OK, so my girlfriend (no she is not blond), loved my Canon 40D and decided that she needed to get a newer version (50D is what she got) of it to take photos of her growing family. Frankly, P&S would do, but who am I to judge...I know what these suckers can do when kids are moving so I am not blaming her...


Here is what happened...she called me today all teary because she "decided to clean the mirror thingy" in the camera". I suspect it had something to do with one of her little curious darlings getting a hold of sweet new thing and perhaps doing something to it....I do not know. I do not know what it looked like "before this spring cleaning", but she claims she saw a spot through viewfinder and she took the lens off, took a Q-tip wrapped in glasses cleaning cloth (she showed me, it is one of those soft floppy ones ) and she went to town on these mirrors. Apparently she did not end there. She cleaned the one that was obvious, put lens on, and...Oh horror, saw more spots. So....thinking she had nothing to lose...she took the same cloth but this time she dipped it in rubbing alcohol and did some wiping, and went to the top element as well. She still sees spots but it got better. I can see them as well, they are not HUGE, but they are there. How the hell did they get there? Nobody claims responsibility for this, I wonder if she self-inflicted this by careless lens changing....


Only then she called me for advice....well, I have none, I have not done anything like that and have no advice...do you? I feel really bad for her, it is pretty new camera for her, although she purchased it used. Does she need to take it to the repair store or send it to Canon? Any advice? Help, she wants to borrow my camera for her trip and I fear this may be the end of friendship [:'(]