D600 Dust/Oil/Lubricant Issue discussion/Discontinuation and price reductions

streetshot

Its quite telling...this discussion has something close to 400 posts all concerning the same issue. My own experience tracks that of those who bought new D600's, returned with RMA to the retailer for replacement only to have the replacement behave identically. I went an extra step after returning my second new camera and bought a refurb thinking the refurb had the fix installed...wrong again. The killer part of all this is just how good this camera really is setting aside the oil spots (or whatever they are) which makes it unusable.

I'm not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV, though from where I look it seems this kind of protracted failure on the part of Nikon to fix an issue at the factory but continue to place into distribution a camera with considerable defect would be basis for a class action suit. Not for any other reason than to send a message in a way that Nikon might finally fess up and implement the fix in their design at the factory and make this thing right.

Ok, rant over...but still disappointed.

Great resource here!

RandyGarrett

I called Nikon today, 6-6-13, to complain about sensor spots on my D600, and was told by the guy I talked to that they are now fixing the problem, and not simply cleaning the sensor and sending the camera back. This is new, as I understand it, and the gentleman I talked to was very forthcoming about the potential for synthetic lubricant being the problem. He definitively stated that those cameras found to have a shutter that is throwing lubricant, will get a new shutter box, or whatever is needed to provide a "real solution." I will be shipping mine back to Nikon (Los Angeles) for a sensor cleaning and further evaluation. Since my D600 sensor obviously has more than dust on it, I fully expect Nikon to change the shutter box. Once that is corrected, I look forward to enjoying what is otherwise a very refined camera. I'll post again as soon as I get my camera back from Nikon and have had a chance to fully test it.

spraynpray

Even if the D600 hasn't been so tainted by the problem and lack of reaction by Nikon, I can't say I have confidence that they will go through the worlds stock and fix them pre-sale. I expect them to fix it re-actively if the customer even notices it. I bet there are many who don't think it is an issue or don't even notice the spots so (ker-ching) Nikon win by doing it that way.

RandyGarrett

Nikon's decision to take this complaint seriously, even if late, is good news. We can always put a negative spin on corrective measures, but what's the point? Sure we all wish this hadn't happened, but it did, and now it looks like Nikon will make good on the repairs. I could throw a tantrum and sell all of my prime Nikkors in protest and switch to Cannon, but the last time I looked, Cannon hasn't been without problems of their own. Good news is good news, and Nikon's willingness to finally come up with a proper fix is GOOD NEWS!

spraynpray

Wow - how quickly we forgive and forget!

RandyGarrett

To forgive and forget (forget was your word) sure beats holding a grudge and never forgetting. I'd rather get my camera fixed, and then move on to taking good photos, rather than piss and moan about how those who build our high tech toys sometimes don't create perfection, and even occasionally screw up. Life is what it is, so maybe you should consider "moving on" to something more productive. Do you even own a D600, or do you simply snipe from the shadows?

spraynpray

LOL! Own a D600? That would be silly.....

You don't have any basis to say 'hold a grudge', I prefer to say 'learn by experience' and wait to see what Nikon have learned and I will then gain by buying a camera they do the development on BEFORE selling it.

roombarobot

There are forum posts on dpreview where people say they had their shutters replaced and the problem continues. I am not sure if it is better/worse, but that's what I've read over there. The d600 is almost a year old...

I am still very happy to be rid of my spotty D600.

Sato

But Roombarobot, I've read those topics too but haven't seen anything there that proves the problem is exactly the same or whether its just to normal squirts of oil/lube that can be found on some new body's of almost every D-SLR ever made.
As long as there's no definitive prove provided by those topic-starters that there fix isn't a fix at all, I simply won't trust there statements.

I should have send in my D600 a while ago but I'm still reluctant as I'm not sure if the current fix is a fix or not,
Guess I'll have to bring it in anyway's because it's getting more and more annoying to not be able to shoot at f/16 without extra post processing.
Anything that show's above f/16 I don't care about but I need my f/16 for the DoF and i need it to be clean for product photography.

roombarobot

If those that had the problem, identified it, sent it in for repair, had the shutter repaired, now see the same problem, I don't need any more proof. Perhaps you do, but if they have had the fix and still see the symptoms, I'd say that isn't a real fix.

