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

catfish

@bbarb That's a horrible situation Nikon put you through. I hope the D610 is announced soon and I hope Nikon gives you 2 of them -- they should.

Golf007sd

@bbarb: You should take your body back to where you purchased it from and demand a refund or store credit and use you parents D800e for now. Save some cash and if possible get a new D800 or D800e.

I humbly ask that we keep the topic in regards to the D600 and not the D610. I will start a new topic on it like we did regarding the D400.

bbarb

@donaldejose: Why i should have your camera?? To me it doesnt matter that much if you earn money from your gear or not, we all should have cameras without such problems. Even if it's someones hobby he has also paid this gear, it wasnt a gift from anyone, and for sure not a gift from nikon. So it must perform as it should be.
@Golf007sd: the d800e its my partners not my parent lolololo, i wish my parent had it.....

@Guys: Thanks for the support and your understanding, to be honest at the begining i was somehow afraid that i will face some fanatic nikon lovers that will attack me, but it was a pleasant surprise all this support and understanding.


By the way, what upset me most, was the fact that i new the issue from the begining and they ''pushed me in the trap'' instead of advicing me more accurate and profesionaly.
Something else that drives my crazy as well, is the fact that two times they said its ok, they also send samples to japan and they also used this special software that locate the spots, with special lenses that support much higher f stops than the lenses we have (they also said that they use special lenses to do tests, and they see spots noone of us can see) and evrything was fine.
All these local experts, experts from japan, all these equipment, special software, special lenses etc. and evrything was perfect no spots no dust evrything was perfect.
But when i used my eyes and my laptop in front of them, all of a sudden the dust appeared and then all of a sudden everyone could see the spots.
Well i am not superman, i dont have supervision, so i dont buy it.
I am sure they could see the spots, i am sure there are other spots they see that i dont see (but if dont see them i dont mind).
So to me its obvious, they knew the spots were there, they were just hoping i will not see them. I am sure they knew it.

As said, today i am going to have this conversation so i will keep you updated.

bbarb

@Golf007sd: ''Save some cash and if possible get a new D800 or D800e.''

Wel Golf007sd, this is what sounds realy like a fraud to me and let me tell you my thoughts.
Since i was canon shooter i decided to shift into nikon because of the d600. Why end up whith a D800 when the d600 specs fits perfectly my needs?
I mean if i could go into this price level i would have done it from the first place. i didnt need a defective D600 nikon and then having alread invest in nikon glass be forced to move into the D800 price level!

So in the end, what was the real purpuse of the d600??
Was it, to force canon shooters to shift into nikon by offering a tempting dslr with promised specs but defective, in order to boost in the long term the sales of D800 bodies and nikon lenses???

I mean nikon if they wanted to be fair, they should offer a special discount price for users of d600 that want to upgrade into d800 because of th eproblem. but they dont!
At least my local nikon, when i demanded a special price directly from nikon in order to shift to D800, they denied!

I am not sure if you undestand my point, but what if canon released a full frame 9d body with 30mp sensor, 50 af cross points and wifi,gps etc etc, at 500$??? Think of it for a minute.

All of a sudden evryone would shift into canon and evryone would start buying canon glass. But what if the same camera lasted for 2 years and one day, so after the end of warranty stoped working. so evryone should be buying this camera every 2 years or move ino the 3500$ 5d mark iii???

how would that sound? is it fair, or is it completely fraud and illegal??

So my point, and i hope i make it clear, is, that a product must and should meet the needs it claims it does, according to specs of the manufacturer.

If nikkon didnt have the d600, i would have never shifted for the d800 because its an excelent camera but it overexceeds my budget. So why do i have to be forced to squeeze my family (regarding money) for this upgrade??
that was never my choice and my desire?

i shifted to nikon, because of D600 and the d600 money range is what i can pay and have already paid.
And nikon claims they have a 24 mp full frame camera with the d600 specs, but eventually they dont have such a camera.
The camera they do have is a camera that alters at will the images by adding randomly spots in them that need special treatment in post.
But this is somthing they never mentioned in specs.

Do you see my point? Do you realize the fraud out there?

(To me the whole problem occures because there is no a global organization with standards,so evεry company does what ever they do. for instance, if all dslrs had a universal mount then these problems would have been eliminated. because i would have claimed my money back and then i would have bought what ever camera i wanted.
So in the end, we the consumers would have been somehow protected with our investments. but unfortunately this is not the case. - and this is obviously an other topic)

So what was this d600 body in the end???
a ''clever'' move from nikon to create canon to nikon shifts??? a move to create more nikon crop shooters enter the full frames and in the end end up with a D800? So in the end was it a sale boost for the d800???

This is not fair and this must not be accepted from any of us, unless nikon as i said before had a uniqe special price for d600 to d800 shifters, but again this is not the case.

My local nikon, not only did not offered me a special price, but the offered to me directly a price i can find in stores. So not only they wanted to maintain their earnings at the sale they usualy have for the d800, but they also wanted to incloud the earnings of their wholsalers !!!!!!! (Do you see my point???)

