D810, All Discussions, Questions

Rx4Photo

Nikon should truly look at these high end cameras as Specialty cameras and put them thru the wringer before bringing them out. The average point-n-shoot photographer likely wont use such features and it wont be an issue.

henrik1963

The good news is that they are doing something about it. Now they only need to bring down their insanely inflated prices here in the EU.

Photobug

Nikon REALLY didn't need that.

Are they rushing products to market too fast or something?

I agree with @spraynpray. Often Marketing is pushing so hard they don't give the Engineers time to complete their prototype testing before starting production for the consumer

I am impressed that they are being "proactive" on this issue. Perhaps they learned something from the D600 mess.

Symphotic

Mine has the bug. Nikon picks up the cost of shipping both ways, so it is much more than what you normally get for warranty service.

JonMcGuffin

I agree with @spraynpray. Often Marketing is pushing so hard they don't give the Engineers time to complete their prototype testing before starting production for the consumer

I am impressed that they are being "proactive" on this issue. Perhaps they learned something from the D600 mess.

Maybe marketing is just listening too much to the commentators here at NR bitching and wining their way wanting their D700 replacement, their D300s replacement, etc. Probably more pressure than ever on companies to push new products out the door that are better and better however that's not an excuse to ship something that's not right to begin with.

Conversely though, I've not heard a peep about D810 issues and this would seem to be a very successful launch for Nikon in general. This minor issue will be resolved in firmware more or less soon; no worries.

JJ_SO

The test camera I could use has the "issue", too. I need to pixel peep to see tiny white spots, visible in darker areas and basically I doubt if any printer would ever reproduce them. Also, my main impression was not "what are this tiny white spots" but more "my goodness, how much detail is this machine showing in a night shot!" and that goes for shadow and highlight parts. Even D800 is a more "normal league" compared to it. Being under that impression and seeing the quality details in a night scene of a tripod shot or in a high ISO shot, I must say "get a grip" It was always and with each DSLR possible to get such problems due to sensor overheating. I've seen device with liquid cooling to avoid that effect for astro-photography…

It's the high-end curse, with this camera on sis tempted to use ISO 64 for night shots, closing the aperture and getting a lot of trouble. I think I shot with long exposure NR off, so no wonder there are spots.

Symphotic

Well, being a victim of this bug, I can say I'm not very fussed about it: I never noticed the problem.

We used to cool our spectroscopy cameras with liquid nitrogen so we could see single photons. Imaging sensors are always in a battle with noise. I'm rather forgiving of imager issues: having been a manufacturer of imaging sensors in the past, I know how tricky it is: Nikon has done a better job than we ever did. It seems that this is not a major problem in real practice unless you are working in the specific parameters necessary to produce the noise, but even still, Nikon is in front of it.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when Ushida-shacho first heard about this issue!

Mine is ready for UPS to pickup for a trip to L.A.

JJ_SO

The more I look at the little dots, the more I'm afraid a firmware update would cost a bit of that amazing details. I had to look long for a white spot which eventually could make it to appear on paper, but the overall sharpness was incredible - loosing this amount of detail against a "corrected" noise appears to be no good trade to me.

rmp

I looked, but could not see any spots. But, my serial number indicates my camera is affected, so it is in the mail.

spraynpray

Maybe marketing is just listening too much to the commentators here at NR bitching and wining their way wanting their D700 replacement, their D300s replacement, etc.

If that were the case, the D300 replacement would have been here ages ago. Not even any rumours to speak of and the 7D2 is just around the corner.

kanuck

I just checked to see if my D810 had the black dot on it's tripod sprocket to see if it already had been fixed for this so-called white dot occurrence during long exposures. Unfortunately, my camera does not have it so I guess I will bring it into Nikon for the free service and cleaning. Its no big deal I guess for me because the factory is just 20 minutes north of my house, but I will likely be without it for a few days, which would suck. For the record, I have never had any issues yet and I have shot up to 3-5 minute exposures on the beach under the moonlight. Anyone else concerned about theirs after yesterdays news?? Not exactly happy news considering there have been issues with a lot of their new bodies lately...

