D600 shutter replacement news

I think that they finally read the writing on the wall. This will effectively negate any lawsuits that might be in the making. I would think that it should help the resell value of the D600 also.
 

Deezey

Senior Member
It is nice to see them finally doing something about it. It is just sad that it had to come to ambulance chasers and lawsuits opening their eyes.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
the bad news is.....changing the shutter does NOT solve the dust issue!

Are you implying that the D600 is improperly sealed? Do you have any evidence of this other than Nikon going to "D800 style body seals" on the D610?

The shutter replacement indeed solves the problem. There was never a "dust problem", only the fact that normal dust common to every DSLR was not easily blown from the sensor due to the presence of the oil. Since getting a proper shutter I will tell you that I've had to clean my D800 more often than my D600, even though the D600 gets about twice as many clicks and has supposedly inferior seals. Fact is, I change lenses on the 800 far more often, which is something photographers do with cameras, and dust gets in. As Nikon said truthfully in their otherwise blatant refusal to cop to the real problem with the D600, dust is a normal part of owning a camera like this. It's just supposed to go away more times than not with a bulb blower. That was the problem, and it's fixed with the shutter.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
It is nice to see them finally doing something about it. It is just sad that it had to come to ambulance chasers and lawsuits opening their eyes.

I think that they were doing this behind the scenes even before this news. The response to the first lawsuit filing in California just forced the response in the open. I haven't heard of one person contacting Nikon outside of warranty being turned away, and there have actually been posts here about them making it right outside of warranty periods.


I am wondering if their engineers have just now come up with a true "Fix" ?

Engineers "fixed" it with the D610 shutter mechanism. Whether they're putting D610 shutters in D600s or have simply managed to get the old shutter manufactured correctly I do not know, but there's nothing in what I read that says that the new "fix" is any different than what I experienced - you can keep shipping it back and we'll replace it for free until you get one that works properly/ I'm not saying that's the case, but who knows? Either way, what they're saying is that no one gets stuck with a shutter that doesn't perform the way it's supposed to, regardless of how long you've had it.
 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
Perfect timing on their part. Baseball season starts this weekend and I won't be able to send the camera in till July. Be curious myself to see the timings on repair/return to customer.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Perfect timing on their part. Baseball season starts this weekend and I won't be able to send the camera in till July. Be curious myself to see the timings on repair/return to customer.

Since you probably won't be shooting baseball at f-16, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless you start seeing nasty stuff around f8 by then you should send it in.

I consider myself very lucky. I did get some dust while in Vietnam (without my cleaning kit) and had to do some retouching in post processing to hide them, but after a few cleanings, my D600 is as clean as my 7000 and 700.

But it's good to know that if the problem was to come back and haunt me later Nikon will take care of it even if the warranty has expired. But so far, I haven't seen anything from Nikon Canada, and they are different companies...
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
There were/are fundamentally two distinct problems, that I could discern.
1. One was a dust problem.
2. The other was apparently an oil problem whereby oil is splashed onto the sensor when fired in continuous modes...

Problem number 1 could/did exacerbate problem number 2...

Mine is a refurbed 600 and I've experienced no problems... and I'm wondering if I should send in my camera or NOT...:(
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Glad to see this, wonder how long it will take and if I should wait to hear some success stories

Um, you already have - and it's sitting next to me as I type. ;)

It's just an extension of what they've been doing thus far as a part of warranty service. The only difference here is a one-time, no questions asked offer to just send her in. No idea how many people are left still dealing with this issue, but I know that there were major parts delays the two times I sent mine in (about 3 weeks each time). I strongly suggest not sending it in any time soon if you don't have an issue (i.e. don't go getting a new shutter if you don't have an issue - you can do that later) as they'll be some delays here. If you do have spots, be prepared to give it 4-6 weeks.

One other thing, I see nothing that tells me that if there is no evidence of an issue that you'll actually get a new shutter - they may simply inspect and clean it. So it may not be worth the wait.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
There were/are fundamentally two distinct problems, that I could discern.
1. One was a dust problem.
2. The other was apparently an oil problem whereby oil is splashed onto the sensor when fired in continuous modes...

Problem number 1 could/did exacerbate problem number 2...

