# Canon EOS Rebel G - Mirror problem?



## NedM (Feb 5, 2014)

So the other day I bought this camera from the swapmeet for about 5 bucks.

Looked in great cond. and everything worked well.
Until I checked out the mirror and there was purple gloss of sheen/layer on the mirror but you could only see it if you tilted the camera at a certain angle under a light.

I wanna try and clean it but I'm not sure what it is?

Anyone have a clue?


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## vimwiz (Feb 5, 2014)

Probably lube. I got an old T90 body once that had some sort of residue in places on the mirror - Seemed it dripped from the shutter mechanism. Though maybe be careful cleaning it off, in case its some sort of coating that's supposed to be there (I don't think so though, I've got an 35mm EOS 300 from a few years later (The G is the US version of the 500N - Which is an EOS 500 but in 135mm.) and it doesn't have the same layer.


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## NedM (Feb 5, 2014)

vimwiz said:


> Probably lube. I got an old T90 body once that had some sort of residue in places on the mirror - Seemed it dripped from the shutter mechanism. Though maybe be careful cleaning it off, in case its some sort of coating that's supposed to be there (I don't think so though, I've got an EOS 300 from a few years later (The G is the US version of the 500) and it doesn't have the same layer.



I tried cleaning it with some cleaning solution only to find that it spread it thinly across the mirror. I know the mirror has no affect on the photographs, and I can still see perfectly through the viewfinder. I guess I don't have much to worry about here. Thanks for your input!


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## Dao (Feb 5, 2014)

If nothing shows in the viewfinder, I will not worry about it as well.


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## Gavjenks (Feb 5, 2014)

Dao said:


> If nothing shows in the viewfinder, I will not worry about it as well.


This, however make sure there's not any leaking onto the sensor too, by shooting a white wall out of focus (OOF on the near side, as in focused too closely), overexposed by a couple stops, and at like f/22. See if you can make out any weird lines/shapes/whatever in the image, to confirm whether the sensor is reasonably clean or not (you can also see dust this way)


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## vimwiz (Feb 5, 2014)

Gavjenks said:


> Dao said:
> 
> 
> > If nothing shows in the viewfinder, I will not worry about it as well.
> ...




There is no sensor, its film.


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## robbins.photo (Feb 5, 2014)

NedM said:


> vimwiz said:
> 
> 
> > Probably lube. I got an old T90 body once that had some sort of residue in places on the mirror - Seemed it dripped from the shutter mechanism. Though maybe be careful cleaning it off, in case its some sort of coating that's supposed to be there (I don't think so though, I've got an EOS 300 from a few years later (The G is the US version of the 500) and it doesn't have the same layer.
> ...



If it's not affecting what you see in the viewfinder, then just leave it.  Odds are you'll do more harm than good if you try to do anything with it.  The mirror can be mighty touchy.


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## NedM (Feb 5, 2014)

robbins.photo said:


> If it's not affecting what you see in the viewfinder, then just leave it.  Odds are you'll do more harm than good if you try to do anything with it.  The mirror can be mighty touchy.



I wish I could have read this before I decided to do some cleaning to the mirror. After cleaning, the purple gloss or layer still was intact only this spread thinly across the mirror. I can still see through the viewfinder just the same, so I'm not even going to bother with it.

Quick question though.
If did happen to mess up the mirror, what's the worst I should worry about?


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## Gavjenks (Feb 5, 2014)

vimwiz said:


> There is no sensor, its film.


Oh lol, touche.

Come to think of it, mirror crud might matter, since the Rebel G has autofocus. Usually AF uses light split downward from the mirror to the bottom of the camera, so it could get messed up a bit and miss focus slightly.  But that's easy to test and find out.


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