D600 - just how bad is the dust?

matty D

matty D

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I really want to move to full frame, and I'm about to buy a D600 today. The only thing that's really bothering me is the dust issue. Just how bad is it?

Are there any good copies out there? And what's Nikons stance on the subject? Is there a permanent warranty fix for the issue?

This is the only FX camera that is suitiable for me at the moment. I don't want to spend an extra £600 on the D800, nor do I want 36MP files.

If the general consensus is that this is an ongoing unresolved problem then I think I'll wait until a new model is released and invest the cash into some training.

Thanks.
 
Personally I would purchase the 800 if money is not an issue, you can change settings for file size output to suit your needs. I own D700 but subscribed to the D800 and D600 threads and must say there is alot of happy people in the 800 camp.
 
This is where I think Nikon have got it very wrong.

There is no doubt that the D600 had more than its fair share of dust/oil issues on release. Nobody can say with certainty if the issues have been resolved, or since when. That is because Nikon have on the whole kept quiet about the issue.

Now just about everyone who gets a D600 will look for the dust and oil, and like most things if you look hard enough you will find it! It is almost irrelevant if the issue is fixed or not as the perceived issue is definitely not fixed.

Nikon should have admitted there was an issue, put in place a remedial action and then made sure that the QC issues were addressed, and when they were addressed publicise it.

It seems my copy of the D600 is ok, only had the usual light dust I'd expect in any camera when changing lens etc. I don't particularly look for it though.
 
kevin obrian said:
Personally I would purchase the 800 if money is not an issue, you can change settings for file size output to suit your needs. I own D700 but subscribed to the D800 and D600 threads and must say there is alot of happy people in the 800 camp.
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Alas money is an issue. I'm struggling to justify buying another camera as it is, after all I don't need a full frame camera, I just want one! The D600 at £1300 including cash back is not too bad, but I can't justify almost £2k to the mrs!
 
PaulButler said:
This is where I think Nikon have got it very wrong.

There is no doubt that the D600 had more than its fair share of dust/oil issues on release. Nobody can say with certainty if the issues have been resolved, or since when. That is because Nikon have on the whole kept quiet about the issue.

Now just about everyone who gets a D600 will look for the dust and oil, and like most things if you look hard enough you will find it! It is almost irrelevant if the issue is fixed or not as the perceived issue is definitely not fixed.

Nikon should have admitted there was an issue, put in place a remedial action and then made sure that the QC issues were addressed, and when they were addressed publicise it.

It seems my copy of the D600 is ok, only had the usual light dust I'd expect in any camera when changing lens etc. I don't particularly look for it though.
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Thanks for your reply, it's fairly reassuring. I know what you mean though about finding faults if you look hard enough, but judging by some of the images posted online, you don't have to look very hard in a lot of cases. Having said that, I guess cleaning the sensor is no big deal if nessesary.
 
matty D said:
Thanks for your reply, it's fairly reassuring. I know what you mean though about finding faults if you look hard enough, but judging by some of the images posted online, you don't have to look very hard in a lot of cases. Having said that, I guess cleaning the sensor is no big deal if nessesary.
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I agree there have been lots of images posted on the web showing dust etc ... it has almost become a self fulfilling prophecy. And you are right, cleaning the sensor is no big deal.
 
PaulButler said:
Yeah, I was aware of that, which is why I used the phrase "on the whole" ... it is pretty poor I think, which is a shame as it is a fine camera.
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I agree, but it seems like standard practice from Nikon :(

A quick Google reveals that perhaps the fix isn't permanent, but it's difficult to tell as users will be much more alert to dust issues now they've been affected, whereas perhaps previously they wouldn't be shooting the sky at small apertures to test.

In my father's case, his camera had spots out of the box at f/5.6 :eek: LCE exchanged it and the replacement was fine...for a while. He then traveled around the Southern Hemisphere, barely changing the 24-70/2.8 lens, but the spots in his photos got worse and worse as the holiday went on. Nikon have since made the repair, but he's barely used it since.
 
Agreed. Just wish Nikon would be more pro-active and upfront. Hope you dad enjoyed his hols even with the issues.
 
