alright to start with i don't know what catagory this needs to be in, but here it goes,

I have a Canon 350D digital SLR. great little camera i have taken amazing shots.but my mother noticed a bit of dust in the viewfinder. in her attempt to clean it out it got worse. I now need someone who could help me out. I have tried a can of air that help a bit but not a great deal. I'm just after someone who knows what they are doing.I have rang around and got quotes but they I was looking at $200 + and thats not including the sensor.

So if anyone can help me out it would be much appriciated. I will pay for it a carton or money if they wish.

Thank you everyone.

Take it to Canon and get them to do it properly!

Yeah but as i said before they charge an arm and a leg. its not even the sensor its the the internal bit of the Viewfinder.
My old boss could do it...but i haven't heard from him in a while. But i've read about alot of people doing it

Word. I don't know if 350d's come with inbuilt sensor cleaning (im guessing not?) but from what i've read compressed/canned air is a big NO NO, unless used gently, and even then its just going to blow the dust further into your camera to fall out later.

You might be better off using an Arctic Butterly which is a special sensor cleaning brush that's around $60 on fleabay.

How did your mother try to clean it? if she's used a rag or something on your sensor your camera may now be knackered BUT if she's only used it on the mirror (because i KNOW my mum wouldn't even know how to turn on my camera let alone put the mirror lock on).

Nah mate mum just used a special cotton bud she found in my camera bag.. and she only tried the inside of the viewfinder...not the mirror.

and yeah can of air isn't the best but it was kodak who did it so if they screwed anything they would pay.



who cleans your camera buddy?

No one, my 40d has that ultrasonic self sensor cleaning.

Matt Mead had his cleaned by Canon not that long ago and i swear he said it was no where near even $100, i think he said it was like $40 or $50...

The inside of the view finder.. You mean she didn't even take a lense off? You should just be able to clean that with two cotton buds, one with windex on it and another to polish the streaks off that windex leaves UNLESS she tried cleaning your diopter plate INSIDE the camera, but that is pretty much harmless as well..


I'd just take it to a teds camera shop (etc) and ask them to demo an arctic butterfly on it Free cleaning!

nah mate she took off my lens and bent the cotton bud and cleaned the inside of it...and the cotton fell off and stayed there. You couldn't ask matt mead how much it cost him..

yeah im actually buying a 450D body...coz im really poor.Not everyone can afford a 40D haha so the sensor never gets something that just wont come off??

thanks buddy.

where are you located?

i know a place in the redlands that did my 350d

I live at caboolture in Queensland... I don't know where redland is ...and how much did yours cost?

i ended up buying the copper hill cleaning kit from quality cameras for 65$...it cleaned my sensor perfectly....but it sounds like urs is alittle more major then mine... but canon charge 50$ for a basic clean and they do it while you wiat...however chrage more for really dirty sensors..

lol i thought this was funny

the nearest canon workshop in queensland is at Cannon Hill

how ironic.

that made me laugh

although i have no idea how to clean a camera properly, id get it profesionally done by the maker. end of topic.

I had some crud on my sensor going back 8 or 9 months ago, I attempted to blow it away with a blower brush which had some kind of residue on it and accidently touched the sensor leaving it in worse shape. I took the camera to a specialised optics company and it cost $60 to have the sensor cleaned.

Now, last weekend, after shooting a full summer of motorsport, and getting covered in dirt at the latest drift round I decided to give my camera a clean. For the outside I used a 15mm wide soft-bristled paint brush my g/f picked up from Spotlight. Of course it was brand new and I cleaned it before using it. This works really well for the outside of the camera, getting into all the hard to get to places and around the viewfinder.

For the dust that had collected on the focus screen etc. inside the camera I used my Hurricane blower, any good quality blower brush (witht he brush removed) will work. Just be sure to give it a good few pumps to clear any dust out before aiming it at your camera.

The technique I use is to have the lens mount side of the camera down and blow up into the body, this increases the chance of the loosened dust falling back outside the body. Finally I put the mirror up and gave the sensor a light blow, it was spotless, but just as a peace-of-mind thing.

I wouldn't be too worried about blowing the dust back into the body as the 350D isn't weather sealed anyhow, so there is a fair chance of the dust making its own way in there anyhow.

While you're there don't forget to clean the lens mount and all the terminals with metho on a cotton bud.

thanks mate....i dunno if I'll be tough enough to try it. Im too scared..i will get some quotes if it cost to much ill try it.

Thanks for that mate.