D600 sensor dust problem
- Thread starter Dave_W
- Start date
Does anyone know if Nikon has made any official comment on the D600 dust problem?
Hype or not, there's enough noise about it you'd think they'd make a statement.
I was all ready to shell out the dough for a D600 when I heard about the problem. It seems clear that at best it's a minor problem that should have never happened. I presently have my buying plans on indefinite hold until I hear the problem has been addressed. I'll bet I'm not the only one in this mind-set.
Hype or not, there's enough noise about it you'd think they'd make a statement.
I was all ready to shell out the dough for a D600 when I heard about the problem. It seems clear that at best it's a minor problem that should have never happened. I presently have my buying plans on indefinite hold until I hear the problem has been addressed. I'll bet I'm not the only one in this mind-set.
M
macjim
Guest
Not the most satisfying answer if that is the real response from Nikon... if it is coming from the shutter leaf mechanism then surely that is a fault. I've never experienced that with any other camera that I've owned, as far as I know. My own D600 hasn’t seen a lot of use so far so I'm not aware of any 'dust' so far – hopefully I'll be one of the lucky ones that haven't – but this has made me wish I hadn't bought the camera. My previous Nikon – a D90 – had an intermittent fault where it wouldn't shoot at all and would only work if I switched it off and on. My D50 before that had the flash problem to – it failed to worked when it popped up, after a few years of intermittent use – so my experience with Nikon hasn't been good. Why did I buy another Nikon? I didn't have a lot of choices, I had a Leica M9 with a Leica 35 mm lens bought early this year and after eight months of use I finally admitted defeat as I could focus easily and as sharp as I would have liked, so the camera was sent off tot a Leica dealer to sell on commission – the original supplier went bust this year – and it didn't sell. Then Leica c+++++d on their users by bringing out a cheapened M9 in the form of the M-M. \this undercut the second hand market as it sold at the same price as the price my camera should have made and that meant I had to sell at a loss and the only choice was to but the D600 with the money, so that is how I came to be a Nikon user once more and a D600 owner.So you can understand my frustration if this yet another Nikon problem, I just hope they will come up good and do the right thing for all us D600 owners and replace the shutter mechanism. Lucky white heather anyone?
In the absence of a reassuring (or any) statement from Nikon, I have for the first time spent a considerable amount of time on the Canon website checking out their equivalent offerings. Nikon's silence is quite loyalty dissolving. I also have my eye on the second place item on my want-list, a new bandsaw for the woodshop. Speaking of dust! 
Nikon, if you're listening, a statement would be VERY helpful.... unless all you have to say is you have no idea what the problem is or don't want or know how to fix it. It that case, it would be best to remain silent.
Nikon, if you're listening, a statement would be VERY helpful.... unless all you have to say is you have no idea what the problem is or don't want or know how to fix it. It that case, it would be best to remain silent.
Sadly, Nikon has issued a statement.
"Measures to reduce effects of dust or foreign matter are optimized for each model. Therefore, the dust reduction system's internal mechanism varies with each model," the Nikon statement reads. "If the effects of dust or foreign matter on photographs become bothersome, customers are encouraged to consult their local Nikon service center."]
I can't find an official Nikon post but many others are citing this response from Nikon so it may be accurate.
"Measures to reduce effects of dust or foreign matter are optimized for each model. Therefore, the dust reduction system's internal mechanism varies with each model," the Nikon statement reads. "If the effects of dust or foreign matter on photographs become bothersome, customers are encouraged to consult their local Nikon service center."]
I can't find an official Nikon post but many others are citing this response from Nikon so it may be accurate.
AC016
Senior Member
I have used 3 Nikon cameras up until now - am using two at the moment. Never did i experience "dust", "particles" or whatever you want to call it, to this extent. People who say that it happens in other cameras are just trying to comfort themselves - it does not happen to this extent in other cameras. It is all well and good to say, "just clean it every so often". But that is not the answer. If you find metal shavings in your engine oil when you change it, are you jsut going to keep changing the engine oil, dismissing the real problem? The solution is to lodge your compalint with Nikon instead of going on about it here. With further articles coming out, such as the one that Dave posted, it just may be that the shutter leaf mechanism is slowly being ground down. If that is the case, yeah, sure, the "particles" may stop appearing because the shutter leaf mechanism will be ground down to the point that the tolerance between it and the other piece of the camera, are no longer as tight. Again, i never had this issue with my D3000, D5100 or D80. There is a small fault with the D600, just admit it Nikon and everyone else. It's not the end of the world.
Are the particles a continuous issue with your copy? Have you contacted Nikon? Just curious if you are getting the same non-response. I find mine has diminished and was due to the inside of the camera having dust, but that is an individual assesment from actual use. Perhaps the shutter mechaniism on this model is prone to sucking dust in, more so than other models. Time will tell the true issue, but I do not think the sky is falling.
M
macjim
Guest
I've been reading that the problem goes away after 3,000 actuations of the shutter mechanism. That's all very well but it should never have been at fault in the first place. Either Nikon should pay for the the cleaning up till the problem clears or they should provide a replacement camera for those experiencing this. I've not yet seen this particle problem but in saying that, I haven't been looking for it too. I'm ever hopeful I won't experience it but I'm also trying the ostrich head buried in the ground hoping it'll not happen.