Difficult to know how widespread the problem is. Lots of users who have had trouble will speak up about it. Lots of users who have not had trouble will say nothing.

I would have thought that in the event of any major issue with any camera retailers would be doing a lot of complaining about handling all the returns.
 
I've been swithering the D600 upgrade as frankly the D800 is too much for me right now but the potential for issues does put me off a little, although I'm sure that some of it is the usual case of people with issues benig the ones who comment on the internet and those without issues tend not to shout about it.

I want one as a means of getting "wider" with my existing lenses and better low light performance but if not I might just invest in more DX lenses.
 
chrism_scotland said:
I've been swithering the D600 upgrade as frankly the D800 is too much for me right now but the potential for issues does put me off a little, although I'm sure that some of it is the usual case of people with issues benig the ones who comment on the internet and those without issues tend not to shout about it.

I want one as a means of getting "wider" with my existing lenses and better low light performance but if not I might just invest in more DX lenses.
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Apologies to the OP for going slightly off topic ...

Chris you are already using just about the best wide angle for the D7000. There is no doubt the D600 offers a big jump in low light performance though ( as would most if not all FF cameras).
 
I've had a D600 for about 2 months now and done about 1500 actuations. So far I've not seen any dust spots. So whilst I know lots of people have had it, I just thought I'd say it either isn't a universal problem or Nikon have quietly fixed it.

For me it's much ado about nothing. Just clean the sensor and enjoy what is undoubtedly an awesome camera. I had some doubts whether I'd prefer it to my D700 and whilst there are some things I still prefer on the D700, i find myself reaching for the D600 first before the older one.
 
PaulButler said:
Apologies to the OP for going slightly off topic ...

Chris you are already using just about the best wide angle for the D7000. There is no doubt the D600 offers a big jump in low light performance though ( as would most if not all FF cameras).
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Sadly I sold the 11-16 in my sig! Might just buy another.... I'm trying to avoid further investment in DX lenses as I do want to go FF eventually but UWA is once place I haven't much choice!
 
I got a D600 at Christmas and although I've not taken many pictures (<2000) I've yet to notice any dust/grease spots.
If they do appear I'll just get the sensor cleaned.
I had thought about getting the D800 but it was over kill for what I needed, price also played a key role.
 
Ive Got a d600 and i do not have any issues with dust or oil
 
No dust issues here. Hopefully I'm not speaking too soon :gag:
 
I have had no problems with my D600 - I don't scrutinize my photos for it but nothing has caught my eye
 
Had a few dust issues but nothing a blower brush or sensor brush can't sort. Have done a couple of swabs since I got it but just seems to be the occasional speck now.
I know everyone keeps slagging the D600 but it takes awesome images and the dynamic range takes some beating as does the ISO performance.
To put it in context I have seen images from D800 sensors that are 10 times dirtier than mine as ever been. And apart from the occasional dust speck I love everything else about it.
 
Hi, I have also just bought a Nikon D600 and I haven't noticed any dust. I had a lengthy chat with the guys at Fixation UK in London before buying it and they said they have dealt with a fair few dust issues bodies but none of which were purchased with them. Their guess is the problem comes from the early batch and since they didn't get any at all for the 1st few months, they have had any of their D600 customer who went back for their dust issue. That's a vote of confidence for me as I don't think any Joe would have just walked into Fixation to get a toy and be ignorance enough to not know if the dust issue was serious enough.
 
Well I ended up getting a D600, an ex demo model with hardly any mileage. I've shot about 400 shots with it so far, bringing the total shutter count to 700 and so far not a speck of dust
 
No issues her though mine has a serial No 600xxxx and is not one of the early 300xxxx 301xxxx mentioned by lensrentals.
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Should be fine, just make sure you have room in your bag for this http://www.johnlewis.com/dyson-dc34-animal-handheld-vacuum-cleaner-purple/p231253632?kpid=231253632&s_kenid=4cca207b-c8fc-5309-abe0-00005d8b38c6&s_kwcid=ppc_pla&tmad=c&tmcampid=73

Being realistic though my 5D attracts dust and has no inbuilt cleaning gadget. Unless you take loads of pictures with lots of sky at small apertures sure you wouldn't even notice it.
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Cant be bothered with that vacuum. I just take the lens off and rins the insides under the tap. For any stubborn items I just scrub the sensor with a brillo pad.
 
chrism_scotland said:
I've been swithering the D600 upgrade as frankly the D800 is too much for me right now but the potential for issues does put me off a little, although I'm sure that some of it is the usual case of people with issues benig the ones who comment on the internet and those without issues tend not to shout about it.

