DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

If it were a shutter issue, the shadow would (1) have a straight edge; and (2) be parallel to the long edge of the image.

If this be a shutter issue, the shutter is in such bad shape that it's amazing that it works at all.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

I was going to suggest it's an incorrectly or incompletely installed lens hood... but you say it happens even when no lens is installed, so that rules that out.

I agree with a suggestion to lock up the mirror and look inside the camera (might need a flash light) to see if there is something loose, lying in the *bottom* of the mirror box. As an earlier response stated, the image is actually projected upside down and backwards on the sensor.... the mirror and pentaprism, or software in Live View, turn it right side up and flop it to correct this. As a result, anything seen in the upper lefthand corner of an image will be in the lower, righthand corner when looking inside the camera from the front.

If you don't see anything, return the mirror to it's normal position, set a slow shutter speed or "B" and trip the shutter, while watching the mirror inside the camera. It's possible it's not moving entirely out of the way or something else loose inside the mirror box is moving in front of the sensor during exposure. However, I doubt it's the mirror because that would normally show up at the bottom of the image, since the mirror flips up out of the way.

That leaves possibility of a failing shutter... one of the blades is sluggish or isn't moving fully. I've seen this happen on a diagonal, as in your image. Some other responses think the "obstruction" is uneven (which might rule out the shutter). I think it's hard to say from this particular images... some of the black area at the top of the image might actually be shaded areas in the out of focus background, not part of the obstruction. It's hard to be certain from this image, but it could be a diagonal or a triangular area with straight sides.... and a shutter blade obstructing part of the image.

In fact, I think the shutter is the most likely cause of the problem. But it also would probably be the most expensive to have repaired, so I'd look for the other possibilities first and hope it's something more easily and cheaply fixed. If it is a shutter issue, it will only get worse and it's time to send the camera to Nikon for repair.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Whoops!

Duplicate, please delete.

d3200prime

"If it were a shutter issue, the shadow would (1) have a straight edge"; not necessarily.

"(2) be parallel to the long edge of the image"; again not necessarily.

It was the shutter and fell under Nikon's recall so the OP is one very lucky person.

Nice try.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

I went back and looked at the recall link. I thought the shutter assembly was a relatively delicate item, such that any bending of the blades would render it inoperable. The link did say that there could be shadows, but did not say what was causing them. I suspect that it was not actually the shutter, but some ancillary part within the shutter assembly that got loose and produced the shadow. I would think that a shutter that was skewed would indicate a major problem. But not knowing any real details about the cause of the shading, I could easily be mistaken.

d3200prime

fantom Loc: Colorado

That would be my guess.

Leitz Loc: Solms

It didn't shed any light on the shaded area of the image!