Refurb D600 has 5436 actuations!

[prendy]

Hand to the forehead.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Or it was used by me or Shun or another reviewer. After the review process is finished the gear is returned (you think we

get to keep this stuff? hah!) and I assume it goes through the refurbishment cycle unless there was a problem with the

camera or lens.

[peterd]

Guys i havent returned it yet. Stop with the sarcasm already.

[tholte]

<p>You posed a question but left out some facts that were relevent to the situation. You did one thing right, you bought your refurbished camera from a legitimate dealer. </p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>I think we (or more like Peter Denny and Adorama) are in the current situation due to some misunderstanding. Apparently Peter was not aware that refurbished Nikon equipment is indeed used equipment. If it were a refurbished lens, unless it has scratches and "brassing" all over, it would have been difficult to tell how much usage it has had. The fact that digital SLRs have a shutter actuation counter is both good and bad. Again, IMO, 5436 actuations on a refurbished D600 is low. However, this is Peter's purchase; he is the one that needs to be happy with it and only his opinion matters here. And since Adorama is willing to accept this return, both parties are ok with it.</p>

<p>Peter did ask a question here, and a bunch of us gave our suggestions. It is entirely up to Peter to decide what to do.</p>

<p>Frankly, for the rest of us, it is none of our business any more.</p>

[helen_oster]

<blockquote>

<p>Peter was not aware that refurbished Nikon equipment is indeed used equipment.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It isn't necessarily used. As I stated above:<br>

"Refurbs can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if they haven’t passed the final inspection.......once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used. (I have three myself, and for sure they were all factory-fresh!)<br>

<br /> A refurb may......have been ordered in error and returned to the retailer (who can't then sell it as 'new' so it has to be sent back to the manufacturer for refurbishment)."</p>

[richard_thomas9]

<p>If no sensor and AF issues, I would keep it. One of my refurb D800 had 10K actuations and since it didn't have the notorious left focus problem, I decided to keep it. :D</p>

[frank_skomial]

<p>You may be lucky, and only problem is with wrong expectation or understanding what refurbished means.</p>

<p>The camera required repairs only after some 5000+ pictures?, that is what made it REFURBISHED so soon?</p>

<p>I would risk saying that all REFURBISHED cameras are USED cameras as well, so getting a refurbished camera one should not expect to have the shutter actuation counter reset to zero. </p>

<p>... and Nikon camera shutter actuations have nothing to do with memory cards etc., as someone questioned.</p>

<p>You have 2 choices:<br>

1 - original owner of the camera when it was a new, abused it badly, or something bad happenned to the camera. I would assume that the refurbishing proces fixed and eliminated all problems that brought the camera for refurbishing.</p>

<p>2 - you have a lemon camera, and the next need for repair or return and refurbishing again could come soon.</p>

<p> </p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>It isn't necessarily used. As I stated above:<br /> "Refurbs can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if they haven’t passed the final inspection.......once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used. (I have three myself, and for sure they were all factory-fresh!)</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Ok Helen, your description is far more accurate and inclusive.</p>

<p>But some refurbished equipment is indeed used; apparently Peter the OP was not aware of that fact.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>And Helen also wrote:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The OP has been in contact with me and I have advised him how to return it to us, so I guess this topic can be closed?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It sounds like this case is closed, indeed.</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<blockquote>

<p>For example the plastic cover screen shows a lot of scuffing</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Just curious, but wouldn't a thorough Nikon refurb have replaced this? Not meant to be a criticism, just a question!</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Mike, my experience with Nikon USA refurb equipment is limited, but at least in one occasion, the refurb is not at all thorough. In fact, it was extremely sloppy:</p>

<ul>

<li>The refurbished 70-300mm AF-S VR I bought from B&H, not Adorama, showed some motion blur at 300mm on a tripod, even with VR switched off. Admittedly, that problem is subtle and I can certainly see why a technician may have missed it.</li>

<li>However, the one my friend received would rattle when you shook it. Clearly there was a loose screw inside. The entire AF mechanism didn't work. I can't see how that lens could pass any QA. And there is no way that a screw inside a lens should come loose during shipping, with no damage on the package.</li>

</ul>

<p>http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00Y8dY</p>

<p>I suppose Adorama and B&H received their refurb Nikon equipment from the same source, namely Nikon USA.</p>

[bart_van_der_borst]

<p>C'mon what are we talking about?!<br>

<br />I bought a second hand D700 on 2013-01-12 with 49,957 actuations, today it has 53,374 actuations and still works like a dream!! It's a workhorse use it and enjoy it !!<br>

