I came home from my trip with a bit of fluff or gunk that I can't see inside my camera body.I switched lenses to check...and it isn't a lens scratch.( thank goodness)And it appears through the view finder and on the image.Because I live in the boonies,there is no camera shop around here.Anyway to clean gunk out of an old Rebel xsi SLR body on my own?
It's quite difficult to get a single piece of debris in a position where it will show up both in the viewfinder and the final photo on a DSLR -- it either ends up in the viewfinder prism, focusing screen or mirror, in which case it doesn't appear on the final image, or on the sensor, in which case it doesn't appear in the viewfinder.
Debris that appears in both is most commonly in the lens. Can you provide some photos from the camera, as it may let us diagnose further. It's possible more than one piece of dust has entered the camera, some of it ending up on the sensor and some in the viewfinder image path.
After turning the body over and tapping to dislodge the debris....probably not the smartest move....Now it ONLY shows on the image.i will take and post a photo for you to see.Thank you @abirkill !
I don't know how brave you are Hope but because I also live miles from anywhere I have learned to clean my own sensor. I have a brush and an air puffer. The idea is to puff the air onto the brush and then brush over the sensor without touching it. The brush gets charged by the air from the puffer the the tiny bit of electrostatic energy attracts the dust. You need to get the right equipment though, in the first place. That's probably no help at all to you.
@swilde I could order the equipment Sue! But first I have to find the sensor. I am like the driver of a cool car who has nooooo idea what is under the trunk!
@mzzhope If it was a Nikon I'd say lock the mirror up and there's the sensor. I presume this works for the other brand as well. There should be a mirror lock setting somewhere in your menus.
Actually, before you try anything radical there's probably also a cleaning function somewhere in your menus. This basically gives the sensor a bit of a shake. You use it with the camera face down on the table.
That's a big lump of dust so it shouldn't be too difficult to remove, with any luck!
The XSi has an automatic cleaning mode that may dislodge this. Go into the settings, and go to the fifth menu screen (the one with the wrench and two dots). Then go down to sensor cleaning and select, and go down to 'Clean Now'. While holding the camera pointing down, select this option (it should show 'cleaning...' or similar). Repeat this process 4 or 5 times (there's a small delay of a few seconds before you can do it again), then take another photo and see if it's gone.
If it hasn't, you should be able to dislodge this with the air puffer @swilde mentioned. To do this, instead of going to 'Clean Now' in the cleaning menu, you'll go to 'Clean Manually', which will lift the mirror and open the shutter until you switch the camera off. With the lens removed, you now have direct access to the sensor to try and 'puff' the dust away.
However, do not be tempted to use anything but the correct tool. Compressed air cans, vacuum cleaners, and so on will all make things worse (and yet all have been tried by desperate photographers!) You need an air puffer like this one, which you can then point into the camera with the lens removed (making sure not to get it too close to the sensor -- it doesn't need to be closer than a couple of inches) and squeezing it a few times, with the camera facing downwards.
There's no guarantee this will remove the item, but given how big it looks, there's a good chance it will. But try the auto-cleaning first, as there's a reasonable chance you can shift it just by using that.
Glad you posted this. I have just noticed a tiny thread or something on my lens as I look through the view finder and I suspect it is in the sensor and not the lens as it does not show up in the photos. @abirkill Am I thinking correctly? I JUST had the camera cleaned too...
@darylo If you only see it through the viewfinder then it's either on the mirror or in the viewfinder prism, it's not on the sensor or the lens.
If it's on the mirror it should be fairly easy to see just by removing the lens and looking in the camera. If the mirror looks clean, it's probably in the viewfinder prism, which will make it very difficult to remove.
The most likely place for it to be in the viewfinder prism is on the focusing screen, which is removable on the T2i, but this is a relatively complicated process and the screen is very easy to damage (although you can buy replacements):
You can try using a puffer to blow up above the mirror and see if you can dislodge it, but this can make things worse rather than better (blowing other dust into a position where you can see it). Unfortunately, when the dust is in the viewfinder rather than on the sensor, it's often easiest just to put up with it, since it doesn't affect the final image.
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Debris that appears in both is most commonly in the lens. Can you provide some photos from the camera, as it may let us diagnose further. It's possible more than one piece of dust has entered the camera, some of it ending up on the sensor and some in the viewfinder image path.
Actually, before you try anything radical there's probably also a cleaning function somewhere in your menus. This basically gives the sensor a bit of a shake. You use it with the camera face down on the table.
The XSi has an automatic cleaning mode that may dislodge this. Go into the settings, and go to the fifth menu screen (the one with the wrench and two dots). Then go down to sensor cleaning and select, and go down to 'Clean Now'. While holding the camera pointing down, select this option (it should show 'cleaning...' or similar). Repeat this process 4 or 5 times (there's a small delay of a few seconds before you can do it again), then take another photo and see if it's gone.
If it hasn't, you should be able to dislodge this with the air puffer @swilde mentioned. To do this, instead of going to 'Clean Now' in the cleaning menu, you'll go to 'Clean Manually', which will lift the mirror and open the shutter until you switch the camera off. With the lens removed, you now have direct access to the sensor to try and 'puff' the dust away.
However, do not be tempted to use anything but the correct tool. Compressed air cans, vacuum cleaners, and so on will all make things worse (and yet all have been tried by desperate photographers!) You need an air puffer like this one, which you can then point into the camera with the lens removed (making sure not to get it too close to the sensor -- it doesn't need to be closer than a couple of inches) and squeezing it a few times, with the camera facing downwards.
There's no guarantee this will remove the item, but given how big it looks, there's a good chance it will. But try the auto-cleaning first, as there's a reasonable chance you can shift it just by using that.
If it's on the mirror it should be fairly easy to see just by removing the lens and looking in the camera. If the mirror looks clean, it's probably in the viewfinder prism, which will make it very difficult to remove.
The most likely place for it to be in the viewfinder prism is on the focusing screen, which is removable on the T2i, but this is a relatively complicated process and the screen is very easy to damage (although you can buy replacements):
http://www.focusingscreen.com/work/500den.htm
You can try using a puffer to blow up above the mirror and see if you can dislodge it, but this can make things worse rather than better (blowing other dust into a position where you can see it). Unfortunately, when the dust is in the viewfinder rather than on the sensor, it's often easiest just to put up with it, since it doesn't affect the final image.