For me, as one who suffered from the problem. I say that the burden of proof is on Nikon to prove the fix works. Not on us, Nikon's customers, to prove that the fix does not.

tman

Hi! I'm looking to upgrade.

I am not in urgent need of a "working" camera but want to upgrade from my D7000 and will need have a good camera in hand when I travel to India this December I am considering selling D7000, 35/1.8DX, Tokina 11-16/2.8, and Tokina 50-135/2.8 and adding few hundreds to make difference to buy the D600. Anyone who has been tracking this D600 thread have guidance for me? From what it read, it seems it has the oil issue growing until after 3000 clicks unless they find and fix the root cause in repair, but there is question if they really know the root cause to fix. If I count backwards, from December am I better off buying now or waiting for issue to be fixed? If I wait will price be same or go up (looking at new units)?

Msmoto

My choice would be to wait until the about September to buy the D600. You would have it for a month or so to work out the bugs. You might try to find a dealer who is sold out of the D600 if there are any, then when they received a new shipment you would be getting the latest iteration.

I would think Nikon has figured this out long ago and stopped making defective D600's. But, it seems from experience that they have a strange way of thinking.....

smadman

I had another interesting discussion that I thought I would share with you. I have a lens that needed some repair work, so I took it down to Photo Tech, which is one of only a handful of independent, authorized Nikon service providers in the US. After I submitted the lens, I took advantage of the moment to ask the guy about what he knew about the D600 situation. He said that oh yah, Nikon is fully aware of the problem, and that it involved bits of debris scraping off the shutter mechanism, that their shutter replacement (which must be done by the factory) is a real fix that they're doing on demand only, and that supposedly the new units coming off the assembly line have the fix incorporated into them. (btw, @sato: I appreciate your skepticism, but you *do* know that Nikon has officially acknowledged the problem, don't you?)

Now this isn't definitive proof of anything, but I figure these guys see a lot of cameras coming and going, and seem to have a good relationship with Nikon, so I tend to believe them. This certainly is in accord with *my* suspicions, and with my experience so far. Oh, and my exchange camera? One lens put on at box opening time, no changes -- still developing clusters of spots in the upper left hand corner. I removed the lens once to use the rocket blower, which helped a bit, but other spots seem more persistent, and more spots have continued to accumulate although I haven't removed the lens since the one cleaning.

*sigh* So I guess this one is going back to B&H. Strike two.

Sato

I know Nikon acknowledged the dust part of the issue and sort of passed it off as a user error, Don't know anything about any possible explanation/statement after that one.

I do however trust Nikon to fix it in the end, My question about the shutter replacement is if it solves the dust/debris part. I know oil/lubricant splatters might occur after that and that regular dust will find its way to the sensor but both will be easy to clean (oil/lubricant with wet cleaning by Nikon or camera shop, Regular dust by myself using a Giottos rocker air.)
Also left over debris from the faulty shutter could still be present in the mirror-box (hanging on to the isolation material) but that'll disappear given time.

Thing is I'd like to bring it in and pick it back up in perfect state and not have to return it again and again.
I'm fine with them putting anything up to 10.000 shutter actuations on it as long as that'll mean I wont be bothered by oil/lube again, Because that's the only thing that's annoying me right now: The oil spots that appear at f/5.6-f/8 and ruin my photo's, Especially the ones on f/16 and I tend to use that often while taking pics of LEGO Builds. (Often beyond repair, Spot-removal doesn't always do the trick.)
Problem with that might be that the repair technicians probably don't have the time to do such extensive testing,
Ah well we'll see.

Anyway, I'll bring it in asap. (Need to get better first, Bit sick at the moment.)

fenstergucker

I need some advice:
I bought an D600 in May and after 500 pictures there were black dots on my pictures. I sent my Camera to Nikon and got it cleaned.
But there are again dots and rings on my pictures after one week I got it back!!
I do not like to send my Camera to nikon every month.
Is there any other solution for this problem?

