Afternoon all, First time here and just looking for some opinions maybe a shoulder to cry on. I just bought my wife her dream camera a few weeks back. Basically, while in the living room, she just took it in and out of the camera bag I bought her and snapped some pics inside the house and basically just read the manual. While on vacation down to Georgia last week and as mentioned after only using it briefly in the house, one night while downloading some pics in the hotel, she noticed some dark/black specs (3 of them) through the viewfinder. The camera as I said is brand new and the lens had never been off. None of the three specs could be seen on any photo taken after downloaded to her pc. I then figured since the spots could not be seen on the photos, the sensor was clean. I could not find a camera cleaning kit anywhere while on vacation, so I bought one of those little "booger suckers" from the infant section at Target to get me by. First I took the lens off, cleaned the rear with the "Target tool" and visually inspected front and back. Reassembled, and specks were still there. I took the lens back off and while holding the body down opening towards the floor, tried the air tool again. Reassembled, and still, the specs you could see clearly in the same exact spots through the viewfinder. I also used air at the eyecup on the back of the camera, still no results. I called Canon on a Saturday night and made plans to send it back to Newport News VA for service. I paid 67 dollars for their "Sensor cleaning maintenance" option. Clean mirror, verify firmware, clean body, clean external LCD surface, clean external viewfinder, clean focus screen, and clean image sensor. I paid the 67 bucks for maintenance, 95 bucks for shipping insurance, and another 15 bucks for shipping. I sent the camera, a copy of the original receipt, and a decent typed letter of exactly what I'm saying here to Canon. They told me on the phone if the could not get the specks to disappear with the 67 dollar cleaning maintenance option, they may have to disassemble the camera further to get to the prism and/or the inside of the viewfinder. If this was the case, this would be covered under warranty. I said fantastic and thanked the man for his help. I received an email from Canon once they received my camera and it described the service process and how they'd keep me informed during the complete process up to the point of shipping. They even included a little youtube video of some Canon guy telling me all the nice things they were going to do for my camera and how it goes from their expert qualified technicians then over to their quality dept. for reinspection of the work completed. I received the camera back just this past Friday. The camera still has three specks in the veiw-finder, although, now they are in different spots. Yes, I drew pictures for my reference. Not only this, there is now a slight off color circular smudge smack in the middle of the black lined framed viewfinder. How does this get past not one service team but a quality dept. as well. I am more times than not a patient person and I know stuff gets missed, but two separate teams for something so obvious. Especially with me laying out exactly what I see and discussing with Canon before I even send the camera. I know some of you are probably saying, "Its only a few specs. It doesn't affect your photos". I paid nearly 4K for this camera/lens combo. I want perfect. I do not think thats unreasonable to ask. Especially since I have never taken the camera apart and its basically 3 weeks old. I plan on calling Canon first thing tomorrow morning to get their remedy. I'm curious to know your guys' thoughts please. I apologize for the novel but wanted you all to have all info. Have a good night. Sid
I have had similar specks and found that they were on the lower surface of the prism - quite easily seeable when you remove the lens. If you find the same, I would not try to blow them off, in case you merely send them elsewhere inside the camera. I found that a cotton bud with a bit of distilled water to moisten it did a good job. If the spots are greasy, a little bit of isopropyl alcohol on the bud would probably do the trick. Certainly worth a look!
Thanks a ton for the reply sir. I spoke with Canon this morning and they are paying for its return back to Canon. I feel real uneasy about getting inside if even slightly with a 3500.00 dollar investment. Hopefully this time, they can make it right. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again. Sid
i think canon should reburst you for having to send the camera in in the first place as its a new camera. either that or see if you can get something near the value thrown in for free like a spare battery etc. i find that companies would rather chuck an extra in a box that to do a refund. probably easier for them to 'loose' an item that do the refund paperwork and explanation.
If as you say, none of the specs can be seen on any photo's, then perhaps your original thoughts that the sensor was clean is correct? It could well be that they are inside the view finder itself. Although this seems unlikely, the same issue happened to me on a previous camera. (It actually turned out to be a microscopic bug, and I never did get it out!) It got on my nerves a bit, but had no effect on the pictures. This may explain why Canon didn't find the issue, though it seems strange that no one bothered looking through the view finder? Maybe they just went straight into sensor cleaning mode, and were happy to see that it was "clean"? I agree it is a poor showing by Canon, and with the now added issue, I would be pushing for a replacement camera. Good luck. Sorry, just noticed how old this is, you probably have it fixed by now!!!!
