Panic averted

[RVT1K]

Yesterday afternoon a bald eagle landed in a tree across the street from me after we were watching it circle the area a couple of times.
After a moment of stunned silence...my g/f says "GET YOUR CAMERA!"
So I do and take a bunch of shots, I was worried since it was backlit and I wasn't sure how things would look.

I run in the house, hook up to the PC and start looking at the shots.

After a minute I notice a blurry "airplane" in the frame.
Then I notice it's actually in every frame. WHAT??!!

I go and look at shots I had taken the day before to test out a lens and, after careful examination, I see it. It was much tougher due to the lighting of the shot but it is there.

So I tried the built-in sensor cleaning function in my D4 and took more shots with different lenses.

Then I finally realize I can see the blemish in the viewfinder which means in is not on the sensor.

So its not the lens and its not the sensor. I had to sit and think a minute and I come to the conclusion it must be on the mirror.

I am fortunate in that I have access to some facilities and equipment that most never will. I had access to our cleanroom and lovely low-pressure nitrogen nozzle.

While in our spotless assembly area I blew out the inside of the body with the low-pressure nitrogen. When I was done I went outside to take some test shots and all is good again.

Panic averted.

 

[Dacaur]

If it was on the mirror, it wouldn't show up on the pictures.

 

[weepete]

That reminds me, I have some sensor cleaning to do!

 

[RVT1K]

If it was on the mirror, it wouldn't show up on the pictures.

Well it certainly is gone now.

Since blowing the inside of the camera out with low-pressure N2 did the trick, it was some sort of debris. But I did blow it out with the mirror both locked up and down.

So where was it?