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

smadman

Hi folks, I have a bit of good news to report -- after 850-ish shots, I've seen almost no recurrence of spotting on my sensor. I have dispensed with leaving one lens on, and have been changing lenses as the situation warrants (although I am quite careful to do it in a manner to reduce the introduction of dust). What spots I have seen over the past 400 or so clicks have been easily removed with a blower bulb in combo with the built-in sensor cleaning operation. There *are* a handful of doughnutty spots that I take to be oil spots, but they are incredibly faint, and I have to really enhance the picture to see them, even at f/29; in real world circumstances (including clear blue skies at f/22), they are completely undetectable.

My feeling is that this might be a bit more work than I would expect from a camera of this caliber, but it seems to be at a wholly manageable and acceptable level.

PB_PM

I did get told that they never had returns anymore by one large UK retailer, but I did get the impression that he was being economical with the truth.

No doubt. I believe the industry standard return rate on almost all products is at least 10%. Anyone saying they are not getting returns is either lying or just not the one accepting the returns.

donaldejose

We should remember that those who have a problem tend to complain loudly and those who do not have a problem tend to remain silent since there is nothing for them to complain about. Thus, the internet most likely distorts problems.

PB_PM

While true, usually these types of things die down after the initial release of a product, that does not seem to be the case with the D600. If I recall correctly the D7000 was reported to have some sensor oil issues on release. Within a year of release reports of that almost stopped. The thing is, that hasn't happened with the D600, the issue still seems to be showing up. Regardless of the percentage of users effected, it is still happening.

roombarobot

@PB_PM agreed. These are usually initial production line issues and, after discovered, the cause is fixed and the production continues without that error. That happens in many things, beyond electronics too. That is why common wisdom often suggests to not by a first model-year car.

You're right, this one is really different. It has continued on. This seems different than the D7000 issue. I think the D600 is somehow inherently flawed and Nikon hasn't found the full fix to it to solve all cases. There continue to be people who have even had their shutter replaced, only to have spots reappear soon after.

This is really too bad. Otherwise the D600 would have been an ideal camera for me. After finally getting rid of mine, I now have a D800E, but that is way more camera than I need (and more expensive).

I really hope that Nikon's next camera(s) don't have an ongoing problem like the D600.

BigDog

As previously noted, my D600 was shipped to Melville in July to remediate the dust/oil/lubricant issues exhibited by my unit. Despite previous wet cleanings, spots re-appeared which is why I contacted Nikon. Long story short - earlier this week the repaired unit unexpectedly arrived and the paperwork indicates the shutter assembly was replaced, along with a cleaning. Have not yet had time to test the camera so it's too soon to declare victory but like others, I'm hopeful the repairs fixed the problem.

spraynpray

@BigDog: Fingers crossed for you. Please report back after you have tested it.

catfish

Bigdog - I sure hope that changing out the shutter and the cleaning will be the end of it for you.

Jasdelta

I've been following this thread with a lot of interest. I just sent my D600 in through my dealer last week. The first time it went in the shutter mechanism was replaced. I 've asked for a full refund, but am told by my dealer,Nikon will not do that. Will see what happens .

Golf007sd

@PB_PM: I do not recall the D7000 having any sensor issues, what I do recall was the "hot pixel issue" that some complied about when they were using the LCD in complete darkness with crazy ISO. They made such a big deal about this and started to return them. Those that did knew nothing about photography. Within a short time Nikon released a firmware update and the problem was solved.

It is very unfortunate that the issue regarding the D600 has taken on so much attention; in fact, those that have issue with are well within their right to speak out. Moreover, I'm sure the noise would be even louder if some had not taken matter in their own hands and cleaned their sensor personally by getting the needed tools to do so.

chucked78

I recently (two weeks ago) purchased a new D600 with the 24-85, 70-300, wireless kit. I also go the 50mm f/1.8G and have taken a little over 600 shots since it arrived. Ive done probably a dozen or more lens changes, several of them outside. Ive checked for spots by setting the aperture to f22 and shooting the sky probably 6 times in between those lens changes. Ive had random dust that I could see three times - never the same size or same place. Each time I've blown it off with a rocket blower and rechecked for dust, which was gone until I check again later (after more lens changing and shots). I ordered a cooperhill kit when I ordered the cam, but have not felt the need to use it. For me, Either the dust/oil from the shutter hasn't shown up yet, or I don't have the problem.

KnockKnock

@chucked78 Was that a Costco kit? Good to hear. Please report back in another 500-1000 shots.

chucked78

It was from BH - but its a Nikon kit, not a store specific thing. Everything came in one big Nikon box.

Sato

10,000 clicks - AY CARAMBA! I would be pi$$ed to give away that much value because they can't do it right! No, I would go for new shutter.

What value? Don't fully understand what you mean by that.
By the time I buy a newer/better camera this one might be worth around €500,- and with my current income/savings I'd rather keep it as a spare camera then.
So as I'll probably won't ever sell it, May not do more then 25.000 shutter actuation's a year and plan to use it for 4 to 5 years. That's 125.000 actuation's on a camera that's rated for 150.000? Don't see why a Maximum of 10.000 actuation's to get my camera back with the guarantee that no oil/lubricant smudges will be present on the sensor or will be thrown on it is such a big deal, They probably won't even need anywhere near 2500 actuation's to do so. I just want some piece of mind after losing interest in photography when this issue appeared in my D600, (rather soon after purchase.) And get back out there and use this €1400,- amazing piece of gear that's now just sitting around being a rather expensive paperweight.

spraynpray

10,000 clicks - AY CARAMBA! I would be pi$$ed to give away that much value because they can't do it right! No, I would go for new shutter.

