Two SLR camera questions... help!

[Lyric]

Two questions I am hopeful someone can help with...

When I was in WDW, I really had a fun time with my Canon EOS 30D (2.5 yrs old) and new lenses. One of the lenses I bought was the Canon 50mm F/1.4, so I decided to see what it could do with fireworks. Most times when I tried to take a shot at night though, this is what would happen:

What are those little green ghost lights? Is my camera failing? Is there something I could do to prevent them? Is it because I don't have a lens hood?

Secondly, I did something really, really stupid. Please don't lecture- I know it was stupid! I was having a real dust problem at one point, and I knew nothing about the camera sensor. So... I took my lens off and wiped the two MIRRORS with a soft cloth to try to get dust off thinking one was the sensor. I know now that the dust which was causing a pain was deeper down on the sensor itself. I will never, ever try doing that again. HOWEVER, I am wondering- did I do lasting damage to the camera by touching the mirrors? A few things I read online made it sound like, if anything, it might hurt the quality of what I see in the viewfinder a bit, but not affect the final photo. Is that true, or do I need to think about sending the body in to Canon for a repair?

Believe me- even if I didn't hurt the camera, it bothered me enough that I'll read up on whatever I do next time BEFORE I do it. Talk about feeling stupid!

 

[Code]

What are those little green ghost lights? Is my camera failing? Is there something I could do to prevent them? Is it because I don't have a lens hood?

I'd be willing to bet you had a UV filter on your lens. Am I right? The extremely bright point lights of the fireworks reflect off the front element, back to the filter, and then back into the lens. It's made worse by the fact that the 50mm f/1.4 has a somewhat recessed front element so there is some distance between it and the filter, that's why the reflections show up so far away from the original points.

Take your filter off for any night shooting that involves lights in the frame.

Secondly, I did something really, really stupid. Please don't lecture- I know it was stupid. I was having a real dust problem at one point, and I knew nothing about the camera sensor. So... I took my lens off and wiped the two MIRRORS with a soft cloth to try to get dust off thinking one was the sensor. I know now that the dust which was causing a pain was deeper down on the sensor itself. I will never, ever try doing that again. HOWEVER, I am wondering- did I do lasting damage to the camera by touching the mirrors? A few things I read online made it sound like, if anything, it might hurt the quality of what I see in the viewfinder a bit, but not affect the final photo. Is that true, or do I need to think about sending the body in to Canon for a repair?

The mirror flips up out of the way to expose the sensor when you take a picture, so a scratched mirror would not affect picture quality. It would affect more than the viewfinder, however, as the autofocus and metering sensors use the light reflected from the mirror, so if it is badly damaged, you'll probably want to have it repaired.

It's easy enough to check if it's scratched, just remove your lens and give it a good look, maybe with a magnifying glass.

 

[Lyric]

THANK YOU, Code! Your response was very helpful. You are correct... I believe the 50 is one that has a UV filter on it. I'm glad to hear it is such a simple fix. That makes perfect sense.

Also, thanks for the comments on the mirrors. From what I can see, no damage was done- I'll take a magnifying glass to it tomorrow to get a closer look.

I will keep an eye out for future metering/autofocus issues, although I've used my camera a lot since the trip without any real problems.

 

[jann1033]

just a word to the wise...if you do need to send it in for repairs if it's out of warranty (which i am guessing it is)check around for some estimates or other repair places first before you send it to canon. canon now gives you a flat rate to do a minor refurbishment of your equipment rather than just repair the problem( ie sensor cleaning, adjust some stuff etc) which might be ok if it needed it, money wasted if it doesn't. with a lens i just sent in they doubled the initially quoted estimate then told me the new estimate was just to open it and examine it (second estimate included no parts , i know it at least needs one new part and from what they say basically would be minor adjustments or maybe include an inexpensive part,which of course they didn't mention in the email, i had to call them and pry it out of them) and after i paid that, then they would send me another estimate if it needed parts and that would be more yet. in that case i could either just lose the second already paid estimated price( $185) and not get it fixed or pay the rest of the estimate to get it fixed and they would refund the second estimated price but charge the whole new repair cost(which they told me could be 3x+ the initial estimate). so basically they are charging me almost $200 just to look at my lens which i know needs more than a minor adjustment....somebody is making lots of money on that deal and it isn't me....

imo canon service has got to be one of the worst.( this is my third time trying them, twice was with products still under warranty and only one time was it satisfactorily handled after 6 months aggravation , you'd think i would have learned and moved on but obviously i am dense)

they also charge more for return shipping than i could get just taking it into get it shipped ups...i'm pretty ticked i just sent it into canon first. now i'm checking around for other repair places but i've wasted over $30 in shipping fees and still have a busted lens

 

[Lyric]

Oh wow, jann1033- that would be absolutely infuriating! Thanks so much for the warning. I am sorry to hear you went through all that. It does sound like quite the waste of money. I know I have seen many people comment that their cameras came back DUSTIER after they had it cleaned by Canon.