I've also read various folk say — live with it as all cameras do this — well, after spending a fortune I expect the camera to work as advertised, and I expect this to work without fault. It's a Pro camera in all but name and I expect the goods to work, of it needs regular servicing then Nikon should include this as part of the warranty and give customers good service.
I'll admit that Nikon is not the only camera manufacturer that has problems — I owned a Leica M9 and it was prone to getting dirt on the sensor even without taking the lens off, and they were even complaints that cameras were being received by new owners with dirty sensors — I was one of them and had to pay for a sensor cleaning after a few actuations!
This might play into the hands of Canon, as this might put buyers off themD600 and have then buy the 6D instead. I know, if the 6D had been available at the time I was trading in the Leica, and if I'd read about this problem, I'd have gone for the Canon instead even though the D600 was the better camera all round.
So, Nikon, get a move on and solve this then we might get some piece of mind and do something about the quality control too.
I've also read various folk say — live with it as all cameras do this — well, after spending a fortune I expect the camera to work as advertised, and I expect this to work without fault. It's a Pro camera in all but name and I expect the goods to work, of it needs regular servicing then Nikon should include this as part of the warranty and give customers good service.
I'll admit that Nikon is not the only camera manufacturer that has problems — I owned a Leica M9 and it was prone to getting dirt on the sensor even without taking the lens off, and they were even complaints that cameras were being received by new owners with dirty sensors — I was one of them and had to pay for a sensor cleaning after a few actuations!
This might play into the hands of Canon, as this might put buyers off themD600 and have then buy the 6D instead. I know, if the 6D had been available at the time I was trading in the Leica, and if I'd read about this problem, I'd have gone for the Canon instead even though the D600 was the better camera all round.
So, Nikon, get a move on and solve this then we might get some piece of mind and do something about the quality control too.
One thing to remember is that sensors are electrically charged surfaces. We all know what static can cause and I suspect the more definition a sensor has, the more static electricity it will be charged with. All sensors attract dust and eventually, they all show up.
I think that sensor cleaning should be learned by all DSLR users and then problem solved. Post processing of these little dust bunnies is also not too hard to do.
And, if we look for nit picking more than we look at the overall picture, we might spend too much time fussing and not enough enjoying photography.
Just my 2 canadian cents.
I think that sensor cleaning should be learned by all DSLR users and then problem solved. Post processing of these little dust bunnies is also not too hard to do.
And, if we look for nit picking more than we look at the overall picture, we might spend too much time fussing and not enough enjoying photography.
Just my 2 canadian cents.
Marcel - you do make a good point, however, the "dust" turns out to be shutter material that is being scrapped off with every actuation. I'm beginning to wonder if this isn't what happened to my D800 that ultimately caused the shutters to fail. Toward the end there was tons of "junk" appearing on my sensor in the hours leading up to the failure. That said, I suspect many of these "dusty" D600 will experience catastrophic shutter failure as their actuation numbers go up.
All car batteries eventually die. But if I buy a new high-end vehicle and the battery fails and I have to get jump-started every once in a while the first few thousand miles I drive it - that seems like an unacceptable problem to me, especially if the manufacturer hides from it and the dealer wants to take my transportation for 6 weeks to maybe fix it. For some reason the answer "Don't fuss too much, just go enjoy your new car" doesn't sound right. A professional taking 100's, 1000's of pictures a day can't be stopping to clean their sensor while the bride and groom wait.
This D600 dust problem got me thinking, for the first time, about what dust I might have in my D200. I haven't thought once about dust in the last 6 years I've owned it and it has never been cleaned - other than I try to be reasonably careful when exchanging lenses. So I got my D200 out and took a few test images as described by the folks testing the D600 and I found virtually no dust - far, far less than any image I've seen of the D600 so far. For me anyway, this tends to make me think that claiming "all camera's have dust problems" isn't an acceptable justification either.
It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me for a hobbyist/amateur to be required to clean their camera as frequently as tests so far have shown the D600 is requiring. But, if a person is out trying to close a deal with a client in their new luxury sedan, they really shouldn't be having to dig in the trunk for the jumper cables.
Just my marginally valuable (at best) thoughts....
This D600 dust problem got me thinking, for the first time, about what dust I might have in my D200. I haven't thought once about dust in the last 6 years I've owned it and it has never been cleaned - other than I try to be reasonably careful when exchanging lenses. So I got my D200 out and took a few test images as described by the folks testing the D600 and I found virtually no dust - far, far less than any image I've seen of the D600 so far. For me anyway, this tends to make me think that claiming "all camera's have dust problems" isn't an acceptable justification either.
It doesn't seem that unreasonable to me for a hobbyist/amateur to be required to clean their camera as frequently as tests so far have shown the D600 is requiring. But, if a person is out trying to close a deal with a client in their new luxury sedan, they really shouldn't be having to dig in the trunk for the jumper cables.
Just my marginally valuable (at best) thoughts....
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+1 Marcel, I agree with your statement 100%
Dave, Did you miss type your first sentence, or has the material been shown to not be dust?
No, not mistyping. The so-called "dust" appears to be due to the shutter box being scraped with each shutter release. See HERE
Ok, thanks for the link, I'm pleased to see that it is a theory. I'm going to look for these scratches!