No apologies necessary sir. Thanks for replying. It is not repaired yet. I did send it back last Wednesday the 18th. I received an email stating they received it and have it in their que to be repaired. Like you said, I think they just went straight to "sensor cleaning mode" and didn't bother to look through the viewfinder or look at the extensive story I wrote that spelled out exactly what and where I was seeing it. Not reading my story was frustrating, much less how they included a 2 minute video from Canon on how they go through all the ropes and to keep me posted via email every step of the way. Then it goes to the quality department where they themselves go over it again with a fine tooth comb before it is boxed back up and sent to me. You have to ask, how two completely different departments miss the same things. Maybe the specks to me are of no harm to them or they were too small and they all missed them. Thats possible. But at 4K, I want perfect. I didn't think I was being unreasonable. I was more than polite and very understanding, and again included a lengthy story as well as a detailed hand drawn pic of where the specks were located including the new discoloration/smudge in the view finder. Last time they received the camera one day and sent it back out the very next day. By the fact I have not heard from them yet on this go around leaves to to believe they are digging in this time. Hopefully. If it comes back this time and I am NOT happy, I will be asking for a new camera for sure. I talked my wife into buying this camera when she was hesitant in dropping this amount of cash. It was her dream camera. But now she is raising her eye brows and is very close to saying..........."You see, you see. I knew we shouldn't have". I dread those conversations. Just want to make her happy you know. I'll keep you posted. Sid
Evening guys, Well, I just received my camera back from Canon, Newport News, after they cleaned out all the black specks in the view finder, cleaned the entire mirror box, and replaced my focus screen to remedy the blur or smudge I was seeing in the middle of the view finder. The view finder is now perfect EXCEPT for the slight discoloration/smudge or ghostly small blur that is still in the middle of the viewfinder. You can only see it when you look at a clear blue sky. Looking at clouds or anything else, even white paper, its not seen. I took the lens (24 - 105 IS L) off the camera, cleaned with a ZEISS lens towelette front and back, reassembled, and still the ghostly discoloration is still there. I began to think maybe its normal. When you move the camera around while looking at the sky, the mark does not move. Its always in the exact same spot in the viewfinder. I thought surely if it was in the camera body, Canon would have caught it with either of the return trips back to them. Thats what made me think maybe its something with the lens. So I researched today, Flare, ghosting, aberrations, and other lens issues. I do not think what I'm seeing is any of these things. I need a more experienced eye. I called the store where I bought it and told him what I was seeing and what I thought and how its been back to Canon twice in the last month. He told me to remove the lens and look through the camera again while looking at the sky. BAM! The spot/discoloration/smudge was gone. I put the lens back on to double check. The spot returns. Take the lens back off for the 2nd time, the spot disappears. Some thing is going on with the lens or the lens is making the camera show a spot. Any idea what this could be? This is the only lens I own so I cannot try another. Although I DO have a 50mm Canon lens off my 20D. Not sure if I could try that. I am at a loss. Oh, I only sent the camera body to Canon, so they've never seen this lens yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sid
It would be the next thing that I would do if I were you. Then you can narrow down where this smudge is coming from. Can you see anything on the front element? What about the rear element? Can you physically see any thumb mark sort of marks? Gary
Sir, I did clean the front glass and rear glass of the lens with a ZEISS lens towlette. Under the filter as well. I am going to remove the filter when I get home and look again to see if something is up with the filter. Also try the 50mm lens. I'll update when I get home from work.' Thank you for your help. Sid
This is a basic process of elimination. Try on the 50mm, see if you have the same problem. If not, try the other lens with, and without the filter, and see what your results are. Gary
Evening guys, Well first off I need to apologize. The lens from my 20D is an EFS 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6II lens NOT an EF. Its a white dot so using this lens to troubleshoot is out of the question. Back to the 24 - 105 lens that came with the 5D, the one I'm seeing the small discoloration in. I took this lens and held it an an angle to a light source and looked for any scratches, fungus, dirt, finger prints, anything I could see. The lens is immaculate to my eye front and back. I took several pictures of the blue sky this morning. You can only see the slight spot if you really look hard for it through the viewfinder. When pics are downloaded, its nowhere to be found. I did not try the "LiveView experiment like you said Mr. Hoffman. I'll try that tomorrow. My wife and I talked about this, and we think quite possibly it was there on the lens when we bought it. Its just we never took the camera outside of the camera store to look up at the sky. Its the only time you can see it barely. This camera store is by no means a B&H. It was probably the only 5D they had and was probably handled by the clerks and customers more than once. Frankly, I am tired of sending my camera back and forth to Canon. I'll call them Monday to see what they say. But its getting expensive with shipping and insurance and chasing FEDEX. Like I said, I want to try LiveView tomorrow. I think my time is probably better vested at this point learning our new camera and getting better at the craft of photography as a whole. I am going to start a new thread on apertures and lenses because I do have some questions. I'll update you guys tomorrow on the LiveView. But the pictures look flawless and after all, my black specks are gone. Thanks guys Sid
