# Ants nesting in my 5D!



## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

For a while now I have had ants nesting inside my camera. Anybody else have this?

They seem to live in the space in front of the viewfinder - occasionally I'll see one crawl across my field of vision. They come and go via the little microphone slot above the "EOS 5D" label. I put a bait out, next to the camera, and most of them seem to have left but I still get the odd one. I'm not sure if there are still others inside or if something attracts them back to the camera. I can't imagine it is a good thing for the camera.

Any advice?


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## ahab1372 (Apr 19, 2014)

Sorry, no advice - but can you post a picture if you see one crawling around?
Good Luck!


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## Don Haines (Apr 19, 2014)

StephenC said:


> For a while now I have had ants nesting inside my camera. Anybody else have this?
> 
> They seem to live in the space in front of the viewfinder - occasionally I'll see one crawl across my field of vision. They come and go via the little microphone slot above the "EOS 5D" label. I put a bait out, next to the camera, and most of them seem to have left but I still get the odd one. I'm not sure if there are still others inside or if something attracts them back to the camera. I can't imagine it is a good thing for the camera.
> 
> Any advice?



Wow! Is it worth getting it cleaned?.... you could try and convince Canon it's a design bug... (pun intended)


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## Jim Saunders (Apr 19, 2014)

I'd take a photo of a can of Raid and see if they get the hint.

Jim


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## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

ahab1372 said:


> Sorry, no advice - but can you post a picture if you see one crawling around?
> Good Luck!



The ants are only in the viewfinder. They don't get between the lens and sensor, I could take a photo of an ant on my camera but a black ant on a black camera would have poor contrast and make a terrible photo!


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## sagittariansrock (Apr 19, 2014)

StephenC said:


> ahab1372 said:
> 
> 
> > Sorry, no advice - but can you post a picture if you see one crawling around?
> ...



I'll take a wild guess and say Ahab referred to taking a photo with a different camera. I suggest a video instead though. Doubtless it will go viral!

Anyway, maybe you can try putting it in a ziplock bag and filling the bag with something that replaces oxygen (they won't use it up until doomsday otherwise)? Like dry ice? You might have a few dead ants in the camera though.


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## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

I put out one of those ant baits, that they take back and poison the colony. It seemed to be working, in that the ants marched out. I decided I didn't really want a dead colony of ants in the camera though so killed them as they emerged, so they never carried the poison back. What intrigues me is why they would want to be in there in the first place. I can;t believe that there are no better places to nest.


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## Don Haines (Apr 19, 2014)

StephenC said:


> I put out one of those ant baits, that they take back and poison the colony. It seemed to be working, in that the ants marched out. I decided I didn't really want a dead colony of ants in the camera though so killed them as they emerged, so they never carried the poison back. What intrigues me is why they would want to be in there in the first place. I can;t believe that there are no better places to nest.


They are obviously not going to nest in a Nikon camera....


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## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> They are obviously not going to nest in a Nikon camera....



Ha Ha!


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## ahab1372 (Apr 19, 2014)

Sorry that we are making jokes at your expense, but it is funny in a bizarre way. 
I think the bait is the best option - maybe you can find one that is also a trap? Maybe let a few of them go back at first so that they establish a scent path, then make sure the bait is in a no-return trap. That way you don't have to sit next to the camera for hours.


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## ahab1372 (Apr 19, 2014)

And if you could take a picture or video of ants crawling in the viewfinder, that would be a huge success. Take the lens cap off and shine some light through the lens.


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## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

I'll see what I can do, but since I evicted the twenty or so I first discovered I only see the occasionally and less often inside the camera, more on the outside. If I get them I will try and post a video. No promises though!


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## sagittariansrock (Apr 19, 2014)

StephenC said:


> I'll see what I can do, but since I evicted the twenty or so I first discovered I only see the occasionally and less often inside the camera, more on the outside. If I get them I will try and post a video. No promises though!



Um... is this a 5D classic by any chance... :-X


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## ahab1372 (Apr 19, 2014)

Maybe they are supposed to be in there. They are the ones moving the mechanical parts when we push a button, like little workers with hard hats. Maybe they are even counting photons and pushing electrons. We probably all have ants in our cameras.


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## StephenC (Apr 19, 2014)

ahab1372 said:


> Maybe they are supposed to be in there. They are the ones moving the mechanical parts when we push a button, like little workers with hard hats. Maybe they are even counting photons and pushing electrons. We probably all have ants in our cameras.



And mine are just sociable - at least until I kill them ;D


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## Deleted member 91053 (Apr 20, 2014)

I had a tiny spider in the viewfinder of my 1D4 - it was quite fun watching him wander about from time to time then he stopped coming back. I do wonder if the sensor cleaner got it or perhaps he migrated to a Nikon, I miss the little fella!


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## StephenC (Apr 20, 2014)

There's an idea! Don't spiders eat ants? But then how would I get rid of the spider?


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## Jim Saunders (Apr 20, 2014)

StephenC said:


> There's an idea! Don't spiders eat ants? But then how would I get rid of the spider?



Install an iguana. But then how do you get rid of the iguana?

Jim


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## traingineer (Apr 20, 2014)

Imagine someone turning this into a movie. ;D


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## Don Haines (Apr 20, 2014)

traingineer said:


> Imagine someone turning this into a movie. ;D


It's been done before....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a13-JbxC98#aid=P-iEEpL2oE0


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## traingineer (Apr 20, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> traingineer said:
> 
> 
> > Imagine someone turning this into a movie. ;D
> ...



The old lady just needs to be replaced with Stephen's 5D. :3


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## StephenC (Apr 20, 2014)

Don't be ridiculous. I'm not talking about eating them. Besides, I'm allergic to iguana!


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## Valvebounce (Apr 20, 2014)

Hi John.
I know they're a bit bigger, but all my cars have a resident engineer, (aka spider) never remove the engineer, not only might the item break, but flies will survive! 

Cheers Graham.




johnf3f said:


> I had a tiny spider in the viewfinder of my 1D4 - it was quite fun watching him wander about from time to time then he stopped coming back. I do wonder if the sensor cleaner got it or perhaps he migrated to a Nikon, I miss the little fella!


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## Hannes (Apr 21, 2014)

Valvebounce said:


> Hi John.
> I know they're a bit bigger, but all my cars have a resident engineer, (aka spider) never remove the engineer, not only might the item break, but flies will survive!
> 
> Cheers Graham.
> ...



Every car I've ever had seems to have attracted a spider which lived in a mirror


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## AcutancePhotography (Apr 21, 2014)

Any idea how they got in there in the first place???

I have had a few cameras and some of them have been on a shelf for 10+ years, but I never had ants. Yikes

I guess this tells us a little about any weather sealing on the 5D.


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## StephenC (Apr 21, 2014)

No idea. We have a lot of ants around here, I live in a bush area. I'm diabetic so used to carry a muesli bar in my bag so maybe that attracted them. It was sealed in it's packet though and I have never had ants around any of the other snacks I have secreted around the place.

I think I have evicted most of them as I haven't spotted any for a while now - I sat with my wife's point and shoot to get the video craved by earlier posters and failed to see any.

Given that I only ever saw them externally on the camera or in the viewfinder I guess it does speak well for the weather sealing. No ants ever made it into the main part of the camera despite nesting next door.


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