Mine is a refurbed 600 and I've experienced no problems... and I'm wondering if I should send in my camera or NOT...:(

If there is/was a problem with dust then it disappeared after the shutter was replaced. I think Nikon's failure admit a shutter problem and instead calling it a dust problem created the illusion that there was one. As I've said, I had not issues with dust outside the norm, and when I go back and look at the first 100 shots I took with my camera I see oil spots starting, but absolutely nothing that I'd call "dust". Obviously, a sticky sensor is a dust collector, so even dust that might be considered normal in any other camera (i.e. it's there, but you don't see it because it's not stuck to the sensor) now becomes problematic. So while it didn't exacerbate the oil problem, it made it that much easier to see.

If you've got a working 600, as I said above, don't bother sending it in - at least not until it either shows issues or has about 50K clicks on it. Then you might as well get it re-refurbed for free if they're offering it.
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
I also think, between the two distinct issues... the average camera user may not have been able to clearly diagnose the problems... which adds to the confusion... ;)
 

Krs_2007

Senior Member
Since you probably won't be shooting baseball at f-16, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless you start seeing nasty stuff around f8 by then you should send it in.

I consider myself very lucky. I did get some dust while in Vietnam (without my cleaning kit) and had to do some retouching in post processing to hide them, but after a few cleanings, my D600 is as clean as my 7000 and 700.

But it's good to know that if the problem was to come back and haunt me later Nikon will take care of it even if the warranty has expired. But so far, I haven't seen anything from Nikon Canada, and they are different companies...


Right, but I am the type that likes to be proactive and not reactive, nature of my job I guess. But seeing that they are replacing for everyone I want to get mine done to prevent any issues. But with baseball season upon me I won't have time till around July, so I would assume this service announcement will be good for the life of the camera and not for a limited time. I can't find anything on their site about that. I have already had it cleaned once, but that was for normal use. Who knows I may not need it, but I would rather plan my outage window because I only have one body.
 

hrphotography

Senior Member
i had the shutters changed THRICE and that did NOT fix the issue. Each time Nikon would say they have found a fix but of course that was BS. Even after the third shutter replacement the spots returned after just a 1000 clicks. I was telling from my experience. Your experience may be different.
On the other hand D610 has no issue even after 2 months of extensive use. I never had to clean it. I take photos at f22 (blue sky) and make a lot of HDRs. there is a whole lot of difference between a "fixed" (X3) D600 & a D610 for me.
 

tmcguire17

Senior Member
Here is the exact notice, and as HR photography said it doesn't always fix the problem. Don Kuykendall: Nothing is going to fix the resell value! The resolution of the problem being the D610 introduced before the D600 was even 1 yr old was the death of the D600 value FOREVER.
From Nikon:
Dear Timothy,

Nikon Inc. is contacting you regarding your D600 D-SLR camera, serial number 30xxxxx. As you may be aware, Nikon Inc. recently issued a Technical Service Advisory regarding the Nikon D600 D-SLR camera. This Advisory related that some users of Nikon’s D600 D-SLR camera have reported the appearance of tiny spots on certain of their images. Not all users have experienced this issue. Nikon has thoroughly evaluated these reports and has determined that these spots are caused by dust particles which may become visible when the camera is used in certain circumstances and/or with certain settings. It is a well-known fact that the presence of dust particles cannot be completely avoided when using a D-SLR camera even after normal sensor cleaning procedures, because of a number of factors including components moving at high speeds when images are taken, the use of interchangeable lenses, and the different environments in which a D-SLR camera may be used. As part of its customer-service commitment, Nikon is providing a customer-service measure to reduce the potential impact of dust particles on images taken by its D600 D-SLR cameras.

The customer-service measure mentioned in this Advisory has already been performed on your D600 camera, serial number 30xxxxx, which included the inspection, cleaning and replacement of the shutter assembly and related parts of your camera, during your camera’s recent service. In these circumstances, your D600 camera, serial number 30xxxxx, is not affected by this Advisory, and it is not necessary for you to send this D600 camera to Nikon for this service.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. Nikon remains committed to providing only the highest quality cameras and components, and we hope that you will continue to choose Nikon for your photography needs.

 
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