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Originally Posted by Bod
Don't you mean the sensor?
I would have thought that the mirror isn't as critical? In that it doesn't form part of the shooting equipment (IE Lens > Sensor).
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Well no mate I did mean be careful of the mirror. A lot of them are surface mirrored and they're very prone to scratching and easily marked. Apart from that it's alignment is critical so you don't want to be knocking it out of whack.
Also the sensor is covered by the closed shutter don't forget in normal circumstances and only uncovered during exposure (or sensor cleaning).
Are these marks in pretty sharp focus when you look through the viewfinder? If so it's certain in my view that it's muck on the focusing screen. The likelihood is that it's on the underside of the screen where you can clean it as I suggested, but it's also possible but less likely that it's on the inside of the screen - in which case you're snookered as the screen isn't user removeable as far as I can see.
Believe me mate I understand how annoying this is, muck on the screen drives me nuts, but I've never owned an SLR yet (and I must have had a dozen) that hasn't eventually ended up with crap on the screen. Top end SLRs have removeable screens which you can remove and clean for just this reason, although they need to be handled carefully or you can do more harm than good. It's best ignored as it has no effect on your shots, but as I said it drives me nuts too. Don't be tempted to blow inside the camera with your lips - if they're not dry you can make a terrible mess which wont disappear when it dries.