What value? Don't fully understand what you mean by that.

Well, it may not apply to you with your pattern of usage but with the number of clicks I upgrade at 10K is a significant hike that would reduce the value of the camera. Plus, if the shutter fails outside of warranty, that 10K may be the difference between it being me who pays or the next owner.

kathmandu

Hi All,

Brand new user here who loves NR and mainly am chiming in to share info and ask opinions. Just bought the D600 w/24-85 refurb. On my very first shots with D600 it had a chunky spot (even visible in cam's LCD with peel off plastic still on) and a dozen or more round drop spots (I'm assuming oil) that the in cam clean did nothing for. The dealer is cool with shipping pd. return or exchange. Camera had 3096 actuations. It's VERY disappointing Nikon is sending sealed box refurbs to their dealers with trashed sensors. Please don't tell me how all pros have to clean their sensor manually, regularly. Laugh if you will, but I shoot pro full time with a D5100 w/over 100k on it and have never needed any sensor cleaning other than in-cam utility. Much of what I do is architectural shots that often include sky. This no manual sensor clean effective method/luck is also true of 2 older/back-up D5000's. Only times I had to regularly clean sensors was when I had pro bodies; D1, D2, D2x. I now use the lighter cameras doing remote control pole mounted photography, so I don't mess with heavy expensive bodies anymore but love the idea of going affordable (fairly light) full frame finally. First thought was to return it, next an exchange made sense since the camera pretty much rocks, then I wondered if many/most/all D600's get the dreaded schmeg at some point, then it clears up after a number of shots, should I keep old schmeggy here and manually clean it, go for the exchange in hopes of a clean d600, or return it and use what I've got a while longer and wait for a 600s? What do y'all think?

spraynpray

That's the $64000 question @kathmandu. Some people here have bought one and had zero problems, some had bad problems and ended up returning theirs for refund. Apparently it is a super camera if you are into cleaning or get a good one. The thought here is that Nikon have really dropped the ball on this and rubbed salt into the wound with denial from distributors and zero communication from the company. As yours has 3100 clicks on it, you can say that it may be about to stop shedding cr@p or you could say it should have stopped by now.

I would get it cleaned once and see the rate the spots come back at - if it is unacceptable, return it - but if you think you could get a days work out of it then clean it in the evening, that may be enough as it is apparently such a good camera.

kathmandu

Much appreciated and insightful response spraynpray. Have already more or less packed it up. I've still got an unopened visibledust cleaning kit and solution, and could try that.

calculus

I just bought a refurbished D600, which had 44 actuations and zero dust/oil spots.

spraynpray

Great news calculus - how many clicks have YOU done since picking it up?

calculus

Only 5 shots (I have another D600).

spraynpray

@calculus: OK, please let us know what the sensor looks like when you have done say, 200-500 clicks. I hope it will still be clean.

dooley

Hello all, I am new to the forum but have been reading for a while. I figured I would chime in on the D600 sensor issue since I have experienced it myself. I originally waited to buy a D600 due to this issue until I found refurbs thinking the problem would be fixed. I bought a refurb with 38 clicks on it and it had spots on it when I first used it. I sent it back and exchanged it for another one with about 800 clicks on it. I used it for a month and the oily spots appeared on this unit, which was purchased in June, after a few hundred clicks . I contacted the dealer and they were willing to exchange it again but I told them I will send it to Nikon first and have them repair it. I had to send them images first and they finally agreed to take it in for repair under their 90 day refurbished warranty. Nikon still has not officially acknowledged any "known defect" to the D600 according to their email to me. I will let you know how the new one behaves when I get it back. If it still has the issue, I will send it back to the dealer for another model altogether. I love the images when clean, but I am not going to swab my camera every week.

My theory on the D600 is the fact that Nikon markets this camera to consumers and not pros and the average consumer doesn't notice the spots. Most consumers just take basic shots with apertures wide enough to not notice any spots IMO. If I just took photos in auto mode, I would have to look hard to see them. I personally believe that the vast majority of D600s have the issue and the users just don't know it.

I also own a D7100 which does not have this issue. I am hoping that Nikon fixes my camera since I take a lot of landscapes with the aperture stopped down to where the spots actually make the photos useless.

We'll see what happens in a couple of weeks when it is "repaired".

donaldejose

Folks, I think we all just have to "bite the bullet" and learn to clean spots off those high megapixel sensors. It is not so hard to do. Moose Peterson says he cleans his sensor, body and lenses after every shoot. Good idea, but I would test it first after every shoot rather than just clean it automatically. If we want to make the effort to be "pro" than this is a skill we should learn. Now if the D600 is producing so many spots that they show up every 500 clicks appearing in objectionable numbers during a photo shoot I agree the body has a serious issue and should go back. But if you are seeing spots only ever 5,000 clicks, just learn to clean the sensor on a regular schedule like you change the oil in your car. Simple maintenance. I do it and it is not objectionable to me. When I look closely all my bodies have some spots, the D600 just accumulated more at first but it seems to be no worse than my other bodies now at 7,000 exposures.

Jasdelta

I too have a D7100 ( had a D7000 which had lots of dust problems) and it seems to be free of the dust issue.

I sent my D600 in through my dealer a bit over a week ago. It's already had the shutter mechanism replaced earlier this year. Status as of today at Nikon Repair is "awaiting parts". Not sure what will be replaced, but will post here after I get it back and do some testing.