D5100's viewfinder

[madhurey_saran]

Hi,

I have a Nikon D5100. When i was cleaning the cam's viewfinder, it resulted in a few scratches. Now because of this, whenever i take photos of a light source, the light appears to be refracted though the final pic is not affected. Is there any way to remove the scratches from the viewfinder? Or can the viewfinder be replaced under payment.

Needing your advise, badly

Thanks,
Madhu

[Anbesol]

I'm sorry to see there has not been a response yet. I hope this gets to you.

The viewfinder will not have any effect on the image, because the viewfinder is removed from the light path to expose the image. You say the light appears to be "refracted", can you be more specific as to what is happening?

So when you point the camera towards the light source, the scratches cause some visual interference in your viewfinder? How bad is the interference, 'barely visible', 'overtly visible' or obscuring your view?

Now why were you cleaning the viewfinder? Was there debris or something in it? The best way to clean a viewfinder is with compressed air (not canned).

[Franglais]

If the camera is new you might be able to get it fixed under guarantee. It depends on how generous your Nikon distributor is. Otherwise it's certainly repairable for a charge.

I don't know exactly what you have done. I imagine that you have scratched the glass eyepiece on the back of the camera that you look through to see the image by rubbing it with your finger that has some sand on it?

Like all glass pieces - especially lenses - you should blow on it first to remove impurities then use a folded soft cloth to wipe it off. And take your time. If it's not clean the first time then keep on a it gently.

Don't EVER take the lens off and try to clean the inner parts of the camera, in particular the mirror. This is a delicate moving part which is essential to the operation of the camera. If you move it then it's an expensive repair job.

[madhurey_saran]

@anbesol

thanks for your reply dude. Since i always take pics on an open crowdy environment, a few dust particles began to accumulate on my viewfinder glass piece. so i just used the lens cleaning cloth for that which resulted in a few scratches on the viewfinder glass piece. When i point onto a light source, the light source alone gets blurred on a vertical axis because of these scratches though it doesn't affect my final image quality, its really irritating for me to shoot pics .

Thanks ,
Madhu

[madhurey_saran]

@Franglais

But can the viewfinder glass piece be changed ?? at all??? i really dont care if its gonna be for charge or under warranty. I just wanna change it ASAP How much would it approximately cost??

Thanks,
Madhu

[Franglais]

@Franglais

But can the viewfinder glass piece be changed ?? at all??? i really dont care if its gonna be for charge or under warranty. I just wanna change it ASAP How much would it approximately cost??

Thanks,
Madhu

Just about anything can be changed. I have no idea how much it would cost, ask your service center. The cost of the part is probably small, it's usually the time of the technician that you pay for.

[madhurey_saran]

@franglais

thanks a lot dude

[Franglais]

Just to give you an idea of how difficult it is to estimate the price -

I live in Paris France and there are lots of professionals and Nikon has set up a service desk in the center of the city. You can talk to the techicians and if it's possible to make an adjustment on the spot then they do it, usually for free. That's good service.

If a real repair job is required then they send it to the service center in the suburbs. That's minimum 3 weeks and $250 - I paid $700 to get one of my lenses serviced. But afterwards it was like new

These are French labour costs. You live in an area where labour costs are much lower so you'll just have to ask.

[volks]

It's probably going to cost you around $100.00 Labor ain't cheap anymore.
Good lesson learned. As said already, always use an air pump brush or compressed air prior to using a cleaning cloth.