Broken D600 - Help

Gtrman13

New member
Hi everyone, I've come to this forum searching for help with a Nikon D600. I bought the camera in December, and just last month was out hiking and somehow managed to break it. From what I could tell, the lens mount had broken partially away from the body. I'm not sure what caused the damage since it was in a padded camera bag and was not dropped or anything of the sort. So I sent the body to Nikon and they told me the repair would cost a bit over $300. I was just happy to hear that it could be repaired, but when the camera came back to me it wasn't fixed and there was a note that basically said sorry but it wouldn't be economical to repair it.

Basically what I want to know is if anyone else has had any experience like this and what they were able to do about it. Is there any way that Nikon would be able to work with me on this? Is there any market at all for a broken camera body?

I feel pretty helpless here. This was a pretty hefty financial investment for me, and I feel like Nikon has just brushed my issues aside. It would really be a shame for a $2000 camera body with under 1000 clicks to be relegated to a piece of garbage.

​Thanks
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Sorry to hear about your broken camera.

I have plenty of experience with Nikon service center. In your case, they call this as "impact damage" which is not covered by the warranty. The estimate to replace the lens mount is about average. The technicians probably found additional problems that affects the function or operation of your camera and to repair it will cost more than what the camera cost. Once the service center receives your camera, they will check everything and apparently might have found multiple problems such as sensor or shutter damage. Of course this is just my assumption on why they might have said that it is not practical or economical to repair the camera.
 

AC016

Senior Member
Here is a thread from Nikonrumours about the same situation. Though, i find it hard to beleive that this happened to your camera without some sort of force behind it:

Broken lens mount on body, from fall « Nikon Rumors Forum

THis is what they did to the camera:

Replace Front Body
Replace Mirror Box
Replace Reflex Mirror
Adjust Mirror Angle
Adjust Body Flange Back
Adjust Auto Focus Operation
Checked Meter Accuracy
General Check & Clean
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
I once had the same "it's not worth the repair" thing and I did have it sent to another Nikon service centre to get a real "parts and labor" estimate. After a few weeks and 360$, I had a working 17-55 2.8 dx lens. So sometimes it's worth it to insist on wanting the repair done.
 

eurotrash

Senior Member
That sucks, man...
This is the reason I'm wary of taking my expensive slr's on backpacking expeditions.. I'm now in the process of deciding on a m4/3 camera instead to take with me.
​What did you end up deciding to do?
 

Ima Hack

Senior Member
Sorry to hear about your mishap, for this exact reason I added all of my gear to my homeowners insurance policy. It won't cover cost of damage repair but it will cover full replacement if it's not repairable or if lost or stolen.
 
I dropped my nikon D3100 recently and left a big hole in the case next to the battery compartment. I did not even bother with sending it off to repair since if the case received that much damage I knew everything inside would be toast. If it had been a D600 though it would ahve been a different story. D3100 are not that expensive.

Sorry you had such bad luck.
 

Gtrman13

New member
Thanks for the replies, everyone. I've gotten back in touch with Nikon, and they seem a bit confused. The representative that I talked to on the phone was able to pull up my service records but they were written up as if they had repaired the camera. So I'm waiting for them to look further into the situation and call me back. I plan to put up a fight, but at the same time I'm not expecting any different result.

In the meantime, I've tried to research the market for a broken D600 body for parts just to know what sort of money I could expect if I sold it as-is. Unfortunately I can't seem to find anything out there. Can anyone give any insight into this? Thanks.
 

Sambr

Senior Member
I am sorry to hear about your misfortune. However I don't buy that " it was in a padded case and never dropped" gear doesn't break buy it's self. This sounds & smells like impact damage, Nikon is probally doing you a favor would you spend say $1600.00 to fix a 2k camera?
 

Gtrman13

New member
I know it sounds funky, but it truly was in a Nikon padded shoulder bag and it was not mishandled whatsoever. I'm not trying to convince anyone here that I didn't abuse the camera, I'm just looking for some advice. It may not be the case for some on this forum, but this camera was a significant financial investment for me and I just want to figure out the best option for me in terms of how to deal with this situation.

Maybe it's possible that the repair would cost $1600, but that is still less cost to me than paying $2000 for replacement. Either way, from what I've been able to gather I've seen no evidence of a market for a broken D600 body anywhere on the internet. I really don't think I could live with myself if I sold it for $100 to someone just for spare parts or whatnot. Can anyone tell me differently? Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but I've come here to all of you experts hoping you can tell me the info I really want to hear! Thanks.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
If the problem truly did not occur during the time the camera was in the bag, it makes me wonder if something happened at an earlier point in time but didn't manifest itself until you pulled the camera out. Or perhaps someone else was playing around with it at an earlier point in time?

Regardless of what happened, wait and see what Nikon says when you next speak with them. It sounds odd that they would tell you it couldn't be fixed yet their computer records say something else. As far as determining a price to sell it for parts, if you can't find any D600's being listed for parts, then I'd suggest looking at the cost of other Nikon camera bodies being sold for parts. See how much other bodies are selling for and determine the percent they are being sold for in comparison to the price of a new body. Or...find sellers who are advertising other broken Nikon bodies, and ask them how much it might be worth.
 

Cowleystjames

Senior Member
I made sure that my camera gear is on my contents insurance under accidental damage, specifying the individual items.
When I've invested over ₤5000 I don't want any risk.

Sent from my HTC One X+ using Tapatalk 2
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Gtrman13, what heavy lenses have you used with your D600? I was just reading macjim's thread about weathersealing, and he added a link which reviewed the D600. In that article under point #2 it says,

Some photographers are spreading rumors that the Nikon D600 will have a problem with heavy lenses like Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR, developing a potential issue with the lens mount over time. The argument is that a heavy lens like 70-200mm would bend the plastic and cause alignment issues. You have to use common sense when mounting heavy lenses like Nikon 70-200mm on any camera body.

Just wondering if your problem might have anything to do with a heavy lens?

You can read that article here: Nikon D600 Review
 
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