How can I clean out the inside of my lense?

It depends where the dirt is. Following the light path, look at the rear surface of the lens. A dirty rear lens surface will have the most affect on picture quality or what you see in the viewfinder of any position in the light path. Like all optical cleaning procedures, hold the lens with the rear lens surface facing the ground so gravity will work with you. Start by blowing clean air on it using canned air or a blower such as a Rocket blower or ear syringe. If that is sufficient, do not continue the sequence. This holds true at the conclusion of each step because the more aggressive your cleaning becomes, the more risk there is of damage. If it is still dirty, gently brush it with a sable or camel hair brush. If that is not sufficient, gently wipe it with a dry lens photograph lens tissue (do not use coated tissues) or a microfiber cloth. Finally, as a last resort, dampen a corner of a lens tissue or microfiber cloth (do not put the wet solution directly on the lens) and gently wipe with a circular motion. Finish by wiping with a dry section of the tissue or cloth. Although the front surface of the lens is not as important, repeat the process for the front surface.
If you still see the dirt in the viewfinder, are two possible remaining locations; the bottom surface of the prism located above the mirror or the mirror.
Clean the prism first and avoid cleaning the mirror if possible, or any contact with the mirror. The prism can be cleaned following the sequence outlined above. If that doesn't work, the problem is the mirror.
CAUTION! The mirror is front surfaced and is very susceptible to scratches and other damage unlike a conventional mirror which is rear surfaced with the glass protecting the coating. Aggressive cleaning should be avoided.
Carefully follow step 1 of the lens cleaning procedure (air) and step 2 (brushing) if necessary. As far as the third and fourth steps, I would not use them myself because of the risk of mirror coating damage. It would be better to take your camera to a qualified repairman.


remove the lens and look above the mirror at the bottom of the viewfinder prism. If it is dirty, clean it as you would clean a lens surface. The next place to look is the mirror.
CAUTION! The mirror, unlike the mirror over your bathroom sink, is front surfaced and there is no glass between you and the delicate and easily damaged coating. Hold the camera with the mirror facing down so that gravity will work in your favor. If that does not work, I would stop and take it to a camera repairman because you do not want to risk scratching the surface by using lens tissue or cleaner.

Take a couple of pictures, over a dark background, if you can see the spec of dust on them, the problem might be in the mirror. Now, if the dust does not appear on the pictures, it's either on the viewfinder, or somewhere else out of the way of the sensor.
You should never try to clean the sensor by hand, always ask a profesional to do that for you.

Your lens would need to be absolutely filthy with enormous dirt specks to cause the fault you describe. Dust, fingerprints, and regular minor debris simply doesn't show in the final image. In any case, you cannot clean inside the lens without dismantling it and that is a job for experienced specialists only.

Your fault is a dirty image sensor. You can buy sensor cleaning kits, but if you're inexperienced with them or trying to clean the sensor in a dusty environment you'll just make matters worse. Many camera shops offer sensor cleaning while you wait at relatively low cost. The reason you don't see the dirt when taking the picture is either because you're looking through the optical viewfinder or because the LCD screen simply doesn't magnify the image enough to show the marks which are present in the image.

You can prevent the dirt from reoccurring by never leaving the camera with the lens throat open for more than strictly necessary, and by always trying to keep the open lens throat pointing slightly down when swapping lenses.

I hope that I've helped, please take a moment to rate my answer.

Don't. Unless there are some really big specks of dirt inside the lens then they will have no effect at all on picture taking. To prevent the problem getting worse always store your lens with it's front and rear caps on and inside a lens bag. Also make sure that your camera bag is clean and isn't shedding fibres from the inner linings.

Dismantling your lens to clean it is really a job best left to a professional who will then additionally check and clean/lubricate the moving parts inside the lens.

Never touch the mirror... it will leave a mark. Is it underneath the viewfinder ? If it's not in the viewfinder, how do you know you have dirt. If there is dirt on the sensor, that's a decent pro job. Special ways to get to the sensor and cleaning is a very tricky job.

Turn the dail to a different position and try again.

Does your lense open up 100%. If not , clean the outside (around) the lense and turn on and off a few times.

If you feel the lense does not retract 100% or does not open up 100%, push it or pull the lense NOT too hard a few times.

Good luck!!!!!!!!

There could be two things causing this problem.

1- some dirt somehow got on the outside of side of the lense. So the lense could not fully retract or open out. As a result you can not take any picture. If the lense comes out even a little bit, try to pull it out NOT too hard a few times. If it does not retract, turn the camera off and push the lense in (up and down) NOT too hard for a few times. If the camera opened up 100% or retracted 100%, your camera should be back to normal. Make sure to clean the outside of the lense when fully open and keep it clean always. If this did not help, read 2.

2- If you dropped the camera, some mechanical part of the lense is broken or dislocated or the cable may have come loose. In this case you need to take out the lense from the camera and inspect it for broken pieces or loose cable. clean the outside of the lense and push the lense in and out a few times. Put the lense back on the camera and your camera would be back to normal.

Good luck!!!!!!

When you dropped your camera, some dirt got on the outside of the lense or some mechanical part of the lense broke or dislocated. If some of the mechnical part of the lense is damaged, you need to open up the lense from the camera and inspect the parts. Look for loose parts, then clean it and put it back.
I had the same problem with my sony Cyber-shop, but it was not dropped. somehow one or more small piece of dirt got on the outside of the lense. Here is what I did and the problem was fixed for good.
While turning the camera off, I pressed on the lense (up and down motion) softly. After a few times, the lense retracted 95% of the normal retracted position. I then, pressed the lense a little harder in untill it was fully retracted. It has been working okay since then.

You should always keep the outside of the lense clean and do not drop it.

Good luck

If you have a SLR camera you can take your lense off and clean it.. I do not reccoment canned air because if you do not use it the right way liquid will come out. At best buy they have cleaning kits, and in their kit they have a little brush that you can squeeze regular air and brush off anything on the lense or around the lense, If you have a SLR camera you might have a built in cleaning option... SLR means Single Lense Reflex and this means your lense can come off/interchangable..

If the specks are just on your viewfinder focussing screen, they won't be on your pics. If they're on both your pics and focussing screen, you need to find someone else to clean your camera. Cleaning either your CCD sensor or your screen yourself can leave scratches. Changing lenses often can suck dust into the inside if the body is dusty. Try another repair shop for thorough cleaning - it shouldn't cost more than $50.