So it sounds like the moral is: avoid Canon servicing unless it is completely necessary and unavoidable?

 

[bob100]

So it sounds like the moral is: avoid Canon servicing unless it is completely necessary and unavoidable?

not necessarily - do a search on the main Canon forum -
www.photography-on-the.net/forum
there are threads on repairs and Canon warranty service and the majority seem to think Canon's service is good (thankfully I haven't had get my Canon cameras serviced)

 

[boBQuincy]

I have had a lens adjusted, a camera shutter repaired, and a camera's focus adjusted by Canon. The shutter was not under warranty, the others were. The service ranged from just ok to pretty good. The price for the shutter repair was about as expected, a little more than the estimate although a couple other items needed repair also.

I have read mostly good and some bad stories about Canon repair, YMMV.

As for the UV filter, as far as I am concerned the only one they benefit is the filter salesperson!

 

[jann1033]

my first problem with canon service was with a multipass printer..it didn't work from the moment we took it out of the box( when printers were $$$$), i had ordered it online and the service had to go through canon.. it took over 6 months of repeated calls for them to even acknowledge there was a problem with the printers in general and after 2 yrs and much frustration, they finally replaced it with a refurb( since it was by then out of warranty, of course i had called them long before it had been out of warranty which is why they actually gave me the refurb. the woman who finally handled it and stopped just giving me the run around couldn't believe what idiots i had been dealing with and gave me a refurb ..that didn't work either,you had to basically reboot the entire computer ever time you printed more than one page....this was with an early top of the line dell computer). finally i took a loss and bought a hp which worked from the second i connected it. that made me decide to swear off canon..
till i bought a camera...
i originally refused even to look at canon due to the printer problem i had with them. but since i wanted a dslr and had some canon lenses from my old film rebel( which never was serviced) i ended up foolishly thinking the repair issues must have been a fluke, and bought a canon. fine till i had the problem with the under warranty is lens and or body and 6 months of aggravation. ok they finally fix it via resolution( not via repairs) and i figure "they came through after all, it must just be some woman hating jerk that was looking at my lens and camera" since they were very condescending every time i talked to them, acted like i couldn't possibly know my lens used to work and now didn't etc even when i sent them a cd of before and after photos. now this time I call instead of email( cause i know from the past they pretty much ignore anything you include in an email) tell the guy the exact problem, he gives me an estimate of $100. i figure, (even though in the real world an estimate better be close to the real figure, ie husband paints a house for what he estimates and i would love to see him be able to just raise the price cause he felt like or flubbed the estimate and have that one hold up in small claims court)by this time i know canon-land goes by it's own set of rules so i though maybe $150. when i get the estimate for $185, in the mean time i had sent my camera in, that was a priority so i figured i'd see what that all entailed for the lens since it was so much more but not itemized, maybe more was wrong inside etc, thinking they had looked at it at least. called in again, that is when they "explained" the above posted stuff to me. i'm sorry but imo that is unacceptable behavior. an "estimate of repairs" is supposed to be an "estimate of repairs" not a set price for them to look at it then give you an inflated "estimate of repairs" that is not even close to the initial quotes . i can not believe i am the only one who has had problems with canon. this has been over a period of over 10 yrs( maybe closer to 15, i know i got the printed before 9/11) and i find it very hard to believe i always get the nutcase technician and order taker, that is 100% of the time , what would the odds of that being... and i am very specific when i tell them what is wrong, what it's doing, how it happened, etc, i don't hold back info hoping they'll miss something if it's my fault so they know exactly what happened when they give me the initial quote
funny thing is, my $100 cheap cracker box 100mm macro that i have had for almost 3 yrs and sent to phototech the exact same day i sent in my canon is back, repaired and still has over 2 yrs of warranty service left...yeah phototech! i would use them again in a heart beat but they don't fix canon lenses, just nikon and phoenix i guess

but this time i am convinced...i really will never buy another canon product (ie printer) and if i didn't have a dslr system i would probably lose money on selling( since none of my working stuff is that good) and had the money to take a loss right now, i would skip canon and i would go with any other system that actually had a good repair department. canon products are great if they are working but worthless if you can not trust the repairs. i totally understand workmanship in general stinks today and i don't expect high quality anymore but i do expect a company to stand behind it's product and be upfront with any charges they are going to charge for repairs. maybe that is due to us having our own business for almost 30 yrs. i simply would never treat a customer that way. never ever... and i refuse to support a company that does.