Scott Murray
Senior Member
PS my D800E has spots/measles 
Oil spots/AF issues--called Nikon for service
- Thread starter hark
- Start date
That stinks! I'd be so angry. You are handling it better than I would.
hark, I'm sorry to read about this. But I have to say, the same thing happened to me, and this was the moment that made me decide that I cannot use my D600 in its current state.
I had wet cleaned the sensor diligently once again, and there was not a single spot left on it. I took a test shot - clean. I went outside to take a picture half an hour later - and had a big dark blob in the picture. And that was after already some 4000 pictures taken with this D600!
That was a little over one week before my vacation, and I really could not clean the sensor every day or even several times per day while travelling. My solution was to buy a D800. I've cleaned the D800's sensor once since then (after 5 months), but it was just dust, and just one speck, and I change lenses a lot meanwhile (on the D600 I was using a zoom, now I use primes).
I know some think our complaints are exaggerated, but I know how you feel.
I had wet cleaned the sensor diligently once again, and there was not a single spot left on it. I took a test shot - clean. I went outside to take a picture half an hour later - and had a big dark blob in the picture. And that was after already some 4000 pictures taken with this D600!
That was a little over one week before my vacation, and I really could not clean the sensor every day or even several times per day while travelling. My solution was to buy a D800. I've cleaned the D800's sensor once since then (after 5 months), but it was just dust, and just one speck, and I change lenses a lot meanwhile (on the D600 I was using a zoom, now I use primes).
I know some think our complaints are exaggerated, but I know how you feel.
It boggles the mind, to think that they shipped it back to you with what you just posted. It looks worse than ever! I sincerely hope that at this point, they give you a refund. I think it has been mentioned previously on this thread, but have you looked at the lemon laws for your state?
The issue will be forwarded to corporate. They want me to submit an unedited photo which I hope to do within the next day. I took a test photo at the church this afternoon taking advantage of their white projector screen, but I haven't yet loaded the files onto my computer. I followed Marcel's directions, but my lens didn't have the f/16 marked on the lens to line up with the infinity mark (it only went up to f/11). I'll be checking the photos later tonight and see if the photo turned out.
The issue will be forwarded to corporate. They want me to submit an unedited photo which I hope to do within the next day. I took a test photo at the church this afternoon taking advantage of their white projector screen, but I haven't yet loaded the files onto my computer. I followed Marcel's directions, but my lens didn't have the f/16 marked on the lens to line up with the infinity mark (it only went up to f/11). I'll be checking the photos later tonight and see if the photo turned out.
Maybe I didn't explain myself well. Let me try again.
Put the camera in manual focus, manually focus the lens to infinity (it actually doesn't matter much).
Get close to a white wall, use iso 100, take picture while moving the camera. This will create a white blurred picture but the dust will be very apparent.
If you try to photograph something, there might be a spot or a bird in the sky or something. This way, you are just testing the sensor.
But then maybe Nikon will protest, saying that you did take a real photograph, or it's too abstract, but it's the way I test mine and then decide if I'm going to wet clean or not. I consider myself lucky since I don't seem to have a big problem with dust. I did get some when I was traveling in Vietnam, but it was extremely dusty over there, so it probably wasn't the camera sensor's at cause.
Good luck dealing with Nikon. Just keep your cool with them, but don't let them paint you in a corner. You should legally be allowed to get what you paid for: A nice working camera.
The past couple of weeks have been difficult. One of my beloved cats of 9-1/2 years died on Monday, and this morning my mom's fiance died. :sorrow:
Once I uploaded a new unedited photo for Nikon to review, it was sent off to their corporate headquarters. The supervisor has been terrific by posting updates. Today I received a message that Nikon would issue a refund, but I had to pursue what to do about the extended warranty that I purchased for my D600 (the camera is still under its original 1-year warranty).
Nikon won't issue a refund for the warranty, but because I want to replace the camera with a D610, they will send me a letter which will acknowledge an additional 2-year extended warranty for the D610 after I submit proof-of-purchase.
