Nikon acknowledges dust issue!

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Rick M

Senior Member
Did not expect to see this!

To users of the Nikon D600 digital SLR camera

Some users have indicated the appearance of multiple granular dust spots in images captured with the Nikon D600 digital-SLR camera. These granular dust spots are reflections of internal dust generated with camera operation, or external dust particles that have found their way into the camera, either, or both of which, have adhered to the camera's low-pass filter.

While the structure and concept of digital-SLR cameras makes the complete elimination of these dust spots very difficult, it has come to our attention that, in some rare cases, they may be reflected noticeably in images. Therefore, Nikon is informing users of a service to reduce this issue.

Resolution

As a first step, please follow the guidance from the User’s Manual (pages 301-305) related to the “Clean Image Sensor” function and manual cleaning using a blower. If these measures do not remove all dust particles and you are still experiencing problems, then please consult your nearest Nikon service center. They will keep your camera, examine it thoroughly, and service it as needed.
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To users of the D600 digital SLR camera
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Very interesting, but given that the Nikon Authorized Service center for my area involves packing it up and sending it in, it's a bit of a drag. No mention of oil, just an acknowledgement that dust gets in. If I find myself with a week or two where I'm not going to be able to shoot much I may do just that.
 
R

Rick M

Senior Member
It's good that they came "clean" on it :). I'll just clean it myself, I do feel for those that are not confident enough to do it themselves.
 
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marcelt

Senior Member
I hate the thought of leaving my camera at a shop, can't sleep with out it with me ? i hope this is a free cleaning,no charge?
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
I do have to say that as I processed my shots from yesterday I did get more than a little disgusted with the dust thing. I blew off the sensor prior to going out yesterday. Put my new 16-35mm on and did not take it off all day.

Here's the top portion of a pair of shots taken yesterday, HDR post processed (no cropping), stacked one on top of the other. The top photo is comprised of the 2nd thru 4th shots of the day, the bottom come about 300 actuations later. As we know, HDR does a great job of exposing these spots when they are there. Just look at the difference!! I want to say I had to spot heal at least 2 dozen, if not more (tough to tell with the birds). It's almost ridiculous. As I've mentioned before, this seems to worsen more quickly when I shoot in Ch mode, which I do for handheld HDR (3 bracket burst), and 3/4 of what I shot yesterday was done that way.

Haven't blown the sensor off yet. I'll do that later this morning and let you know if anything "stuck".

D600 Before & After Dust Spots
 
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BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Ooops - miscounted. I just touched up a non-bird invaded shot done 12 frames before the lower one and healed 47 different dust spots. Nice.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
BackdoorHippie said:
I do have to say that as I processed my shots from yesterday I did get more than a little disgusted with the dust thing. I blew off the sensor prior to going out yesterday. Put my new 16-35mm on and did not take it off all day.

Here's the top portion of a pair of shots taken yesterday, HDR post processed (no cropping), stacked one on top of the other. The top photo is comprised of the 2nd thru 4th shots of the day, the bottom come about 300 actuations later. As we know, HDR does a great job of exposing these spots when they are there. Just look at the difference!! I want to say I had to spot heal at least 2 dozen, if not more (tough to tell with the birds). It's almost ridiculous. As I've mentioned before, this seems to worsen more quickly when I shoot in Ch mode, which I do for handheld HDR (3 bracket burst), and 3/4 of what I shot yesterday was done that way.

Haven't blown the sensor off yet. I'll do that later this morning and let you know if anything "stuck".

View attachment 28175
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HDR will show you things that are not visible when shooting normally. And the wider the angle, the more you'll see these dust things. I still remember my shock when I first saw one of these on my D700, it was with the 16-35 @f16 and the camera was about 3 weeks old...

Just get the tools to do a wet clean. If you are not sure, do what I did. I went to my local camera shop and ask them to clean my sensor, but insisted I stay and watch so I could learn at the same time. It then un-mystified the whole process and now I just do it. I think any serious photographer should learn this the same way we learned to dust off negatives before enlarging then in the good old darkroom days.
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Marcel -

I'm very comfortable cleaning it myself - if I wasn't I would have punted ages ago, but the images are worth the effort. It's just that I have to do it far more often than I would have ever thought necessary. I dealt with dust on the D7000, but I could go a week without having to think about it. This is one afternoon's build up on a clean sensor!! Perhaps the cold, dry day exacerbated the issue, as well as shooting directly up under some tracks?

Still, given that they've acknowledged it, I may just pack up the body and send it off for a good once over. If there are other factors that contribute to the issue that they are acknowledging internally but not speaking about publicly then why not have them do whatever fixing is necessary - even if it's just a thorough cleaning?

I know it looks like I'm throwing fuel on the fire. That's not my intent. I'm not complaining as much as providing personal testimony to support the acknowledgement. The D600 may be a bit of a dirty girl, but she's my girl.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
BackdoorHippie said:
Marcel -

I'm very comfortable cleaning it myself - if I wasn't I would have punted ages ago, but the images are worth the effort. It's just that I have to do it far more often than I would have ever thought necessary. I dealt with dust on the D7000, but I could go a week without having to think about it. This is one afternoon's build up on a clean sensor!! Perhaps the cold, dry day exacerbated the issue, as well as shooting directly up under some tracks?

Still, given that they've acknowledged it, I may just pack up the body and send it off for a good once over. If there are other factors that contribute to the issue that they are acknowledging internally but not speaking about publicly then why not have them do whatever fixing is necessary - even if it's just a thorough cleaning?

I know it looks like I'm throwing fuel on the fire. That's not my intent. I'm not complaining as much as providing personal testimony to support the acknowledgement. The D600 may be a bit of a dirty girl, but she's my girl.
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I've always had a soft spot for "dirty girls" :)
I'll have to check mine next week and see how it is. So far, after about 4000 shots, I've only cleaned it twice. Which is not so bad I think. But when doing HDR, it is very important that it is squeaky clean.
 
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