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

donaldejose

I am sure weight was a consideration BUT he must also have had faith that all the photos he took would not be ruined by dust spots.

spraynpray

£959 buys you a 120 actuation used D600 from a dealer. Man, that is tempting.

Are you feelin' lucky punk?

Standupguy37

I am sure weight was a consideration BUT he must also have had faith that all the photos he took would not be ruined by dust spots.

The spots do not show up right away in fact in most cases they dont start to appear before 5k clicks. I assure you they are real and they ruin images. The clone tool can only do so much. I am all for self servicing this issue, however a few things: a.) It is said the cleaning agents can destroy the low pass filter over time. B.) this has never been an issue for me on previous cameras from nikon and canon (d300s, canon 7d, 1dmkii which did not even have a sensor cleaning utility built in). C.) There is the fact that we paid 2k for a camera that is supposed to be so much better then prev cameras we all had.

I dont want a new camera! I love the d600! However the repair center is not fixing the issue. I only wish you and the other nay sayers had this issue so you could be more empathetic! I dont understand why the repair team cannot take whatever mechanism resolved the issue and is now in the d610 into our d600's!

spraynpray

@Standupguy37: There is plenty of empathy on here, just not from the few guys who have a example of the D600 that doesn't soil itself.

I believe the main reason for the D610 being pretty much exactly the same as the D600 is so that Nikon could overhaul their stock (and returns) therefore bringing them up to D610 spec. Otherwise they would have a LOT of inventory that they wouldn't be able to use. The highly skilled repair centres abortive attempts to repair obviously faulty D600's just doesn't make sense to me.

The D600 is a great camera - heck I nearly bought one today, but I decided to hold off at the last minute.

Photobug

Today got pre Black Friday sales from Amazon and Roberts Photo. Roberts dropped the price $200 on the D600 and Amazon had lower prices too. Also checked Amazon, B&H and Adorama and found new lower prices on the D600. My guess is that by the end of the year and during the month of January we are going to continue to see new lower prices for the D600.

donaldejose

I have no lack of empathy for those who have a problem. Nikon should fix the problem or give them a free D610. My position has always been that not 100% of the D600 bodies have this dust problem. And it does seem to go away after about 10,000 exposures in most instances.

bcn2

Steve at Nikon service says Nikon is unaware of any oil problems with the D600. My D600 has obvious round defects in the upper left of images. Steve insists these are dust spots and has replaced the shutter and cleaned the sensor. He refuses to acknowledge if the new shutter is the one used in the D610. This information is not provided to customers.

unable to attach representative photo to this comment

donaldejose

Nikon is really doing a disservice to customers. There is no reason not to tell people if the replacement shutter is the same one now used in the D610 except that, if true, once that gets out many D600 users will demand a free replacement shutter. Through this whole process Nikon has only been looking out for itself. Customers have a right to be disgusted with Nikon.

Photobug

If the number of complaints continue to grow with D600 owners, someone with tenacity and money is going to get a class action law suit started. Then and only then will NIkon do something about this issue. That is my opinion.

I really though Nikon would step up to the plate to address the issue but once I read the news about not meeting sales and profit forecast, I knew they would not do the right thing for the D600 owners. They are playing the odds.

Glaucus75

I bought the D600 and within a month or two noticed the spots. Sent it back and they replaced the camera with a new one . Then basically forgot about it due to a new baby. Looked again, and this one has the same issue. I'll be definitely calling nikon again this week.... Great camera, however this is not good enough...

amhalpern

I just got my D600 back from the Nikon service center for the 4th time in less than a year and they replaced the shutter for the 3rd time due to oil spots on the sensor. They insisted they would have it fixed right this time around but after less than 2 weeks and 1000 clicks the spots are back mostly in the same upper left corner but many in other areas as well. Please tell me if these spots are considered normal. I did clean the sensor 3 times according to Nikons method as desribed in the manual. http://andrewhalpern.zenfolio.com/p782472923/h3cb3b4aa#h3cb3b4aa

Fredericko

Hi everyone,

Just to let you guys know I also had a problem with my D600 and had to send it many times for cleaning. They also replaced the shutter twice but the problem still persists. So as what one of the NR member whitehotphotos suggested I requested for a refund before my 1 yr. warranty expires and like him I was also refunded the full amount of the purchase price of my D600. I hope that anyone here who has this problem will also be granted a refund price like we did since thats what Nikon should have done in the first place not releasing a D610 without solving the D600 problem. Just remember that they will ask for your invoice or purchase receipt so I hope you still have it. Good luck.