The way B&H wrote out their invoice, I was charged $1996.95 for the camera body, but because they threw in some freebies such as a Lowepro camera bag, a SanDisk memory card, and a non-Nikon extra battery, the camera was listed as $1888.10. So that's the amount of a refund I will receive.
Thank you, Nikon, for stepping up and resolving the issue. The supervisor who got involved has been stellar! The D600 takes amazing photos, but after having 2 shutters and a sensor replaced with the problem still existing, I am glad they will take the camera back. Tomorrow I plan to get the D600 packaged up and shipped out then they should receive it on Monday. It will take a couple of weeks for the Nikon rep to get a check in hand, so hopefully by Thanksgiving I will receive a refund.
Thank you to everyone here at Nikonites who've had my back and expressed support...especially Rick M who kept telling me to pursue a refund if it didn't get fixed properly. I appreciate all the information from everyone.
Warm Regards,
hark
Once I uploaded a new unedited photo for Nikon to review, it was sent off to their corporate headquarters. The supervisor has been terrific by posting updates. Today I received a message that Nikon would issue a refund, but I had to pursue what to do about the extended warranty that I purchased for my D600 (the camera is still under its original 1-year warranty).
Nikon won't issue a refund for the warranty, but because I want to replace the camera with a D610, they will send me a letter which will acknowledge an additional 2-year extended warranty for the D610 after I submit proof-of-purchase.
The way B&H wrote out their invoice, I was charged $1996.95 for the camera body, but because they threw in some freebies such as a Lowepro camera bag, a SanDisk memory card, and a non-Nikon extra battery, the camera was listed as $1888.10. So that's the amount of a refund I will receive.
Thank you, Nikon, for stepping up and resolving the issue. The supervisor who got involved has been stellar!
The D600 takes amazing photos, but after having 2 shutters and a sensor replaced with the problem still existing, I am glad they will take the camera back. Tomorrow I plan to get the D600 packaged up and shipped out then they should receive it on Monday. It will take a couple of weeks for the Nikon rep to get a check in hand, so hopefully by Thanksgiving I will receive a refund. Thank you to everyone here at Nikonites who've had my back and expressed support...especially Rick M who kept telling me to pursue a refund if it didn't get fixed properly.
I appreciate all the information from everyone. Warm Regards,
hark
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
So sorry to hear about the personal losses. My sincere condolences.
As for the camera, I'm glad to hear that Nikon took the high road here. I'm sure you'll love the D610.
As for the camera, I'm glad to hear that Nikon took the high road here. I'm sure you'll love the D610.
Hey guys! It's been a while, but I too am still having issues with mine. I sent mine in this summer where they did a shutter replacement and low-pass clean. They camera then sat around for a few months as I was busy and there wasn't a lot for me to shoot. I then shot about 80 pics in a portrait session, then about 600 on a trip to California. The spots are worse than ever! I shot an awesome 4 minute long exposure at f25 or something on the coast and there must have been 50+ spots I had to clone out, ridiculous! I am now in the process of sending the camera back to Nikon for further evaluation. I am hoping they just refund or replace the damn thing. I love the camera when it works, but I am so tired of dealing with this issue at this price point!
Vector, since this will be your 2nd servicing at Nikon, ask for a supervisor to help out.
Well tonight I used the D600 most likely for its last time to photograph the local high school's theater production. When I used it last week to photograph the waterfalls, something wasn't right but it was a fleeting thought. Once I got started tonight, I knew something was wrong. During the D600's first service, I requested that the autofocus be adjusted. I hadn't spent much time with the camera since that first service, but I *thought* the autofocus seemed okay when taking a few test shots.
