Canon 5D Questions

[Aaron Jors]

I recently purchased a used 5D and have a couple questions

1. The shutter button just goes in it doesn't seem to have friction point (Click) for tripping the shutter like my 30D does. The shutter button on the BG-E4 has this same issue as well. Is this normal for the 5D and grip?

2. There are some larger pieces of what I assume would be dust when I look through the viewfinder. These do not affect the final image so far as I can tell but are somewhat annoying when taking the shot. Where is this dust and is there anyway to remove it?

3. The rotating wheel has a slight click when it is rotated to the next position, my 30D does make sound but it's not quite the same. Is this normal?

Any input would be appreciate. Thanks!

[Alfred Forns]

Aaron can only comment on number two The dust you see is on the mirror easy to remove More often than not it can be blown away

[David Kennedy]

Aaron,
I have a 5D and the BG-E4 and what you describe is "normal" for the shutter button of the 5D. There's nothing wrong with yours, it's just different.

Unfortunately, the dust in the viewfinder is not as easy to take care of as Alfred suggests. (Sorry, Alfred!!!!!) It's unlikely to just blow out. I have taken the focusing screen out before and that's actually not where the dust is trapped. It's behind the piece of plastic (which is above the focusing screen) that has the 5D's focusing points engraved into it. It takes a lot of effort to remove everything carefully and clean it out.

The first time I did this whole operation, I was really close to putting it back together carefully when I slipped my forceps and scratched the piece of plastic with the focusing points. I had to order a new one, which was not very expensive--something like $20.00 US) but I had to wait a week for it to arrive. In the mean time, my viewfinder was free of dust but had a huge line in it (the scratch)!!!!!!

Basically, the 5D's viewfinder is a dust magnet. Since I cleaned out the viewfinder, enough dust has accumulated so that it looks like it did before I cleaned it. I'd learn to live with it if I were you.

Cheers,
David