Repair alerts

D600 Sensor Dust Issues

Published October 22, 2012

We tend not to get too excited about sensor dust problems here; we clean sensors on every camera after every rental, so it’s just routine. When we started carrying the Nikon D600 they all arrived with a fair amount of dust, but that’s pretty routine, too. Manufacturing and shipping can be a dusty experience.

When our techs started complaining that D600s were all coming back from their first rental with a lot more dust (despite being freshly cleaned before leaving) we didn’t pay much attention to that either. We all remember the oil / dust issues the D3x and D3s had. Those mostly cleared up after a few cleanings.

The dust kept reappearing with every rental, and more impressively – it was generally in the same location (upper left 1/3 of the image). That did get our attention, so we started looking into the matter a bit. We kept dust pictures for 20 consecutive D600s returning from rental and saw the problem was very real.

In general, about 1 out of 4 cameras requires sensor cleaning after a rental. All 20 of the D600s did.

Here are a couple of typical examples (f/16 blank wall photos, contrast and exposure increased). I would point out that these are downsized to 800-pixel wide images. What is barely visible dust on this is quite obvious on a full-size image. The large specs on this are quite huge at full size.

 

It’s probably pretty apparent that the dust is mostly on the left side of the image. I took all 20 images and layered them onto one in Photoshop, using ‘darken if’ to show the pattern of dust from 20 cameras.

 

Photoshop summary of large dust particles from 20 D600 sensors. The left and upper side tendency is clear. 

 

Again, with these downsized images, only the really large dust specs are showing up, but then, those are the ones most likely to show up in a photo. I would also add these almost all seem to be dust specs, not oil, since most of them can be blown off or stamped off using a Dust-Aid. They don’t require wet cleaning to remove as oil spots do.

There are, however, a number of comments from experienced photographers that are having oil spots on D600s. I’m not certain if they’re seeing the same, or a different phenomenon.

We aren’t absolutely certain about the cause, but when we have to look at the sensors for all this cleaning one thing is quite apparent. The D600’s shutter curtain opening seems a bit larger than the other Nikon cameras with a bit of a gap around the shutter curtain. It may well be the shutter movement is pulling dust onto the sensor.

 

D600 shutter curtain, recessed, showing fairly large gap around the shutter. Image Aaron Closz.

 

The real question is: Will the dust eventually stop accumulating on the sensor? I think probably so. There’s some dust inside the camera that is getting blown out during early use through the shutter opening. But that’s just an educated guess; only time will tell.

For now, though, if you rent a D600 we suggest looking fairly frequently for dust accumulation. We clean each one before it leaves, but given the amount of dust they return with it’s fairly obvious there could be dust dots on some of your shots if you stop down to f/8 or more.

 

NOTE: I know someone will want to know. All of these cameras were from SN 300xxxx or 301xxxx. We have another 40 D600s but since they, too, are from these SN runs I don’t plan any further comparisons. We’ll check again when we get higher SNs.

 

Addendum July, 2013: I tire of being misquoted by fanboys on various forums, so please, if you want to quote me, copy paste instead of putting words in my mouth. 

1) We found, over time, the dust issues decreased. Somewhere around 5,000 to 10,000 shots the D600s stopped having megadust. 

2) When D600s do have dusty sensors, as all cameras do, it still seems to congregate in the upper left side of the image, but it’s more normal dust and fewer huge chunks. 

3) We have NOT. I repeat, we have NOT ever said newer bodies don’t have the problem. We have no idea. Nikon demand is down hugely this year and we simply haven’t had to buy any more D600s or D800s (or anything else Nikon, really). I would assume Nikon has figured out a fix by now, but that’s just an assumption with no data to back it up. 

Roger Cicala

 

Roger Cicala, sensor images courtesy Adam Remsen and Scott Rambin

Lensrentals.com

October 2012

Author: Roger Cicala

I’m Roger and I am the founder of Lensrentals.com. Hailed as one of the optic nerds here, I enjoy shooting collimated light through 30X microscope objectives in my spare time. When I do take real pictures I like using something different: a Medium format, or Pentax K1, or a Sony RX1R.

Posted in Repair alerts
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  • Carlos

    Mike, the launch of a new model do get rid of problem is absurd! It’s a shame for Nikon as a worldwide Enterprise!! They should make a recall of ALL D600 models to fix the shutter issue. How the costumers are being treated? Do they trust Nikon from now?

  • MIKE

    With the incoming D610, we all hope the issue has been resolved, at least for potential buyers.

  • Guillaume

    Just to give some feedback on a recently purchased body with serial 608xxxx. Jut tried some sky test pictures at f/22 and high ISO after one month use (and approx. 1000 pictures): At least 15/20 dust spots well visible, again in the upper and left part of the picture …

    Regds

    Guillaume

  • Tom Peters

    Roger:

    Could you please state the average click number of the examined cameras: This would help new buyers a lot.