So there I was on the balcony (the only place they will allow me to take photos) when I noticed all the shots appeared slightly blurry when autofocusing. The play started so the house lights were off, and it was quite dark all around me. I removed my glasses to get a better look through the viewfinder, and I was struck by its clarity and sharpness! This is backwards was the thought running through my head because the viewfinder is usually sharp with my glasses but not sharp when not wearing them. Duh! Obviously the diopter got changed during the camera's last servicing. For most people, that probably wouldn't be a problem, but because I've never changed mine (and never even looked to see how it's done), there I was in the dark feeling around to see how to fix it! Back when I used an N90s and an N70, I purchased the specific diopters for my sight. The original ones had to be removed before the diopters could be put on. After using them a little, I decided I preferred wearing my glasses to look through the viewfinder so I removed the diopters. I never bothered to see how it adjusted on the D600 because it wasn't something I wanted to use.
Lesson learned! Always make sure you know what EVERY bell and whistle is for and how it works BEFORE you are left completely in the dark!
And on the plus side, I just loaded the photos onto my computer and can see a big difference in the sharpness of where I focused. Granted there was an additional spotlight tonight so I was able to shoot at f/6.3-f/7.1 rather than f/2.8-f/5.6 which increased my DOF. Even still, the precise point where I focused in the photos is sharp--MUCH sharper than any of the other production photos I've taken with this camera. And the waterfalls photos were also very sharp compared to previous photos taken prior to having its autofocus adjusted so Nikon did fix the autofocus.
Here's hoping that the D610 will have a shutter that doesn't spew oil/dust AND have more accurate autofocusing than this D600 had out of the box! Most likely I'll order the D610 next week.
Well tonight I used the D600 most likely for its last time to photograph the local high school's theater production. When I used it last week to photograph the waterfalls, something wasn't right but it was a fleeting thought. Once I got started tonight, I knew something was wrong. During the D600's first service, I requested that the autofocus be adjusted. I hadn't spent much time with the camera since that first service, but I *thought* the autofocus seemed okay when taking a few test shots.
So there I was on the balcony (the only place they will allow me to take photos) when I noticed all the shots appeared slightly blurry when autofocusing. The play started so the house lights were off, and it was quite dark all around me. I removed my glasses to get a better look through the viewfinder, and I was struck by its clarity and sharpness! This is backwards was the thought running through my head because the viewfinder is usually sharp with my glasses but not sharp when not wearing them. Duh! Obviously the diopter got changed during the camera's last servicing. For most people, that probably wouldn't be a problem, but because I've never changed mine (and never even looked to see how it's done), there I was in the dark feeling around to see how to fix it!
Back when I used an N90s and an N70, I purchased the specific diopters for my sight. The original ones had to be removed before the diopters could be put on. After using them a little, I decided I preferred wearing my glasses to look through the viewfinder so I removed the diopters. I never bothered to see how it adjusted on the D600 because it wasn't something I wanted to use. Lesson learned! Always make sure you know what EVERY bell and whistle is for and how it works BEFORE you are left completely in the dark!
And on the plus side, I just loaded the photos onto my computer and can see a big difference in the sharpness of where I focused. Granted there was an additional spotlight tonight so I was able to shoot at f/6.3-f/7.1 rather than f/2.8-f/5.6 which increased my DOF. Even still, the precise point where I focused in the photos is sharp--MUCH sharper than any of the other production photos I've taken with this camera. And the waterfalls photos were also very sharp compared to previous photos taken prior to having its autofocus adjusted so Nikon did fix the autofocus.
Here's hoping that the D610 will have a shutter that doesn't spew oil/dust AND have more accurate autofocusing than this D600 had out of the box!
Most likely I'll order the D610 next week. The past couple of weeks have been difficult. One of my beloved cats of 9-1/2 years died on Monday, and this morning my mom's fiance died. :sorrow:
Once I uploaded a new unedited photo for Nikon to review, it was sent off to their corporate headquarters. The supervisor has been terrific by posting updates. Today I received a message that Nikon would issue a refund, but I had to pursue what to do about the extended warranty that I purchased for my D600 (the camera is still under its original 1-year warranty).
Nikon won't issue a refund for the warranty, but because I want to replace the camera with a D610, they will send me a letter which will acknowledge an additional 2-year extended warranty for the D610 after I submit proof-of-purchase.
