Mike from NS

Greetings from Nova Scotia

Being the new guy ... please have patience with my question.  New to digital SLR cameras.  My starting point is an older D40x acquired through an eBay purchase.  Ahhh ... your first mistake I hear many of you say.  However it seems to be in good shape .... But the images with the sky or snowy hills have some small out of focus circles and in one spot partial arc-like smudge.  All the marks are always in the same place on any image.  Could these be an indicator of a sensor screen in need of cleaning or maybe a greater problem.  If this picture loaded correctly you can see the arc like smudge to the left above the branch and some of the circles to the right side

Please offer your educated comments.  Thanks

Mike

Greetings from Nova Scotia,

I'm new to Nikon digital cameras and starting with a D40x ... purchased through eBay. ...Mistake # 1 you say ?  Not so sure ... as it seems to be in good shape except for what brings my question. The problem is what looks like dried water marks or smudges on the images.  One is slightly arc shaped and others are what look like out of focus circles.  These  blurry marks are only noticeable with pictures having a blank background ...like the sky.    There are no specks or marks on the lens.

Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks .

Mike