Viewfinder Dust

[Bear Dale]

Hi all,

I had two visible pieces of dust in the viewfinder, one pretty noticeable and one I have to really hunt for to find (but it still bugs me badly). I've gotten rid of the big one using a rocket blower.

Should I call it quits now and be thankful in case I make matters worse or keep blowing and try to remover the last one as well?

[arthurking83]

G'day BD.
I highly recommend getting yourself a can of canned air.
Just about any brand is good nowadays.
Personally I prefer Air Duster by SUNTO, but only because it's cheap and that's what I got!
But in reality they're all pretty much the same.
Try to get a can that has a straw... the straw is the advantage.

If you have a Bunnings nearby, I noticed they have some at the tool shop area, near the cans of CRC and WD, and whatnot.

Note: if you do try it(and I recommend you do) .. don't shake can before using. Better to use after it's been sitting for a while.
The propellant can be ejected if used after agitating the can. Either let is sit for a while or give it a short burst(1/10th sec) to get rid of propellant.
Most propellants(that I've had experience with) are harmless, and just leave a chalky residue .. easy to clean off.

Don't use blower bulbs(unless there is zero other option). Think about it, blower bulbs need air to allow the ability to blow air, and the air they fill with is just ambient .. unfiltered ambient air.
All you then do is blow the same air around you back into the camera... but in a concentrated manner!

[Birna Rørslett]

There are blower units with built-in filter to solve the mentioned issue.

[pluton]

Should I call it quits now and be thankful in case I make matters worse or keep blowing and try to remover the last one as well?

Short answer: Yes, call it quits.  Relax.  Shoot pictures.
Long answer: Take reasonable steps to eliminate the less-annoying particle, but if it's not in the central area, don't go nuts.  You can easily ignore small dusts if they are located in the outer areas of the view.
As Birna suggested, there are HEPA filtered squeeze bulb blowers available. 
I use the canned gas (please don't call it 'air') routinely, but keep one of the filtered squeeze bulb blowers handy.

[Jacques Pochoy]

When much younger I was horrified when I had dust bunnies in the viewfinder. On the FM2 as the F4, I spent time blowing up the ground glass or trying to access the prism. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not... A Nikon shop guy told me to use vacuum instead of blowing (an inverter you put on the usual canned air).

With age and  zen training I learned to ignore those bunnies... And they really disappeared (getting somewhere else)
Recently I had one in my Df viewfinder, just before my holiday trip... I was annoyed but stayed calm (with the upper lip rigid ). Arriving in Malta, I found no trace of the culprit, haven't seen any since (there must be a huge stock of those hidden somewhere) !

The more we fret about those specks, the more they seem to cling and stay in our field of vision... If you ignore them, they'll go in hiding 

[Bear Dale]

G'day BD.
I highly recommend getting yourself a can of canned air.
Just about any brand is good nowadays.
Personally I prefer Air Duster by SUNTO, but only because it's cheap and that's what I got!
But in reality they're all pretty much the same.
Try to get a can that has a straw... the straw is the advantage.

If you have a Bunnings nearby, I noticed they have some at the tool shop area, near the cans of CRC and WD, and whatnot.

Note: if you do try it(and I recommend you do) .. don't shake can before using. Better to use after it's been sitting for a while.
The propellant can be ejected if used after agitating the can. Either let is sit for a while or give it a short burst(1/10th sec) to get rid of propellant.
Most propellants(that I've had experience with) are harmless, and just leave a chalky residue .. easy to clean off.

Don't use blower bulbs(unless there is zero other option). Think about it, blower bulbs need air to allow the ability to blow air, and the air they fill with is just ambient .. unfiltered ambient air.
All you then do is blow the same air around you back into the camera... but in a concentrated manner!

Thanks Arthur.

[Bear Dale]

Short answer: Yes, call it quits.  Relax.  Shoot pictures.
Long answer: Take reasonable steps to eliminate the less-annoying particle, but if it's not in the central area, don't go nuts.  You can easily ignore small dusts if they are located in the outer areas of the view.
As Birna suggested, there are HEPA filtered squeeze bulb blowers available. 
I use the canned gas (please don't call it 'air') routinely, but keep one of the filtered squeeze bulb blowers handy.

Thanks pluton.

[Bear Dale]

When much younger I was horrified when I had dust bunnies in the viewfinder. On the FM2 as the F4, I spent time blowing up the ground glass or trying to access the prism. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not... A Nikon shop guy told me to use vacuum instead of blowing (an inverter you put on the usual canned air).

With age and  zen training I learned to ignore those bunnies... And they really disappeared (getting somewhere else)
Recently I had one in my Df viewfinder, just before my holiday trip... I was annoyed but stayed calm (with the upper lip rigid ). Arriving in Malta, I found no trace of the culprit, haven't seen any since (there must be a huge stock of those hidden somewhere) !

The more we fret about those specks, the more they seem to cling and stay in our field of vision... If you ignore them, they'll go in hiding 

Thanks Jacques.

[Bear Dale]

There are blower units with built-in filter to solve the mentioned issue.

Thanks Birna.

[Bear Dale]

Thanks all for the advice, appreciated. I need to have a little Zen and just let it go