D610 Oil spot issue

gerrydeguzman

New member
Hello Folks,

I'm new to this site and I just would like to share my experience regarding my new D610 which I bought last March at a local Grey Market shop here in Manila.
I decided to let go of my D7000 to enter the full frame arena. It is a widely known fact that D600 has the oil spot and dust issue. I went and got my eye on the D610. They say that it has the new shutter mechanism and the oil spots will no longer be a problem...But wait there's more.......

Lo and behold there it was again! of all the released D610, I got the bad one - that is the sensor issue.

A few weeks ago me and my family went on a summer get away. I was very excited because I could finally take out my D610 and take some beautiful landscapes and portrait shots. I had hundreds of shots taken and during my processing there I noticed some spots appearing. At first I thought it was just a spec or dirt on my lens or part of the shot I made. Then I told my self, nah this couldn't be, because D610 has solved the issue. So I ignored the spots I saw and moved on my processing because I did not see the spots from the rest of my shots...After processing I started checking some of my photos and returned to the picture that has this dark spot. Then I started comparing it to other shots....

I have soon noticed that the spot appeared on a small F stop (f/16)....Then, I still ignored it and hid my camera.

A few days ago, I brought my camera to take some shots of my son and daughter's summer sports camp. Now it made me realize that I should test this once and for all to settle the doubt in my mind. So I took some shots of the sky (set my cam on manual, and lens). First I shot is @f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/7.1, f/8, f/11, f/13, f/16, f/22....

To my surprise, the spots revealed at f/5.6 then on wards. I could see the spot from the lower left corner which and some from the right corner above...So, I went and brought the camera to the store and reported the issue. They said they will get the camera and have it cleaned....

Now I'm really disappointed with Nikon's reputation. I have invested too much to be able to enjoy photography and now this happens. I do sure hope that I'm the only one who got the bad copy...if not then Nikon should clean up there mess...

GB,
Gerry

See the dot in the lower left corner. This was shot @ F/16

OilSpot-4_zps5378807c.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]

Tiwi-2238_zps2d495ee5.jpg
[/URL][/IMG] (This is shot @f/8) See the spot in the mid left side in the clouds area
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I have oil on my 2 week old D7100 or do i ? not going to jump to any conclusions as to me the first one looks like dust,more of a concern is the patch on the second one when levels have been changed,have you had the oil thing confirmed until some one tells me i have oil i will stick with dust.
You may be right but we have to be careful not to jump to conclusions.

DSC_1149.jpg


m.jpg
 

gerrydeguzman

New member
Thanks Mikew for the warm welcome....thanks for sharing your experience with your D7100...I would have to ask my friend who has the same camera if he has the same issue. I saw your flickr page and I must say, very impressive work. Maybe to better confirm this, better do some test shots shooting the sky like I did...mine started at f/5.6...

GB.

I have oil on my 2 week old D7100 or do i ? not going to jump to any conclusions as to me the first one looks like dust,more of a concern is the patch on the second one when levels have been changed,have you had the oil thing confirmed until some one tells me i have oil i will stick with dust.
You may be right but we have to be careful not to jump to conclusions.

View attachment 85612

View attachment 85613
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I dont know if your D610 has auto clean or not but if it does set it to clean on start up and shutdown,its not a perfect system but if it removes the spot all together or moves it then that confirms its dust,even if it doesn't move it there is still a good chance its not oil.
 

gerrydeguzman

New member
I've sent the unit earlier today to the camera shop where I bought it, to have it cleaned. I'll just wait for their feedback. But thanks for the tip Mike.
 

SteveH

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum Gerry!

There are others who know more than me, but I suspect that oil spots wouldn't be so defined but as I say, there are others who know much more about oil spots.

Regardless, welcome to the forum and ejoy!
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Just been digging around and found a reject shot taken after the other one,the camera had been switched off and on a couple of times so the auto clean had been activated at least four times,to my eyesight i think my spot has gone i wasn't bothered enough to check before.

DSC_1173.jpg
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Welcome.

I feel like I'm repeating myself, so please don't take the tone of this personally, it's meant for anyone and everyone who reads this.

The D600 problem has created a world of nervous photographers who seem to have forgotten that DSLR's get dust and dirt in them. No matter how careful they are in changing lenses, stuff gets in. In normal use, long exposures, LiveView and just pointing at things up in the air and allowing gravity to take over will introduce anything that's managed to find its way into the cavity of the camera or that gap in the back of the lens between the cap and the first element, to the sensor as the mirror and shutter create a millisecond long gale inside the body with all their flapping around. It's normal stuff, and you should be prepared to spot it, and to deal with it, first with a simple bulb blower and then with proper wet cleaning tools or a bit of money and a local professional.

