UH OH! An Inexpensive-ish Cleaning Lesson

The other day I took my camera outside for some polarizer fun. It was a bright and sunny spring day and I thought, "gee, isn't this just the kind of weather and blue sky that will look fantastic with a polarizing filter on my camera?" And. it. was. 

Only...somehow while I was putting on the filter, I knocked some dust loose onto the image sensor and the screen started looking...speckled. And I was mad. 

I did everything I could to try and clean off the lens, the filter, etc. but I could not seem to figure out how to get the dust off (because at this point, I had no idea that it was actually inside the camera and not on the lens. There was no J around to explain that to me!) So there I am, cleaning and cleaning and cleaning, and then I open up the camera and peer in, and I think I see some dirt on the translucent mirror. Which, I have since learned, is not really a mirror in the sense that we think of "mirror", but instead this clear, thin, piece of plastic (or some kind of polymer) stretched over a tiny metal frame. If you were to actually take it out and play with it, you would be reminded of cellophane wrapped tightly and tautly over your leftover casserole. So...not especially durable. 

But I don't know this, since it looks like glass, and I lightly brush it with my microfiber cloth. (Interestingly, there are already some scratches on it that don't appear to have any effect on my previous pictures.) Aaand then I discover I've left a bruise on my little piece of plastic. Oops. Big oops. 

Here is what I'm talking about (with some edited photos cause hey, these are really pretty once you take out the bruising and dots.)

f/25, 1/20th, ISO-100, 24mm
No bruising yet, but plenty of dust. Besides the big black spot, how many small spots do you see? 

same as above, with edits

f/25, 1/25th, ISO-100, 28mm
Aaaan then I made it worse. Now how many do you see?? Note the bruise on the top left by the clouds..that's the irreparable damage. Everything else was easily cleaned...if you knew what you were doing. 

same as above, with edits

f/25, 1/15th, ISO-100, 22mm
In case you didn't get how bad it was, here's another one. 

    Luckily for me, I live with MacGuyver. Once we were able to ascertain what particular new camera piece I needed AND where to buy it from, all I had to do was pay just under $50 and have it shipped to me, and MacGuyver could install it. And he did!

my baby is all opened up! ahhh

The damaged translucent mirror. Note the dings at the top of its screen. 

I also went ahead and invested in a $10 cleaning set for my camera. What on earth was I waiting for??

The goods. 

The important goods. From top to bottom - brushes for the lens x 2; air blower to blow dust from the image sensor and translucent mirror. 

f/4.5, 1/800th, ISO-100, 18mm
no spots :) 

And so, all's well that end's well. For those interested in a more technical, albeit brief, description of the inner workings of my camera, check out this description.