Nikon announced a free cleaning and free shutter replacement for all D600 owners.

<p>I guess that I am one of the lucky (or Normal) ones. I bought my D600 in November 2012 and I got a good one. The owner of the camera store (Allen Camera, Bucks County, PA) told me his D600 had already been back 2 times but he had sold about 10 D600 from a new batch sent to him with no one saying they are having any problem at all.<br>

To say I never had any dust of course would be silly as I use it outside. I have blown out the sensor area many times with a Grittos Rocket and it always cleaned it up perfectly.<br>

I am now a touch over 15,000 on my shutter count. Because of this notice I just inspected my sensor and yup a little dust, blew it off and looks like a beauty. I do see some real small spots in the upper right corner but very faint when looking at it through my lighted loupe so maybe another 5,000 clicks and I will give it a wet cleaning unless I spot more.<br>

I am extremely happy with my unit. A couple of months ago I did have a slight problem with it and took it to the shop so they could look at it, wound up being a bad SD card and contacts needed cleaning on lens, but it made some funny stuff happen that I had never seen before.<br>

Anyway, unless something happens I'm with Shun on this one, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I will be keeping a close eye on this as the warranty for this replacement advances to see if I do have a problem crop up in the future.<br>

My only concern and it is small is I am sure the D600's value for resale or trade in will take a big hit. I doubt that will mean too much to me as unless Nikon comes out with something so good I will use this until there isn't much left in it at all. I do not like the 36 mp on the D800 and the D4s is only a dream if I would hit a lottery or something so this old boy is happy with what I have.<br>

I do feel sorry for those that did get bad copies.<br>

philb<br>

benton, ky</p>

<p>"is simply untrue." In your opinion maybe, not to a good portion of D600 owners it's not. I admire your loyalty to Nikon Shun but do you really believe that they would have issued this latest warranty upgrade if the courts were not seriously considering a class action lawsuit against them? Any way you cut it, this is going to cost Nikon beaucoup dollars, dollars they could have saved if they took care of the problem when it first started appearing. </p>

<p>Good Copy v Bad Copy....WTH? I'm assuming Nikon are tech savvy enough to KNOW what's going on.</p>

<p>So what's the difference 'inside' between a nightmare camera and a clean camera?</p>

<p>Conspiracy theories aside, why doesn't Nikon say what happened? They've 'avoided' the class-action by a pseudo admission, but why not say? </p>

<blockquote>

<p>I admire your loyalty to Nikon Shun but do you really believe that they would have issued this latest warranty upgrade if the courts were not seriously considering a class action lawsuit against them?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Tim, it is not a matter of loyalty; it is a matter of facts.</p>

<p>Most likely Nikon's latest service advisory is influenced by the class-action law suits. But that is merely some lawyers feeling that this is an opening for them to make a lot of money for themselves. Essentially nobody died or got seriously injured as a result of the Nikon D600 dust/oil issue, so Nikon's liability is going to be limited. Potentially those lawyers can make a lot of fees, but any law suit would hardly benefit D600 owners that are in the class.</p>

<p>I have been among the class in a few class-action law suits. I had to fill out a lot of forms and waved my other rights, and I got a couple of check for $10 or so each. It is a joke. In these days I no longer bother to fill out those forms to help those lawyers make lots of money for themselves.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Any way you cut it, this is going to cost Nikon beaucoup dollars, dollars they could have saved if they took care of the problem when it first started appearing.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Tim, how should Nikon just "took care of the problem when it first started"? Could you spell out what Nikon should have done differently from what they did, which included:</p>

<ul>

<li>Sent out a service advisory in February 2013, ask people to send their D600 back for cleaning and repair.</li>

<li>Clean, repair (changing the shutter assembly) and sometimes exchange affected D600.</li>

</ul>

<p>Nikon certainly has not been telling people to live with their D600 dust/oil problems. And Nikon's latest service advisory is merely a continuation of exactly that same repair process that Nikon has been doing all along; the only difference is that the D600 warranty for this particular issue is extended essentially forever.</p>

<p>In these days news or even rumors go around the internet rapidly. No company is going to knowingly ship out a lot of defective products because they would certainly come back as warranty repairs, which are expensive for Nikon to handle.</p>

<p>Whenever there is a class-action law suit or even the potential for one, you have to be a total idiot to admit any fault, which would only be further ammunition for the opposing lawyers. There is little doubt that is why Nikon's service advisory is very carefully drafted and when I asked them for clarification, they merely repeated what is already in the advisory and wouldn't give me any new information or clarification.</p>