The way B&H wrote out their invoice, I was charged $1996.95 for the camera body, but because they threw in some freebies such as a Lowepro camera bag, a SanDisk memory card, and a non-Nikon extra battery, the camera was listed as $1888.10. So that's the amount of a refund I will receive.
Thank you, Nikon, for stepping up and resolving the issue. The supervisor who got involved has been stellar!
Thank you to everyone here at Nikonites who've had my back and expressed support...especially Rick M who kept telling me to pursue a refund if it didn't get fixed properly.
Warm Regards,
hark
Hi Hark, would you mind giving me the name of the supervisor you worked with, if you remember? I can see that more than likely I'll be pushing for a refund or exchange as well and I'd like to work with somebody that was helpful and competent. You can PM me if you prefer.
Thanks!
I was notified today that Nikon will be refunding me all of my money for my D600. In all I had three D600's the last one being sent in 3 separate times for service. They agreed with me and I'll have a check in a week or two. I was seriously looking at the new Sony Alpha A7, but in the end I didn't want to be an early adopter for that system and I didn't want to invest in new lenses and accessories. I have to say that Nikon service (Los Angeles) was very good to excellent every time. I have already ordered my new D610 via Amazon and it will be here Monday. I really, really hope that this new improved design is more reliable!
Initially I was told it would take a couple of weeks for Nikon to process my refund check, but it was less than that--maybe 7-10 days. Hopefully yours will be quick, too!
As I posted previously, because I returned my very first D600 to B&H within 3 weeks of purchase (it also had the oil/dust spots), B&H exchanged it for a second D600. Since the camera body came with some extras such as a SanDisk memory card, an extra non-Nikon battery, and a camera bag, when the exchange was made B&H wrote out the invoice for $1888.10 instead of its full value (I didn't send the camera bag, memory card, or battery back because it was only the camera body that needed to get swapped). So it had to do with the way the swap was done. I wasn't too happy because when I originally ordered the D600, it wasn't offered as a package with extras, but that was the way they fulfilled the order. Oh well.... I understood and wasn't angry. At least I received a check from Nikon that covered most of the D600's cost.
Fast forward to a few days ago...I was speaking with a B&H customer service supervisor about something unrelated when I mentioned how I lost @$100 when Nikon issued a refund check for my D600 because of the way B&H wrote out the invoice. I wasn't complaining and told him I understood why it was done that way. Without any hesitation, he asked me to scan the check stub and any documentation from Nikon that they were going to issue a refund, and he would make sure that B&H would credit me back the difference. Guess what...I scanned the info this afternoon, and tonight I received a message that the difference has been credited back to my credit card. Now how great is that???
B&H is an excellent electronics store--I ordered from them way back in the 1990's when I first became a Nikon owner. There were a few other New York stores I tried out, too, but B&H has always been terrific. Yes, there still are other great camera stores such as Adorama, but I've decided if B&H has an item in stock, I will place my order through them.
And since B&H has been participating in Nikon's camera/lens combo rebate....
Well, I'll leave the rest up to your imagination!
---THE END---
Don't you just LOVE happy endings?!
Don't you just LOVE happy endings?!
Last edited:
maverick2007
New member
Hello Hark,
I am also in same boat with D600 dust issue. I may put camera on ebay and buy D610. Any suggestions here? Shall I buy D610 or wait for sometime? You are very experienced photographer so request you to provide some guidance. Have you thought about Fuji cameras?
I think finally purchased D610 and hows this camera? Is it worth in investing in D610 or go for other cameras like Fuji X-T1/X-E2 etc.
Thank you in advance.
I am also in same boat with D600 dust issue. I may put camera on ebay and buy D610. Any suggestions here? Shall I buy D610 or wait for sometime? You are very experienced photographer so request you to provide some guidance. Have you thought about Fuji cameras?
I think finally purchased D610 and hows this camera? Is it worth in investing in D610 or go for other cameras like Fuji X-T1/X-E2 etc.
Thank you in advance.