UNBELIEVABLE NIKON UNBELIEVABLE!

levanV

Hello everyone.
I am considering to upgrade to full-frame but cannot afford D800, so I was thinking to buy D600. The dust issue is a great concern for me, as there is no Nikon service in my country to clean sensor once the spots appear.

I wanted to ask if the refurbished D600 is a good choice in this case? do the spots still appear in refurbished D600 sensors?

bbarb

its my third post in a row, sorry for that, but i just had this call from nikon.

They must perform one more cleaning, an even deeper one than the previous one (which was already deeper than the first one). But they need a kit from japan and they still dont know when it will be ready.
They also said that nikon has the solution ready, the dust is generated within the body ,only this time they have to dismantle the camera to perform this ultra deep cleaning.

In my question when i will have my camera working they replied we dont know yet.
I told them them i dont care when they will fix it, as far as they give me an other full frame with 24 mp sensor to work, but not a D600 body (because i dont want to risk destroing more work of mine.)

So we agreed that by Tuesday they will give me an excact date and i will call if this date is ok for me to wait or not. If not, i will go pick up a D800 to have until my d600 is ready.

I really hope nikon indeed solved this problem.
As long as i have the d800 for work i dont care even if they keep my d600 forever. I have to admit, that apart from all the others they indeed try to support me as much as they can (or at least the pretend good). (But lets wait to get this d800 in hands first. Its different thing to tell you that i will give you the camera and different thing to give you the camera)

bbarb

Hello everyone.
I am considering to upgrade to full-frame but cannot afford D800, so I was thinking to buy D600. The dust issue is a great concern for me, as there is no Nikon service in my country to clean sensor once the spots appear.

I wanted to ask if the refurbished D600 is a good choice in this case? do the spots still appear in refurbished D600 sensors?

stay away.

donaldejose

"the dust is generated within the body ,only this time they have to dismantle the camera to perform this ultra deep cleaning."

It sounds like Nikon has identified the offending part which was not properly cleaned prior to assembly of the body. Once the source of the dust is identified and cleaned the problem should be solved. Since some people have this problem and others don't and those who have it (like me) have it to various degrees it would appear that lack of proper quality control at time of assembly by using a part which at times was "dusty" (and other times was not) is the root cause of the problem.

bbarb

thats what they said.
I hope its true.
They also asked japan, if this time the fix is permanent and they told me that they replied, yes, its gone once and for all.
I hope its true but i suggest we can hold a small box.

roombarobot

I will believe it when Nikon proves it has been fully fixed for good. As an early D600 buyer (and thankfully no longer owner) I fell for too many rumors along the way that never materialized. Many people were told by Nikon support that it was fixed, only to still be in the same situation. I too was told many times that they would fix my D600, only to have spots return after 30 shots.

I was even told by a manager at the Nikon USA service center during the 3rd round of service that they would exchange my D600 and get me a new one. Do you know what they did? They sent my old, spotty one back!

I'd love to see the D600 fixed once and for all, but I won't believe it until Nikon proves it.

bbarb

@roombarobot: +10000000

i had enough fixes already. I want proofs now no more promises.

dooley

Well my D600 has been accepted by Nikon Melville, NY and is "in the shop". The service repair rank is B2 - "moderate repair : major parts replaced". I sent it in with spots on the sensor and apparently they feel the need to replace parts. I guess Nikon knows that the problem is not just dust on the sensor. It seems to me that the early D600s will require parts replacement. Mine is serial 302xxxx. I am hoping that the fix is truly a fix. I don't need a D800 and it's 36MP sensor so if the D600 doesn't get fixed, I guess I will wait until a new 24 MP Nikon FX body comes out to replace it. Hopefully, my D600 will be worth at least half of what it cost me. It is a shame that such a nice camera has such a horrible QC flaw. If it is replaced soon, Nikon should offer a reasonable upgrade price to all D600 owners whose cameras were in for repair and not resolved.

spraynpray

@dooley: You said on the D610 thread:

"I only hope that my D600 doesn't become worthless with the release of the new D610."

That's my point. Even if Nikon completely repaired all the D600's out there they would still end up one model behind now which will affect the value. Far worse than that is many of the D600's out there are refurbs which have had multiple owners and who knows how many clicks on them - the shutter count may even have been reset along the way and we have no way of knowing what we are buying. Would you buy a second hand D600? No way. I would buy a new one once I am sure the D610 is fixed and so long as Nikon promised to repair the D600 using the new fix (and if it was REALLY cheap of course).

dooley

@spraynpray: I believe the D600 will be a hard sell once the next model comes out. First of all, many D600 owners will want to get rid of it for a model without dirty sensor issues. Next, it will be an "older model" and lastly, it is known to have issues and buyers won't want to take the chance without a warranty. It is a shame because I see used 5 year old D700s selling for more money than factory refurbished D600s now. Nikon themselves has lowered the price on the refurbished D600 to US $1439.96 already. I guess it will be a "take what you can get and move on" situation. It is live and learn. I trusted Nikon would make a great camera, and they almost did. I just got the beta version of the D610 without the beta price.

spraynpray

@dooley: I think there is a wide misunderstanding about warranty on used Nikon stuff - it is a first owner only warranty from Nikon. Even if the camera has zero clicks on it, if the body has been registered online or by any means, there is no warranty.