<p>P.S. I have posted my story about 3 out of 3 Nikon USA-refurbished lenses were still defective and were all returned. I am sure some members here are tired of my story, which is clearly embarrassing to Nikon USA: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00c0Fc<br>

Again, to me, it is the facts that matter and I post here to hopefully benefit our members, regardless of whether the story helps or embarrasses Nikon, to whom I have no loyalty.</p>

<p>I can share my experience: D600 developed oil splatter, sent for service, shutter replaced.</p>

<p>Problem recurred after 500 exposures (dozens of oil splatter marks visible at f/8 - f/11) - camera went back to Nikon.</p>

<p>After second service, the problem remained. The camera is back at Nikon for trip #3.</p>

<p>I know I am not supposed to say anything remotely uncomplimentary about Nikon on this forum, but boy have they blown it and not done right by their customers.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I know I am not supposed to say anything remotely uncomplimentary about Nikon on this forum, but boy have they blown it and not done right by their customers.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>A Arun, I wonder who told you not to say anything uncomplimentary about Nikon on this forum, as a moderator here, I make my share of such comments myself. As long as it is factual, you are welcome to share your experience with us.<br>

<br>

Your very experience demonstrates that sometimes it is not that easy to fix this issue. Since each trip your D600 goes back for warranty repair, it costs Nikon a lot of money, it is very much in their own interest to fix it the first time around, but for whatever reason, it doesn't work out and it adds to the customer's frustration as well as the cost to Nikon.<br>

<br>

If I were you, if they cannot fix it after three times, it is time to request them to replace your D600 with a new one, possibly a D610 or ask for a full refund.<br>

<br>

P.S. for those who are interested, A Arun posted this thread about his bad D600 experience at the end of 2013, about 2 months ago: http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00cGfb<br>

By then, Nikon had already introduced the D610. In other words, even after a new shutter was available for the D610, just replacing the shutter on the D600 doesn't always resolve the issue.</p>

<p>A Arun, sorry to hear about your experience. I hope it reaches a satisfactory resolution on the third time. If the issue is not solved this time I would request a replacement with a D610 or your money back.</p>

 

<p>I have just read the NikonEurope advisory (Article 55647) and NOWHERE in that does it say that Nikon will replace the shutter.<br>

All it says is that Nikon Service Centre will "examine it thoroughly, and service it as needed".<br>

I'd like a replacement shutter but at the moment there's no serious dust that would justify my returning to Nikon as they'd probably just say it's acceptable.</p>

 

<p>Supplementary to my last post - I did a controlled test for dust and actually found quite a lot of small dust specks that wouldn't shift with the blower.<br>

So I've just packaged it up to send back to Nikon.<br>

Let's hope they will sort it.</p>

<p><em>I have just read the NikonEurope advisory (Article 55647) and NOWHERE in that does it say that Nikon will replace the shutter.</em></p>

<p>That's the old article from Nikon regarding the issue, from one year ago (published 22/02/2013). The new one (Article 59693 dated 26/02/2014) says "They will service your camera, including the inspection, cleaning, and replacement of the shutter and related parts." How they also say it's basically an extension of the 2013 response to include cameras not under warranty. "At this time, we are announcing that we will continue to provide this service free of charge, even after the product warranty has expired."</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Supplementary to my last post - I did a controlled test for dust and actually found quite a lot of small dust specks that wouldn't shift with the blower.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I wonder what type of "controlled test" it was. If you shoot at f16, f22, you will likely find dust spots on a lot of cameras.</p>

<p>Recently I have been using my D700 with my 60mm macro lens @ f16 to take pictures of the Df for my up-coming review. I need f16 for depth of field. It turns out that both of my D700 and D800E have plenty of dust spots. (I have no D600 or D610.) So I got a new bottle of wet cleaning fluid and have cleaned both of them lately.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my cleaning left a lot of little cleaning fluid droplets on my D800E's sensor. After they dry up, they become tiny spots on that sensor and I ended up with lots of spots on images captured with the D800E. A few days ago I had to wet clean it again and this time I was very careful not to leave any liquid droplets behind.</p>

<p>bought a refurb d600 from B and H...came with spots on sensor, lots of them...cleaned sensor (easy)...sent to Nikon for what I hope is a shutter replacement. NO way I was not going to take advantage of this opportunity. This is my 2nd D600...purchased one from Cameta and returned it..tried again, as I couldn't resist the price and quality. Images are amazing...well worth the wait to get it back.</p>

