Wow! That was pretty easy (450D Baader Mod)...

[astroimpulse]

Using Gary Honis' excellent guide I finally got around to modding my 450D.

To be fair...it was a breeze (I was prepared for tears and tantrums).

Made sure my area was clean, lots of air-tight pots at the ready, all the tools needed*. Oh...and wide awake.

30min in....40mins out (not including the curing time of the silicone).

*It's worth mentioning a few things on the tools recommended on the guide. I would definately recommend fine needle nose tweezers in addition to the tools recommended in the guide. Those little screws need help. Also the philips #000 was too big for my screws. I ended up using a smaller one which I already had.

Taking apart is simple but you realise getting it back together will be much tougher. However, when I crossed that bridge things went far smoother than I was expecting. The two things I thought would be a mission turned out fine as I deviated from the guide a little (one ribbon cable and the other was a screw tucked away).

Anyone has the courage to do it...get it done Take your time, wear Nitrile gloves and organise everything as you go.

Was a massive relief when it turned on and worked a treat. I always use custom white balance so it's not a chore to do so to get correct daytime images.

All I need now is a decent night to get out

Edit: Added a daft pic...

[themos]

Yay!

[astroimpulse]

ps. When I'm saying 'it's easy' I'm not doing so to be up myself. Nope, I'm saying it so those who want to, but are unsure of their skills, can do it without the scary things happening.

Also saves you quiet a wedge from having someone else do it

[astroimpulse]

Yay!

Indeed

[barkis]

Good job.

Being prepared for the taskis a big plus.

Now, be honest, did you break the old filter taking out of the frame?

I did, not that it mattered, but just a blot on my effort.

Everything else went smoothly though.

Ron.

[astroimpulse]

Of course I did hehehe

I was going very carefully, determined to beat Mr Honis, and it was just taking too long and not moving. The last pry broke the corner and I though "meh"...and tore it out

[Ibbo!]

Now, be honest, did you break the old filter taking out of the frame?

funny you should say that

it took me ages to find the screw I dropped when the phone rang

my tip disconnect the phone

Glad to hear it went well

Steve

[astroimpulse]

Oh yeh...read the post above you

And yeh...those little screws can be tricky (why I suggested tweezers). Luckily I didn't drop any into scary/unrecoverable places. I was constantly aware of the bother it would cause. I would have flipped if I'd gotten it all back together and a screw fell into a space that meant I had to start over

PS. Updated the OP with a daft image to illustrate the mod.

[astroimpulse]

Oh oh!

I'm going to have to dismantle again

As the image above shows...there's no marks etc left from the mod.

But I was playing with a narrow aperture, before (which means long exposure), and I noticed dots on the image! A quick look at the white curtains to see if they were on them..."nope".

Removed the lens to take a pic to see if it's not the lens but on the filters or cmos..."nope". But of course it wouldn't show as it's naked and just one big blur.

Stuck the cam on my scope (indoors) and took some snaps. Still blurred but a stretch in PS showed them in all their glory!

I was super careful and ocd about keeping everything clean. Even using different light to see on the glass (inc magnifying glass).

But here's my error...I used a Lens Pen on a couple of grease marks. An error because the pen uses carbon and although excellent, normally, and although nothing was visible under magnification...the carbon that's left is microscopic! Too small to see under normal conditions. But the camera knows best and there's loads of them. LOADS! hahahaha

I know flats will rid them but I don't want to make extra work and take any risks.

Just ordered some special cmos and filter cleaner (and special swabs). Time to make this perfect.

I spoke too soon...didn't I?

[jgs001]

Sy, nicely done on the mod... As for the sensor dust, as long as it's on top of the filter, then a wet clean, should shift them... It might take a couple of swabs but it's easy... far easier than replacing the filter ...

Just make sure you're either running on a fully charged battery... or external power, you really don't want the shutter closing and the mirror dropping onto the swab whilst it's inserted into the body of the camera...

[Psychobilly]

I dont bother even trying to save the original filter these days after a couple of "nearly" moments ...

Congrats and enjoy

Billy...

[astroimpulse]

Totally. If I ever do it again I'll just flick it out :lol