I change the leneses very carefully, as much protected against dust at home.

spraynpray

Hi fenstergucker, and welcome. Welcome to NR and to the spotty world of D600 ownership. This whole thread is about your problem, if you read it all you should know about all there is to know about the subject.

roombarobot

@fenstergucker, as spraynpray said, read through the topic and you'll see how others have handled this situation. My recommendation would be to return it now if you can.

catfish252

I've been wanting the D600 after seeing the DXOMarks scores, but I have a D300s and am torn about the possibility of a D400. I'm all for forgive and forget, but how many people are going to jump right out and buy a new model without waiting to see it the new body will have any issues. I for one have misgivings about rushing out just to be disappointed.

spraynpray

Jumping from D300s to d600 is not only risky (I need to hear from folks who have bought a new D600 and put a few thou clicks on it that report no spots before I believe there is a fix), but is a jump from DX to FX so unless you already have all FX lenses it will sting.

Why are you ready to swap your D300s in for an updated version? Is it inadequate in any way? I'm still seeing some seriously good images from the older 12mp sensor on the PAD thread.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

I do however trust Nikon to fix it in the end,

@ Sato - I hope that end comes in time for your end, because that's where the ends need to meet and that's the real issue - where does it 'end'? No one, and I want to be clear, no one knows.

Is there any other solution for this problem?

@ fenstergucker - A return.

My best,

Mike

catfish252

Jumping from D300s to d600 is not only risky (I need to hear from folks who have bought a new D600 and put a few thou clicks on it that report no spots before I believe there is a fix), but is a jump from DX to FX so unless you already have all FX lenses it will sting.

Why are you ready to swap your D300s in for an updated version? Is it inadequate in any way? I'm still seeing some seriously good images from the older 12mp sensor on the PAD thread.

I really would like to start doing more night-time photography and on this D300s even ISO 800 is not so good at times. There is nothing wrong with the camera mechanically, it only has about 15K on the shutter. The camera is a beast in every situation but it absolutely just sucks in low-light. I don't have any issues with it being 12MP, it has always taken gorgeous pictures.

I also already have 6 FX lenses (not the trinity unfortunately) and I plan on keeping my D300s, so I already have a foot in the FX door.

[Deleted User]

Shot 9444 a couple of super tiny spots only visible with f32 in the left corner, which I could not blow away with my Giotto. Went to my shop, they looked at it and with 1 swipe (wet) I had a complete clean sensor again (free of charge). For me business as usual.

By the way I got a call from Nikon service centre Germany, they asked me if the problem was gone after the shutter replacement, so Nikon knows the problem, as we know after there statement and they read this topic too I think.

Well it is still a super camera for me.

spraynpray

@Ton: That is really good news! The D600 would be the camera I would have naturally chosen but didn't because of the problems. If I hear the problem going away for everybody, I will revisit my reluctance.

@catfish: I gather your photography requires you to up the ISO? My night shots are always at ISO 100 off a tripod so I get no problem. I have a D7000 which is better for noise at higher ISO than my older D90, but I still don't like noise (unless I want it there) so I use ISO 100.

SEPC

June 14, 2013: Bought my D600 in October 2012. No problem for quite a while, then it was like a small explosion of spots on the sensor - which got worse every time I used the "clean sensor now" function. Returned to Nikon. They replaced the shutter box. Worked great - at first - then the same problem. Also noticed an odd circumstance of a lag in focusing once or twice. Any way, returned it a 2nd time and told them if the D600 I had was a "lemon" a new one would be appreciated - I love this camera otherwise. They immediately offered me a full refund, which I've decided to accept. Deduce what you want about the problem, but I would like to say the Nikon Service and Support has been excellent to work with and extremely responsive. Now I just need a camera...might go to a D7100, but am afraid it's too new at this point. I don't want to test another model out. D700/800 are too heavy for my tastes.

KnockKnock

@SEPC There are very few reported issues with the D7100. It's looking like one of the more quality-controlled issues of late. Curious what lenses you have though that'd allow you to move seamlessly to DX.