<p>Today, 28 March 2014, Nikon Japan has gone one step further and announced that if necessary, they will replace any D600 that has this dust/oil issue that they cannot fix with a new D600 or "an equivalent model," which clearly will be a D610.<br /> http://www.nikon.com/news/2014/0328_01.htm</p>

<blockquote>

<p>With regard to the issue with which multiple granular black spots are reflected in images captured with the D600 digital SLR camera, Nikon sincerely apologizes for any concern and inconvenience suffered by D600 users, retailers, and all concerned.<br /> Because Nikon takes this matter very seriously, we will continue to offer users of the D600 a special service with which cameras are inspected, cleaned, and if necessary, shutter and related components are replaced free of charge, even after the product warranty has expired. However, if a number of multiple granular black spots are still noticeable in images captured with a D600 upon which the above service has been performed several times, Nikon will replace it with a new D600 or an equivalent model.<br /> Nikon will continue to work to improve the quality of its products and services even further.<br /> We hope that you will continue to choose Nikon products for your photographic needs.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Does this 'after warranty-expiration service' extend to second users?</p>

<p>From Roy S's post above, it would seem so....unless B&H can issue Nikon warranties??</p>

<p>Just a little update with my experiences. First, I included the body cap even though Nikon said no accessories after reading Thom's recommendations. Even though I carefully packed the camera body according to instructions (in a plastic bag, surrounded by packing material), I didn't feel that leaving the sensor exposed was a good idea. On the printed packing slip, I wrote that I had included the body cap. I also taped a small label with my last name to the body cap. So hopefully I will get it back. If I don't, I'd still rather lose a $10 cap, than potentially harm my camera. I didn't include any other accessories, removing the cards, battery, eye cup, etc. The following is the timeline so far:</p>

<ul>

<li>5/13 - I got a UPS shipping label from the service advisory link</li>

<li>5/14 - dropped my D600 (with body cap only) at a UPS store</li>

<li>5/19 - UPS shows Nikon received it</li>

<li>5/20 - received an email from Nikon acknowledging the service and I approved the $0 estimate</li>

<li>5/21 & 5/22 - checked the status daily in the morning & evening, showed as ESTIMATE ACCEPTED</li>

<li>5/22 - in the evening, the status changed to SHOP</li>

<li>5/23 - morning, status has changed to BILLING (detail still shows as $0, good will repair)</li>

</ul>

<p>I am hoping my camera will get here next week. From reading other posts, I know that Nikon is likely to ship it and not notify me or update the status to shipped. My only real concern is that they send it to my shipping address and not my billing address. The last time I sent a camera in for repairs (D70s), it was mailed without notifying me to my billing address, even though I specifically requested them not to. My billing address is rural, so the box with my camera was placed behind the post for my gate, in a pasture. I was lucky that I spotted it, because it rained that night. There are also livestock in the pasture, and they will usually mess with new objects. I will update this post when I receive my camera back.<br>

Since I was going to be without my camera for a couple of weeks, and because my lens had never been serviced, I decided to take advantage of the free shipping to Nikon. I set up a separate service order through Nikon's website to clean & check my Nikkor 28-200mm lens. I put it in a separate plastic bag, with front & rear lens caps attached, and put that in the same box as the D600. I included it's packing slip as well, which I wrote exactly what was in the box. It follows a similar timeline - at UPS on 5/14, received by Nikon on 5/19.</p>

<ul>

<li>5/20 - I got a separate email from Nikon with a service estimate for the lens ($78, including shipping). No free lens cleaning for me - maybe that's just something they do for the customers who physically bring in their equipment.</li>

<li>5/21 - status showed as ESTIMATE ACCEPTED</li>

<li>5/22 - my bank account was charged the amount of the estimate; status still shows as ESTIMATE ACCEPTED</li>

<li>5/23 - status now shows as SHIPPED with a UPS tracking number. UPS tracking info says that the lens was shipped on 5/22 in the evening, with an ETA of 5/28. Detail does not show whether the lens is being shipped to my work or home address.</li>

</ul>

<p>Hopefully, everything will get back to me in better working order. </p>

<p>CL Wood, it looks like you are in the US. Nikon USA repair ships UPS. If you are using a home or personal address for return shipment, you can set up a UPS My Choice account, and UPS will notify you with a UPS My Choice Delivery Alert e-mail about any package sent to you so that you won't be surprised by any unexpected shipment. (Ok, that system is not perfect, but usually you do get notification beforehand.)</p>

<p>Not sure you can/want to do that with a work address when there are (many) other people at that address. But a UPS account will also help distinguish packages going to your home address and work address.</p>