I want one as a means of getting "wider" with my existing lenses and better low light performance but if not I might just invest in more DX lenses.
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Why don't you just buy a 2nd hand D700 as a good example can be had for around £500 less than a new D600. It would give you better low light performance, a solid body, the "wider" range you need and save you some cash for other equipment. It's a well tested camera with no quality issues.

If you can cope with 1 card slot, no video, 12mp and better AF then the D700 would suit you perfectly.
 
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Accoding to dxOmark the D600 outperforms the d700 in colour depth, dynamic range and low light ISO?
 
My D600 is a 60xxx model too, purchased in February 2013, so it is probably not from the first batches, but it had the dust/oil or whatever it is really badly. Even after 4000 shutter actuations, the prob didn't go away.

Cleaning the sensor is easy indeed (and I have plenty of experience doing it by now, unfortunately...), but considering the price of good swabs, it costs quite a bit of money if you have to clean the sensor every 200 photos, and sometimes one swab is not enough, especially if the spot is an oil spot.

My first spot appeared somewhere around 380 photos, and there was no apparent reason - I had not changed lenses or anything. After that, spots kept reappearing more quickly.

I've purchased a D800 meanwhile, don't know what I will do with the D600. But replacing the shutter does not seem to be a permanent fix, according to reports I've read.

I'm really unhappy about this, not just because of the money, but rather because I really like the D600, it would be exactly the right camera for me, if the sensor dirt issue would be less severe.
 
^ isn't Nikon still cleaning the sensor for free? Or do you not have a service centre nearby?
 
I have a Nikon dealer fairly nearby (5 miles), but bringing the camera there every week is just not possible for me. And they probably don't always have time to do the cleaning immediately either.
 
That's true. I only took the gamble taking into consideration that Fixation, which is my local is only 5 mins bike ride and they do a clean while you wait service... I guess I am a lucky one...
 
Having such a service provider nearby is a boon.

I also knew of the problem in advance, and decided to trust Nikon that they improve it in later models (which my D600 is), but I was prepared to do some sensor cleaning without complaining. But the problem simply got too bad.

Even at a shutter count of > 4000, I had to clean the sensor every couple of days. That's just not good when you're somewhere in the outback for a month...
 
I had exactly the same dilemma as the OP, wanted to go FX, didn't want to spend much over £1,000, had to be Nikon as all Nikon lenses.

After much agonising about the dust issue I decided to go for it as there was no alternative (D800 too dear, D4 dearer still, no other FX Nikon choice). I also reaosned that (as has been said), you only hear about the problem cameras, never the ones that are ok.

I had dust within 2 weeks and 1,000 or so shots. I spoke to the manager at LCE where I bought it, he claimed (and still claims) never to have heard of the issue. I'm the only one that has ever mentioned it. Apparently.

He couldn't clean the sensor as they had run out of cleaning materials but he did agree to swap the camera (I needed it fully working that week). The new one was brand brand new (shutter count 0 whereas the previous one had obviously been in the shop as it had about 77 actuations on it).

New camera now up to 3,000 images and yes, dust spots at f22. Very annoying.

Now, as has also been said, would I spot them if I hadn't gone looking? Hard to say but what I will say is I then went looking on my D7000, 2 years old, serviced six months ago. Not a single spot.

So, not sure what to do. I've tried a rocket blower but to no avail. I can take it back to the shop where they may or may not be able to clean it but they're 25 miles away so it's a morning out plus petrol and parking.

It's bloody annoying frankly. Yes it may be a small issue, maybe, but should you expect even a small issue on a four figure supposedly precision piece of kit? I don't believe so...
 
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