PB_PM

Issues with a new cameras, seems to be the norm now. And some people wondered why I said the following back at the end of July when the D810 started to ship.

Experience has taught me that patience is often worth while. If I had a business that required the updated features of the D810 would I get one on day one? Most likely not. As a business I need gear I can trust and know is reliable, thus being an early adopter is not done. I usually wait till a product is on the market for at least a few months before buying in, regardless of what it is.

I hate to say I told you so, to those people, but, umm, yeah, I did. )

JonMcGuffin

Frankly, I don't consider this "issue" with the D810 a game changer at all. It is a minor minor issue and one that apparently is easily fixed. The fact so many feel the need to ship their camera off for repair so quickly I find interesting.

On the same note, it's always smart to wait if you can for little things like this to flush out.

JJ_SO

At the moment, I don't see a need to panic or send it in as fast as possible: From the same night, only two shots had this freckles and if I don't zoom in at 100% they remain invisible. I can not discover a system, 30 secs at ISO100, were fine an hour later 30 secs at ISO320 showed some spots in the dark areas. In shots at higher ISO there was nothing except normal noise.

Worse to me: I'm still waiting for the camera and Nikon Switzerland has no delivery dates yet.

spraynpray

Well, I don't have one but if I did, I probably would have found the issue and been pissed about it because I do a lot of night/long exposure photography therefore it would have been important to me. I can understand that they would be fairly irrelevant to most people though.

These new body problems have the feel of people under pressure to me.

kanuck

Like I said, I am fortunate enough not to see any signs of this problem and I don't consider to be a serious issue. I just hate to part with it for even a few days while it is checked out....

Golf007sd

From the main page:

After it has been out of stock for a while, B&H just received a new shipment of Nikon D810 DSLRs and they confirmed to me that all cameras in their warehouse already have the fix for the thermal issue (white dots) during long exposures.

I am curious if those "new" cameras will have a different firmware update. If somebody has purchased one, please share the firmware version in the comments section. Thanks!

JJ_SO

Actually, I find it ridiculous calling this an "issue". Gravity is just very low and appears in few longtime exposures. Oilspots on a sensor appear in each shot and are more difficult to removce if it's not only blue sky to be cloned over. I recall banding issues on various Canon sensors and those were not only LT exposure depending. If I could take one home today, I'll do it.

PB_PM

Some people also said that the left AF problems with the D800/D800E weren't an "issue" either, when it was. If Nikon didn't consider it an issue, why issue a service advisory? Obviously Nikon disagrees with you.

JJ_SO

One would need to ask Nikon whether they disagree with me or not

Both things - oil spots or left focus - happen to be bothering continuously, while this spots only in some long time exposures. And I doubt very much, if everybody calling it an issue or talking about it has seen those spots in the wild or was able to print them. Bring them to visibility is tougher than proving the AF issue - and that WAS visible.

Each person can judge for his own. My judgement is, if I could get one today, I'd love to buy it with or without black dot in tripod thread.

spraynpray

I suppose I could look more on the bright side - extra stars in my night shots..... :P

cowleystjames

Bored with this whole scenario now so i tried mine. Sigma 50mm F1.4 art @30 seconds and 2 mins, LENR off, iso 100. Can't find anything that I can't replicate on my D4s if I look really hard.
I'm not sending mine back as I don't believe there's anything wrong.
This whole thing has been blown out of proportion by people who want to find fault.
Just enjoy your photography

spraynpray

That's good news. Maybe if you guys who don't have the problem on pre-'fix' bodies could post serial numbers (ending XXX) we maybe able to see a pattern that would help others?

JJ_SO

Just to illustrate the impact of this "issue":



Large Size

at 100% you possibly can spot something:

proudgeek

I can't speak for anyone else, but for me this would be unacceptable.