    Thank you very much in advance.

    Best regards,
    Tom

  • Fabrizio

    Anyone with serial 608xxxx in Europe (that should be last serial sold here in Europe on July 2013) have oil/dust issue with D600 ?

  • Mark Winter

    Yes, if you have any additional results, it would be interesting to hear.

    Mary,
    Did you have to send the camera back a second time and they offered to refund money? I have had my shutter replaced and am now seeing spots again after a few hundred pictures. Wondering whether to change to a D800 but was ot sure if Nikon would offer a refund.

  • Has Lens Rentals been tracking this issue any more? What is the status of the D600s that you have been renting – do they still require excessive cleaning, or is the issue resolving? Have you rec’d newer D600s that no longer have the problem?

    I returned my D600 for repair; the shutter mechanism was replaced by Nikon. The second time they graciously refunded my money. I am now in need of a full frame camera…but am shy about buying a newer D600 if it is still having the same issues.

  • Alexey

    Gebuesch,

    I just got my D600 body (serial number starting with 303) back from Nikon in Melville, NY after cleaning and AF accuracy verification. The invoice I received states that the entire shutter mechanism has been replaced, the low-pass filter got cleaned, and the whole camera, including the viewfinder, got cleaned as well. I haven’t used the camera enough since then so it is too early to assess the effectiveness of the procedure. I’ll report back as soon as I have more information. Although I had about 10 spots on the sensor before I sent the camera in, they never bothered me — I am a low-light shooter primarily, and usually use apertures below f/2.0. The spots are not visible at such wide apertures.
    What bothers me big time about the camera is that I am having backfocusing issues with my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens, which has already been back to Sigma for re-calibration, to no avail. But that’s a different story.

  • Rui

    In Portugal the company managing the NIKON warranty (Nikon representative), is actually CHARGING for the cleaning service full-stop! “If you don’t agree please file a complaint”…. Nikon release should be read “The technicians will examine the camera thoroughly, and service it as needed. CHARGING YOU FOR OUR MISTAKES!!” Outrageous!

    Let’s all

  • JaketheSnake

    Roger, any news on the fix for the D600? Is the dirt and oil still a problem?

  • Gebuesch

    Nikon released something that could be read as a confession.

    Nikon USA:
    https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/18180

    Nikon Europe:
    https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55647

    Do you have made any further operating experience with this? Do
    they just clean it, do they change it or do they just change
    parts? How long does it take to get it back?

  • Lottel

    Has the oil and dust settled yet on the d600?

  • Roger Cicala

    Francois, we don’t have new stock (Winter is slow in the rental business) but the ones we have, after a few months use, seem to have normal dust much like other cameras.

  • François

    Any news about the problem ? Do these D600 still get dust at the same rate after many cleanings ? Did you get new D600 ? If yes, do they have the same problem, or is it fixed ? Many thanks

  • I bought two D600’s in the last week. One was from Costco and it had a lot of artifacts on the sensor. Unfortunately, I did not document the serial number since I returned it. Scanning Adorama I bought one refurbished because it saved me some serious bucks and I figured if it was refurbished, surely they must have addressed these issues. No luck, even a D600 refurbished camera with the serial 304xxxx has the issue, although not nearly as bad as a new one. I upgraded from a D90 but what a shame I have to worry about this. I love the camera so far but this is crazy. I feel like I paid more and have less. I know that’s dumb because it buries my D90 but at least with my D90 I wasn’t hunting for crazy artifacts in post. I wrote Nikon to see what they say. Luckily for me I live near a huge Nikon repair facility so i am hoping they tell me to just drive it over for a cleaning.

  • KK

    Jakethe, I bought my D600 28 days ago from B&H. It’s serial number starts is 306XXXX. I’m afraid the “dust” is there and very visible. It may go back to B&A. I have two more days to decide. Other than the dust issue, I love this camera. The pictures coming out of it are simply quite extraordinary.

    KK

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  • JaketheSnake

    Roger, thanks a lot for your response. I guess, Nikon has acknowledge it in some ways. I think they are doing something to fix it but would not admit it as those people who have bought it might start sending it back for a newer one. Please update us with your findings once you have bought newer ones. More power to you and your company.

  • Arek

    @EricD thanks for detailed explanation.

    I’m one of these waiting for the problem to get resolved, happy to hear any news on D600. I know for some people this is an over exagerated problem, but I have D90 with 18K shots made, never cleaned the sensor and I cannot find any single dust particle when making the test. Thus not happy with new camera bringing me more trouble..

    In the meantime the price of D600 goes down down down

  • Roger Cicala

    Jakethe, we haven’t in quite a while. Winter is slow and we don’t start up purchasing until mid March.

  • EricD
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