sensor with the lens fairly wide open. If you use the wet method to clean the sensor you actually want to use Sensor Swabs over Pec Pads. They are made by the same company but the Sensor Swabs are designed specifically for cleaning the sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gary petersen Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Most likely you just need to clean the sensor. Water spots on the mirror will not show up on the photo. I oredered <a href="http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/ccd_cleaning">a cleaning kit</a> from this place and yesterday cleaned my 20D sensor for the first time. Just two beers for courage and it was a lot easier than I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimstrutz Posted January 30, 2006 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Cleaning the mirror isn't difficult either. It's a fragile surface, but you can use the same procedure for cleaning the sensor, or you can do it with a microfiber cloth, alcohol, and very little pressure. Not that that will do anything for your images, as anything on the mirror will not be seen by the sensor. Also, unless they are terribe, you won't see them in the viewfinder either. As others have said, what is showing is probably either dust or watermarks on the sensor. There are several methods for dealing with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doug_brightwell1 Posted January 31, 2006 Share Posted January 31, 2006 I noticed spots on my 10D sensor. I initially assumed they were dust, but later realized that they were soft, diffused circles, not dust-shaped particles. Then I assumed they were water spots, from where I had no idea. A guy at the camera store told me it's most likely the dry lubricant from the mirror action that comes lose and is distributed throughout the mirror box. He says it's very common. Once the sensor is cleaned, the lubricant will return. He recommended sending to Canon for cleaning so they can also clean the mirror box and reduce the chance of future spotting. If you want to clean it yourself, from my reading on the web the safest and best method for spots that can't simply be blown or brushed off is Photographic Solution's Eclipse Fluid on their Sensor swaps. (Sorry if someone already mentioned that, but previous posts aren't visible while typing a comment.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael_taylor16 Posted January 31, 2006 Author Share Posted January 31, 2006 Thanks for the responses. I've checked and I don't see how to manually move the shutter to see if there are (most likely, after reading the responses) dust particles on the sensor. I'm afraid of screwing up the shutter somehow. Sorry to be new to cameras, but I am. My saving grace is that I follow instructions well. Any place I can read for more information? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalit Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 One idea I have been suggested is that, remove lens and do a 30 seconds exposure and clean the sensor during the shutter open period. You have to be quick enough to remove your Lens Pen or anything that you are using withing 30 seconds. Here is another solution with instructions: http://birdsasart.com/lenspens.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimstrutz Posted February 22, 2006 Share Posted February 22, 2006 No need to be rushed. The 20D has a cleaning function in the menu that opens the shutter for as long as the battery can last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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