OK, so with that editorial comment aside, what you have Gerry is more than likely simple dust or some other particulate. You're out in nature with grazing animals and trees, all of which will create dust simply from the kicking up of dirt on the ground to seed pods breaking open in trees to pollen of every possible sort. While people will tell you to use the Self Cleaning function (it barely works, and will only really work of you use it with the camera facing down to allow gravity to pull that spec off - but remember, it's still inside that wind chamber for the mirror and shutter to blow right back onto to the sensor) you need to get a good bulb blower and blow the sensor clean (do not use your mouth or compressed air - both are moist and can get into the sensor stack), again, with the camera facing down so gravity removes the debris from the body. After that, if it persists, either learn how to do an occasional wet clean, or find someone local to do it as required.

DSLR's are not closed systems like Point & Shoot cameras, and this stuff gets in all the time - on every brand and every quality level. It's the thing they don't advertise when you make the jump. It's OK. It's not Nikon's fault, and it's not your fault. It's like making dinner and getting the stove dirty - it's a part of the process, and at some point you're going to have to clean it up. When all depends, because some meals and some chefs are messier than others - but you will have to clean it
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Hi Gerry and welcome! :)

Your spots don't look to be out of the ordinary. I had numerous sensor spot problems with my D600 which was finally rectified by Nikon taking back the camera. Here are a couple test shots from my previous D600:


010edit.jpg



The following photo wasn't even of the entire sensor. I cropped the photo so it contains only 1/4 area of the sensor! :eyetwitch:

042 f22 lt corner resize.jpg



Now I own a D610, and yes I do have a few spots. The difference is that the spots I now have are not out of the ordinary. What you will find from time to time are a few spots here and there. That is normal. It's only when you find a gazillion spots DESPITE maintaining the sensor periodically that I would express concern.

One more thing...when your lens is mounted on the D610, I'd suggest keeping the body cap and the lens' rear cap screwed together and place them inside a zip lock bag. Whatever gets on the insides of those caps has a tendency to transfer to inside the camera.

Good luck with your journey--nice to have you here. ;)
 

foo

Senior Member
I found some specs on one or 2 of my photos , anyway i checked lens front element first nothing then the sensor with the mirror up, clean as a whistle .
In actual fact it was dust or dirt on the rear element of one of the lenses I was using .
It was cleaned off with a wipe from my sigma micro fibre lens cloth and all was well .
I do a lot of shooting outdoor and its not possible to keep everthing scrupulously clean in an outdoor environment .I change lenses with the camera face down and as soon as you take a rear cap off and its very easy to get dust particles unseen to the eye on them.
The media and hype surrounding oil spots has made every potential d600 / d610 nervous as hell , FWTW I myself will be purchasing a d610 and I'm not worried as I will be buying mine with full uk warranty . Any issues and let the vendor sort it out.
We all like to save cash but sometimes its not worth going the grey market route for the money saved over a proper warranty . Sorry if this sounds negative but there is a lot of hype from the last Nikon FF fiasco that surely Nikon in the end I might add did do something about , is why we got the d610 so soon after the d600 came to market.
 

gerrydeguzman

New member
Thank you all for your very interesting and informative comments and suggestions. I will take note of these and will be more extra careful.

I'm as well a very mindful of my gadgets to be honest and that's why when I decided to purchase the D610, I decided to buy it in the grey market. When I bought my D7000 with a Nikon 2 year warranty, I have never sent it for any service of any sort. So, I thought, why would I bother get a warrantied device where I could save a lot of cash and spend it on a good glass. This are choices we have to make sometimes. It just so happens that I have experience this issue earlier. I would not mind if any one agree to my reasoning or not, but at the end of the day, we have to decide.

But I appreciate very much everyone's help and I just hope this is just minor thing.

Happy shooting everyone!

GB.
 

TL Robinson

Senior Member
I had a spot on my new D610 yesterday - ran the cleaning bit on the camera and the spot was gone so for me it was dust. They're right tho - the huge deal made out of the issues with the original D600 do cause you to pause when that happens...but personally I'm still thrilled with my D610....
 

Bukitimah

Senior Member
I thnk if you are really fussy over spots, DIY wet cleaning of sensor is something you seriously need to consider. Not that difficult but do get the right tool.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Been watching Jared Polin's stuff recently and I'd entertain his 2 cents on all this stuff given his FX body shooting experience - all of this is perfectly normal and we virtually NEVER shoot above f/16 where you'd even start noticing any of this. D800 has spots and dust after you use it heavily, D4 has them, etc.

I was getting all worried via our bandwagon, but thinking back to when I just got 600 few months ago and played with it a bit, spot-o-rama didn't matter until I specifically tested for it.
 

SkvLTD

Senior Member
Just learning to clean it whenever it starts to show up too much is the real way to go. Having some spots is normal. Having like 50 is not, but I hope we won't start freaking out over regular ones as if they were faulty kind.
 
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