EOS Rebel T3; Top mirror piece problems!

[kaylamay9009]

I have an EOS Rebel T3. I am looking for advice or some help on what I need to do to fix my problem. A couple months ago when my family and I were on vacation, I took out my camera to take some photos. When I attached my lens and looked through the viewfinder, it looked like there was some fuzz and dust on the front of the lens. I cleaned it off, then looked through again and the fuzz was still there. I took the lens off and wiped it off and also wiped the inside of the lens mount area and wiped both mirror pieces off. Still, when looking through, it looked like there was fuzz/dust. I realized after closer inspection that it was the top mirror piece (as shown by arrow in photo) that had that fuzz.dust particles. I was never able to get it clean no matter how much i wiped it off. I used tissues, q-tips, my shirt and my fingertip to wipe it off and nothing has helped. It almost seems as if it is permanent dust particles up there. Now, I believe that with the excessive wiping, some slight scratches have appeared. You can see the marks that I am talking about in the other photo pictured. I took a photo with my cellphone through the viewfinder. I have no idea how to fix this issue and I am going on vacation to the mountains in August so of course I am wanting to get this fixed before then so I can take photos. If you have any ideas on how I can fix this, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

[Waddizzle]

I think you need to contact Canon Support at 1-800-OK-CANON.  Hopefully, that is the focusing screen, not the mirror.

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-rebel-t5-ef-s-18-55mm-is-ii-lens-kit-refurbished

Repairs could quickly reach the point of diminishing returns for T3.  The above link is to a factory refurbished T5, which has 18MP resolution, for what the cost to repair your T3 might be if the mirror has been damaged. 

However, the T5 is currently out of stock, and may or may not became available before your deadline.  Another camera to consider is the SL1, which I am not sure is even considered to be a Rebel, or not.

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/eos-sl1-body-refurbished

The SL1 has been made available iin kits with an 18-55mm lens, which is better than the one in T5 kits, but is also currently sold out.

[TTMartin]

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@kaylamay9009 wrote:

I have an EOS Rebel T3. I am looking for advice or some help on what I need to do to fix my problem. A couple months ago when my family and I were on vacation, I took out my camera to take some photos. When I attached my lens and looked through the viewfinder, it looked like there was some fuzz and dust on the front of the lens. I cleaned it off, then looked through again and the fuzz was still there. I took the lens off and wiped it off and also wiped the inside of the lens mount area and wiped both mirror pieces off. Still, when looking through, it looked like there was fuzz/dust. I realized after closer inspection that it was the top mirror piece (as shown by arrow in photo) that had that fuzz.dust particles. I was never able to get it clean no matter how much i wiped it off. I used tissues, q-tips, my shirt and my fingertip to wipe it off and nothing has helped. It almost seems as if it is permanent dust particles up there. Now, I believe that with the excessive wiping, some slight scratches have appeared. You can see the marks that I am talking about in the other photo pictured. I took a photo with my cellphone through the viewfinder. I have no idea how to fix this issue and I am going on vacation to the mountains in August so of course I am wanting to get this fixed before then so I can take photos. If you have any ideas on how I can fix this, please let me know!

Thanks in advance!

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That is the focus screen. It should be a relatively low cost item to have replaced by a camera service center. The focus screen itself is under $20 and a shop shouldn't charge too much more than that to change it. So expect it to cost about $50. And in the future keep your fingers, and everything else you used away from it. The only thing you should ever use on it is air from a bulb blower (NOT canned air).

[jrhoffman75]

The focus screen, as it's called, is only used for focusing if you are manually focusing. Auto focus uses hardware and electronics that are behind the main mirror. 

The focusing screen is in the exposure metering path. 

If if the camera is taking properly exposed and focused photos then the urgency to repair in time for your trip is reduced. 

As Tim says, bulb blower  only to clean out the mirror box. And minimize time when lens and body cap are off the camera. 

[kaylamay9009]

Thank you for the response. After reading these replies and learning that the piece is acrually called a 'focus screen' i looked online and saw many videos of people replacing that part on their own. Is this something I could do on my own or would it be best to take it to some camera specialist? I just wouldn't know how or where to find one here locally. If I can do it on my own, where would I find one online? I've typed "canon EOS Rebel T3 focus screen" into Google and I can't seem to find one that is just for my simple Rebel T3.

[TTMartin]

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@kaylamay9009 wrote:

Thank you for the response. After reading these replies and learning that the piece is acrually called a 'focus screen' i looked online and saw many videos of people replacing that part on their own. Is this something I could do on my own or would it be best to take it to some camera specialist? I just wouldn't know how or where to find one here locally. If I can do it on my own, where would I find one online? I've typed "canon EOS Rebel T3 focus screen" into Google and I can't seem to find one that is just for my simple Rebel T3.

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Only you can decide if you can do it or not.

If you get dirt and dust trapped on top of the focus screen, it will be there until it is taken apart again. Given that you wouldn't have to be replacing it at all, if you hadn't done stuff inside the mirror box that you shouldn't. 

I would say you should leave it to a pro. 

[jrhoffman75]

If you have the skill you can try it. Its not complicated, but there are small screws. As Tim says, only you know what you would be comfortable trying.

[Removed due to Community Guidelines] 

Don't touch screen; handle it carefully with tweezers.

[Waddizzle]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:

If you have the skill you can try it. Its not complicated, but there are small screws. As Tim says, only you know what you would be comfortable trying.

 [deleted]

Don't touch screen; handle it carefully with tweezers.

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Genuine Canon focusing screens that I have seen for sale come with a special tool to hold and install the focusing screen.

[jrhoffman75]

"Genuine Canon focusing screens that I have seen for sale come with a special tool to hold and install the focusing screen."

That's true for cameras that have optional screens that can be changed out by user. Not sure if Rebel ones do.

[RobertTheFat]

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@jrhoffman75 wrote:
That's true for cameras that have optional screens that can be changed out by user. Not sure if Rebel ones do.

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I've installed a KatzEye on an XTi. It wasn't exactly trivial, but neither was it a major challenge - though I was glad that I have small hands. The KatzEye company supplied a specialized pair of tweezers that helped somewhat.

I later installed a KatzEye on a 50D, which exposed the fact that the part of the screen assembly that doesn't get changed out was slightly mispositioned. As I recall, the camera paid visits to both KatzEye and Canon efore that got completely straightened out. (The 50D installation was easier, BTW, because the camera is slightly larger.)