D800e and oil spots

proudgeek

A post script to my experience. After picking up my D800 earlier this week, I took a quick shot of the white wall behind me @ f/22, then zoomed in using the center function button and did a quick scan. Found 2 spots toward the edge of the sensor and asked them to revisit the cleaning. They did, and I picked it up the next day. What the tech told me is that I'd done a good job cleaning the center of my sensor by swiping with the swabs, I'd pushed a lot of the debris into the corners and edges of the sensor, which makes sense given how these swabs work. He also told me that based on his experience with my camera, he was going to have to raise his rates for sensor cleaning for D800s and D600s. I told him it was nice doing business with him and wished him well in all of his future endeavors (or words to that effect).

kanuck

Well hopefully Nikon can fix this for you itsmebrenb. I wonder if it is a censor issue on some bodies, which was the case with the D600.

spraynpray

SHUTTER issue kanuck. SHUTTER issue. 8-|

itsmebrenb

What do you recommend to clean the sensor on my own. I'm sure it won't stay clean forever once I have it back!

spraynpray

People are making a big fuss about these:

http://forum.nikonrumors.com/discussion/1812/a-new-sensor-cleaning-tool-for-the-public#Item_37

I haven't used mine yet and it will not help you if you really have oil spots. IMHO you should get one of these and buy a wet clean kit too.

itsmebrenb

Thank you will look into that!

Jurgen

NIKON D810 OIL/SPOT SENSOR ISSUE.

(END-July 2014), I was one of the first people receiving the D810 Body here in Switzerland. Images
obtained by the D810 sensor are of amazing quality. The bad thing is that after 200 shots, I got the sensor oil/spot issues as Nikon has//had with the D600. I returned the D810 Body to the store & (they) send it back to Nikon. NO feedback so far. I am a +25 year Nikon user. I deeply regret having sold my good old Nikon D700 Body! (No issues at all) I think this is the end of the road for me concerning using Nikon Cameras. Nikon just can't fix the problem and I doubt people want to spent $3300,-- on a new camera body with the same kind of problems again...

Msmoto

If I am correct, oil spots are not unusual on Nikon pro bodies in the initial few thousand clicks. My D800E has a few at about 9,000 clicks, noticeable only in very special shooting conditions, and I will clean the sensor myself once I am home from my road trip. My D4 has had over 100 in its early days, cleaned three times by me, now without any spots of significance at nearly 30,000 clicks.

However, if the spots are obvious, especially in a blue sky or any continuous tone area, this may indicate a distinct individual problem requiring attention. I am unaware of an issue similar to the D600 on any other Nikon body.

haroldp

> when stopping down F/11 to F/16 or above is if there is any dust or oil on the filter it will show up...

If by filter you talk about the AA (or whatever is on top of the sensor) I don't really agree on that.
The aperture and the ISO should not influence the visibility of dust and oil on the sensor.
If in theory that dust was inside the lens, it might (but it is not in focus) show up at small apertures.

ISO probably has little or no effect unless it is so extreme as to impact DR and contrast, but aperture absolutely affects the visibility of stuff on the filter glass because it is in fact offset a few mm from the sensor surface.

One possible benefit of mirrorless designs, is that absent a mirror mechanism, moving the cover glass a few more mm distant from the sensor surface will mitigate a lot of the dirt issues.

.... H

spraynpray

New Member @manray posted:

Anyone and everyone who continues to have issues with spots on their D800/D800E sensor needs to speak up. We need to contact Nikon support as often as possible, over and over again, to urge them to fix this problem the same way they fixed the D600 issue. Nikon is in denial of this problem but I have seen it mentioned by literally hundreds of Nikon D800/D800E owners and the problem is not going away.

Initially I paid over $70 with shipping to have Nikon clean my sensor to no avail—after 10 shots it was spotted again. I've cleaned it myself using the best sensor cleaning tools available with the same results and i am totally tired of cleaning my sensors only to have them spotted up again after just a few shutter clicks. I have a D750 that I use in the same gentle manner, with the same lenses that I use on my D800E and it never has any problem with spotting. Clearly the spots are from an internal source not from changing lenses.

Please post a reply here and please contact NikonUSA or the Nikon Service and Support site for your country and demand a solution!

http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Service-And-Support/Service-And-Repair.page

EricBowles

There are lots of comments and frustrations reported here about oil spots and dust spots. I have to wonder whether expectations are reasonable. Dust spots and other spots on the sensor is a normal fact of life. The term oil spots is not really accurate - there is no liquid oil or lubricant used in the assembly process. The shutter lubricant is dry. Of course, pollen, sticky dust and lubricant or wear residue may end up on your sensor and it does need to be cleaned. I acknowledge there are some cameras that have manufacturing issues - but not every camera that has spots has a manufacturing defect. If all cameras have this issue, it's normal and you just need to learn to clean your sensor.

Have you ever cleaned the mirror box? It's not realistic to think simply cleaning the mirror is enough to remove all dust and debris from the mirror box. The mirror is less than 10% of the space and the same level of dust and debris that accumulates on the mirror also accumulates on the rest of the surfaces in the mirror box.

Do you use lenses that extend? Many zoom lenses extend as you zoom, and that creates a vacuum that ingests and expels dust. Some of that dust goes into the mirror box, so even if you never remove a lens, you can introduce dust with normal use.

There are many mechanical surfaces on a camera that wear out. The process of wearing out a shutter, lens mount, or lens cap can introduce dust and debris.

How do you store your camera? If you store your camera in a camera bag or other places, make sure the lens mount faces down, or at least does not face up. I've seen photographers that put a lens in the camera bag with the mount facing up - and it becomes a flat surface to accumulate dust.

What do you do with lens and body caps when not in use. If you put them in your pocket or camera bag, you are introducing more sources of dust.

Everyone should be able to use the in camera cleaning and a good blower. Blowing off the sensor and mirror box is regular maintenance and needs to be done frequently. Be sure the lens mount opening faces down when you use a blower so the dust you blow off can fall out of the body. I use a blower almost every time I get out my camera.

The next step is using dry cleaning method - like the Arctic Butterfly. A light brush or a charged brush is a good way to eliminate stubborn dust. I probably use an Arctic Butterfly for cleaning every couple of months.

A wet cleaning is the final step. It's easy and routine. You might need to use more than one swab for stubborn grime. My cameras need a wet cleaning 2-3 times per year. It's very infrequent compared to other methods.

I'm using a D800E and a D600 for 30,000 plus images per year. I'm in all types of conditions and frequently change lenses. My lens caps are a source of debris - I put them in my pocket. But if you own an digital camera with interchangeable lenses, you need to understand the dust issue and alternatives. Every camera gets dust on the sensor.