# Best way to clean mirror on a DSLR?



## Igaryok (Jan 4, 2007)

Hi, 

I'm sure this questions has been asked many times before, but I have a Nikon D50 and whenever I look into the viewfinder there's a black speck which I assume is dust on the mirror, that got there when I was putting on the lens?  It doesn't show up on the pictures or at least I can't notice it.  But what's the best way to clean the mirror?   Thanks.


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## Alex_B (Jan 4, 2007)

the best way to clean the mirror is not to clean it 

if it is not too bad i would not bother, you will collect more spots on it with time. but since the mirror is out of the way when the picture is exposed, it does not matter.

safe your efforts to keep your sensor clean


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## Igaryok (Jan 4, 2007)

thanks a lot.  BTW the photos on your site are breathtaking.  :hail:


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## Big Mike (Jan 4, 2007)

Very carefully! 

As mentioned, the mirror has no bearing on image quality and is delicate...so only clean it if you have to.  That being said, you could use a bulb blower or soft brush to gently clean the mirror.  The spec may be in your viewfinder, however, which is harder to clean.


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## rmh159 (Jan 4, 2007)

Big Mike said:


> ... you could use a bulb blower or soft brush to gently clean the mirror...


 
This might be reading too far into the response but if you use a brush to clean the mirror is there any direction you should go?  Like is the mirror more sensitive to being knocked out of alignment sideways so it would be smarter to brush it going vertically or vice versa?  

I would think if you're going to knock it out of alignment it would be to the side so maybe brushing it vertically will be a bit safer???

I guess you could always use a vacuum cleaner with a small enough attachment.


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## Alex_B (Jan 4, 2007)

Igaryok said:


> thanks a lot.  BTW the photos on your site are breathtaking.  :hail:



thanks for the nice comment


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## Funky (Jan 4, 2007)

Ummm i advise you to use some kind of air blower....using a brush always gives you the chance of accumulating little dust particals on the lens. i advise you to take it in to be cleaned.


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## jcharcalla (Jan 4, 2007)

You may want to check out this site because they had a good method to check for dust on your sensor itself.
http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/howto.html
Towards the bottom is a section called "How To Create A Test  Image
To Check For Dust"

If you think you need to clean your sensor you can do it yourself. I would stay away from any compressed air systems as they usually have some type of oil in the can. Squeeze blowers are fine but I had no luck with mine.

I was able to clean the sensor on my 20D using Sensor Swab's and Eclipse cleaning fluid made by Photographic solutions. These products however are semi expensive but if you compare them to what it would cost if you went to a camera shop they are not that bad.

If your sensor is clean though I would stay away from touching it.


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## jcharcalla (Jan 4, 2007)

Haha I should learn to read.... 
 Not sure why I didn't realize you were talking about the mirror.  You could probably just use a blower on that but make sure you hold the camera upside down or something so the dust does not fall on your sensor.


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## Alex_B (Jan 5, 2007)

jcharcalla said:


> These products however are semi expensive



wow, what a word .. semi expensive


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## LifesMirror (Jan 5, 2007)

I clean my slr mirror with a q-tip, just very, VERY lightly. And yes, the viewfinder is a $*@% to clean,lol.


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