Fredericko

amhalpern

Thanks for the advice Frederico. I have formally asked them for a refund and sent them a copy of my receipt showing that the camera is less than 1 year old. I hope they do the same for me as they did for both you and whitehotphotos.

bcn2

Just got my D600 back from Nikon this afternoon after they claim to have replaced the shutter, cleaned the sensor and brought it back to "factory standards". Now the camera will not take pictures and all I get from either kit lens is an Err message. Went through diagnostics with the tech rep on the phone, resetting the camera with both lens and still only an Err message for which the technician says is a camera body malfunction. Now they want me to send it back to them for a failed repair. Still insist all this was a dust issue and refuse to admit that the prominent circular images in the left upper corner of photos are oil residue from a defective shutter mechanism.

kyoshinikon

That is a bummer. They had a good run with the D700/D90... Why the oily sensors again I have no idea. I am convinced that there are many Idiots at the repair center. Sometimes they do a 110% job and other times they screw up more than they fix.

bbarb

Hi to all,
I eventually had a full refund on my d600 and i already have a d610 in hands,
I would like to thank each one of you for advicing me and supporting.
D610 is (as the D600 was) like a masterpiece, only this time i hope there will be no spot issues.
For the moment evrything looks fine.
What i noticed though is that D610 NEF files are not supported (from an official version) from LR yet (only from a 5.3 beta) but thats not a sirius concern. I also noticed that shutter sound is different (not better or worst, its just different) from the d600. And by the way, what i also noticed is that even though i have set it up to record nef files in one card and jpgs in the other, it records on both cards nef. Am i doing something wrong? Anyone else noticed that as well. (ok i know out of topic again i will post it in the correct one)

donaldejose

bbarb: It is great to hear you obtained a refund and have a D610.

wmscyclone

bbarb: I also had the issue of 2 NEF files the first time I tried to get NEF on card 1 and JPG on card 2. I recall having to set 2 preferences. You've already set the "Role played by card in Slot 2" preference (overflow, backup, Raw Slot 1 - JPEG Slot 2) . There's another setting for "Image Quality" and that'll have to be set to NEF (RAW) + JPEG (fine, normal, or basic). It's in the shooting menu or it can be set by pressing the "Qual" button on the camera back and turning the main command dial to select one of the RAW + JPEG options.

The names of the settings are from my D600, I assume the D610 is similar if not exactly the same. Good luck!

Photobug

Excellent news you got a full refund on your D600. Was that from a local dealer or a mail order dealer?

Photobug

Just found this at Adorama: $1,300 for D600
http://www.adorama.com/INKD600R.html?utm_term=Other&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=rflAID021866

Price keeps going down.

bbarb

@Photobug: local one.
@wmscyclone: Yes you are correct. It works now!!! lolol Thanks.

LEE

Hi all,
brand new to the forum. I've had a D600 since mid January 2013, and have noticed the dust/oil spots increasing over time, most noticeable at higher f stops. Somebody above asked if the cameras being sent back to Nikon were being given the D610 shutter...I asked that question to Nikon and they said they said they are NOT replacing D600 sensors with D610 sensors. I include their response below:

Subject D600/Spots on image sensor/Service Discussion Thread Response Via Email (Shanel J.) 12/12/2013 02:57 PM Dear ,


Thank you for contacting Nikon, I'll be more than glad to assist you. Some D600 users have reported the appearance of random spots on their images which is generally attributed to the natural accumulation of dust.

While understanding that dust will occur over time, and steps may be taken to reduce the occurrence, the complete elimination of these dust spots may sometimes be difficult.

It has come to our attention that, in some rare cases, they may be reflected noticeably in images and removal may be difficult using normal measures. Therefore, Nikon is informing users of a service to reduce this issue.

Resolution:

As a first step, please follow the guidance from the D600 User's Manual (pages 301-305) related to the Clean Image Sensor function and manual cleaning using a blower bulb.

If these measures do not remove all dust particles and you are still experiencing problems, then please consult your nearest Nikon service center. The technicians will examine the camera thoroughly, and service it as needed. We do not replace the sensor with a D610 sensor.

According to our records your D600 was purchased on 1/21/2013 and is covered under the one year warranty.

spraynpray

Where do you live Lee (this is an international forum)? That is a horrible response - a complete denial of any problem, attributing the 'dust' to normal accumulation. Really gets on my nerves. Shame you didn't ask them to explain the early arrival of the D610 in their reply....

Fredericko

Hi LEE,

I dont know if you are loacted in the US or not but if you have read my previous post I was successful in asking for a full refund of the amount price I paid for the D600 i bought before its 1 year anniversary and before warranty runs out. Now keep in mind that I already had it sent more than once and they already replaced the shutter more than once as well but the issue still persisted thus the reason they agreed to refund me the amount I paid. If this is the 1st time you will be sending it they might still try to change the shutter before resorting to a refund as their last option if the problem will still persist. I suggest you ponder on this before your warranty runs out on January which is less than a month from now.

LEE

Thanks guys - I am amazed by your quick responses and wise advice-thank you so much! I'm a newbie at this full-frame DSLR stuff, and I truly appreciate your help. I live close to Atlanta. Spray - I agree...that's not the response from Nikon I was hoping for. I'm probably too new at this stuff to ask the right questions about the D610...Fredricko, thanks so much for your response too. I've followed this forum for a while, but only joined today when I realized that Nikon really has an obligation to fix this. There is a Nikon service center about an hour away, so I guess I'll give them a shot, and if it doesn't fix the problem, then ask for a refund. But did the D610 REALLY fix the problem? Thanks again, guys. You are great!