Of course that just makes it worse for people buying or selling D600's.

BigDog

>>>Well my D600 has been accepted by Nikon Melville, NY and is "in the shop". The service repair rank is B2 - "moderate repair : major parts replaced". I sent it in with spots on the sensor and apparently they feel the need to replace parts. I guess Nikon knows that the problem is not just dust on the sensor. It seems to me that the early D600s will require parts replacement. Mine is serial 302xxxx. I am hoping that the fix is truly a fix....<<<

The comment above 100% parallels my own recent experience and thoughts on the D600 issue. Early S/N build sent to Nikon for repair. According to the repair manifest they replaced the shutter. I've only had the camera for two weeks so it is too soon to know if the problem has been fixed. I can't speak for others but no matter the reasons for the possible introduction of a D610, this long-term Nikon owner will be very disappointed if the "repair' proves to have been nothing more than a band aid - essentially pushing the issue out past the warranty period.

bbarb

Regardless if the d610 is true or not, nikon has the responsibility of all the d600s in the world, to shoot without sensor spots.
What i mean is that they must fix the problem on d600s or give a full refund to owners that have problems.
I have left my d600 into nikon and i am not taking it back unless its 100% spot free.
I will give them a final chance, if next time they give me the camera i have problems again, then next step will be done from my lawyer and not me.
Its not easy, but i will fight.
If we manage to become united, i think we can go against nikon japan directly.
I will not let this. Those of you who are with me we can proceed and figure ways to fight them.
Even a website dedicated into this, www.nikond600ourmoneyback.com for instance, were we will claim from all over the world with one voice, to get our money back. Perhaps by registering our s/n, perhaps by uploading nef files, i dont know we all together think of something.
If we organize our selves well, our voice will be heard to japan. As always, the problems is located into some nikon (or canon) lovers that act as if they are nikons (or canons) shareholders, and every day instead of sleeping with their wife's, they sleep with their camera.... These fanboys must and should stay away. Of course, in the end they will run after to claim their money back as well, but its ok we will achieve our goal.

heartyfisher

I met 2 D600 users today (at different times) and asked each of them about the Dust issues.. Both of them know about the dust issues but one of them says his has no problems and is very happy with it. The other has the dust problem but he cleans it and is happy with the situation as its getting better.

MikeGunter

I met 2 D600 users today (at different times) and asked each of them about the Dust issues.. Both of them know about the dust issues but one of them says his has no problems and is very happy with it. The other has the dust problem but he cleans it and is happy with the situation as its getting better.

That's up to them. However, I wouldn't touch any D600 at any price, ever.

Period.

I hope I've been clear on that.

That's the message Nikon should get, and potential owners should get, the sooner the better.

The fellow with the spots seems content to notice the spots, then clean. That's AFU to me. Clearly, he doesn't care about his images. The other fellow _likely_ (my emphasis) doesn't shoot as a small aperture often enough to notice, but will, and will be disappointed when he or she does.

You don't help a company improve their products by buying their crappy products. You complain and bitch to them for putting those products on the market and refuse to buy them.

There should be a total recall of the D600 for those who have them. Anything less is pretty much BS.

My best,

Mike

bbarb

@mike: i agree 100%

KnockKnock

@BigDog - I think there are legal protections against delays pushing you out of warranty. Once an issue is established & documented, the date becomes irrelevant. Google around for the Magnuson-Moss Act.

BaloonAnimals

Unfortunately I popped on the D600 camera package a little prematurely. Someone said yes when I offered to sell them my whole DX set up. Then I immediately ordered the D600 as a replacement. Somewhere I read that the new ones don't have an issue. Always seem to take internet posts with a grain of salt. Cause one bad review can ruin a thousand good reviews. Not in this case. Got my new camera Friday (306XXXX), checked my sensor no dust. Went out and took about 70 shots, bam I've got about 4 distinct spots. One even shows at F8 then gets worse, none can be blown out. At least I'm lucky to be in a position to return it. Oddly enough the D800 doesn't appeal to me what so ever. Other than that it'll be a much more reliable camera. I might try one more D600 body, if that doesn't work then D800 it is and a month of Ramen. If the D610 does actually comes true, I might just downgrade. Assuming I'd have the D800...

The conspirator in me says that Nikon finally fixed it and is selling the bad bodies in the incredibly cheap kits to lower the stock for remedied ones at normal prices. But if that's the case, D600s getting sent in for repair should be fixed. Who knows...

@bbarb I'm especially interested in hearing what happens with your camera. If the fix is actually permanent or not.

Mel

I actually would pay the 5d mk3 price for the d800 if Nikon would release new models with oil problem fixed.... I love the dynamic range and resolution / sharpness of d800 sensor. Don't even need AF, i use Zeiss manual lenses.

spraynpray

@Mel: ??? What D800 oil problem? :-?

Mel

Sorry my bad, i wrote in wrong topic maybe. But the similar oil spots on sensor like d600.