<br />my 2 cents ;)</p>

[mike_halliwell]

<p>Bart, you've managed 3400 frames in 8 months?...that's a very<em> relaxed</em> 'Workhorse'...:-)</p>

[michael_bradtke]

<p>Wow Bart I can shoot that much in a weekend. Sometimes in a day...</p>

<p>My experience with refurbs has been limited to one. It was a D300s that I purchased as a refurb from Nikon USA. Showed up at my house DOA. Kind of chilled my outlook on Refurbs and on the whole hand inspected thing. If they had put a battery in the camera they would have found the problem right away. I did send it in to Nikon for repair under the 90 warranty and they did fix it on the first try.</p>

[bart_van_der_borst]

<p>Thanks guys ;)<br>

<br />You understand what i mean to say right :D<br>

<br />50.000 or more actuations is nothing for a professional dslr, so what's 5436 actuations ?</p>

[kgavin]

<p>I typically buy refurbished equipment and check it thoroughly when I get it. However, I would expect a refurb unit to be restored to the same condition as it was when it left the manufacturing line. A few dozen actuations is okay, but over 5000 screams demo unit as opposed to refurb. I would buy a demo lens, but not a demo camera. My own quirk. I would return it and try to buy another refurb. I would imagine Adorama would have several refurbished D600 units on hand at any given time.</p>

[CvhKaar]

<blockquote>

<p>Wow Bart I can shoot that much in a weekend. Sometimes in a day...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>mm more than 3400 in 1 day, ..<br>

All "Keepers" ? <br>

Must take a lot of time to view a 1 months worth of pictures then.. ;-) :-)</p>

 

[keith reeder]

<p>He didn't say "keepers".</p>

<p>If you're shooting certain kinds of sport, it's actually pretty easy to rattle off 3000+ frames in a day, especially if you're shooting at (say) 8 or 10 fps - I've even managed 2000+ in a single session shooting birds - but it's obvious that this is the pre-culling count, and there'll be a lot less after the culling stage.</p>

[s._katz]

<p>Helen's responses sound reasonable and Adorama is a reliable source. That said, I just ordered a refurb D600 (w/lens) from an Ebay listing and I called the dealer (not Adorama, sorry) prior to ordering to ask some questions about all this. They said they can not determine the history of the camera but offered to check the number of "clicks" before shipping since they had several units on hand. So I requested 500 or less, please. They emailed me today that my camera had only 1 (one) "click". Wow, but I wonder how that can happen? My theory was that the number of "clicks" might be a clue as to the camera's situation, but I was not prepared for 1. Any theories?</p>

[peterd]

<p>Well Helen told me they are not allowed to open refurb packages per Nikon but if its true you made out much better than I did. If you get it please post what it is. I am curious.</p>

[andylynn]

If they did the test properly, one click would mean a camera that has not been tested. They take a shot, read off the

number of clicks, and it says 1, which is the shot they took. If the camera had been tested at the factory it would have a

couple hundred or more - which is why new cameras often have a few hundred clicks on them.

 

More likely, they either made it up and never checked the camera, or took a shot, saw that the file was DSC0001 (or

whatever it is on a D600) and thought that meant 1 click.

[helen_oster]

<blockquote>

<p>Wow, but I wonder how that can happen? My theory was that the number of "clicks" might be a clue as to the camera's situation, but I was not prepared for 1. Any theories?</p>

</blockquote>

<p><br /> As I said above:<br>

<br /> "Refurbs can have simply been pulled from the production line if something appears faulty, or if they haven’t passed the final inspection. Most of the time it is a very minor issue that needs correcting, nevertheless, once it is pulled from the normal flow of production, it gets flagged as a refurbished model, so you may get a unit straight from the factory that has never been used. (I have three myself, and for sure they were all factory-fresh!)"</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p><br /> <br /> Helen told me they are not allowed to open refurb packages per Nikon<br /> </p>

</blockquote>

<p>We are not - but not ALL refurbs are <strong>manufacturer</strong> refurbished (and perhaps there are retailers who have different agreements with manufacturers, or who don't adhere to them?)</p>

[peterd]

<p>Sorry Helen I was just trying to point out that you guys are top notch and that person may not be dealing with a reputable dealer.</p>

[ivsimler]

<p>I just received a refurb d600 from Adorama as well. After digging around to figure out how to find the number of shots (Just switched from an F100 so its not obvious to me), I discovered I only had about 90 actuations.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how I would feel about 5,000 to tell you the truth. The price discount would probably make it worthwhile to me, but on the other hand that does seem quite "used".</p>