D750 Flare Problem Fix from Nikon

[JDMvW]

<p>also story at<br>

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6803028878/nikon-provides-instructions-for-flare-affected-d750-owners </p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>That's one problem with the internet - small issues get amplified into a point where a casual reader who is not familiar with the forum behavior would think the world is about to end and millions of people will have died because of it.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>As I have said before, the internet exemplifies things both ways. Nikon themselves took full advantage of that and generated a tremendous amount of publicity for a niche camera, the Df. On the other hand, every recent Nikon FX-format DSLR is scrutinized to no end. One thing people figured out is that sensationalism generates web traffic, pioneered on photo web sites by KR. I wouldn't be surprised that some of Nikon's competition helps spreading these topics to gain competitive advantage, and likewise Nikon could be doing the same to their rivals.</p>

<p>Part of the problem is that Nikon is not clearly specifying what exactly the problem is, and for that matter what the repair/adjustment will be. As far as I can tell it is very difficult to generate the flare/banding problem, on purpose, and a number of other DSLRs such as the D810 have similar minor issues.</p>

<p>Most likely, as Dieter points out, the "repair" will involve something like adjusting the position of the AF module or changing the mirror box, etc. Since I have a perfectly working D750 with very good AF, IMO it is unwise to send it in for any non-trivial "repair." There is no way my D750 can get any better, but potentially it can get worse, even much worse.</p>

[matters410]

<p>This is the unedited shot I was talking about. After reading Shun's last statement I'm wondering if its even worth sending in to fix.</p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Jonathan, I certainly see flare in your image, but I don't see any bands. Flare you'll get regardless, especially if you don't use any lens hood or the light source is inside your frame. Therefore, at least it is not clear to me that what you observe is going to be address by Nikon's repair or it is more like a lens issue and position of the light source issue.</p>

<p>Again, see the image below. I managed to get some bands when I have a flashlight just below the frame on a D810, not a D750. Normally, I would never put a flashlight at that location. But why aren't we fixing the D810 also?</p>

<CENTER>

<P>

<IMG SRC="http://static.photo.net/attachments/bboard/00d/00d4pf-554200284.jpg">

</P>

</CENTER?

[matters410]

<p>Shun- You don't see the dark bar covering the top 1/5 of the frame? It is going right through my wife's head. There is a difference in exposure of more than a stop. A google search of "D750 flare issue" turns up many very similar images. Some contain multiple bands of varying exposures but many do not. This is the only organic example that I have come across in normal shooting...BUT the flashlight trick provided this image.</p><div></div>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Sorry, the dark bar wasn't very obvious to me, certainly not in the lighter areas.</p>

[matters410]

<p>No problem. I'm may wait and see how the services pan out for other people. I'll try shooting some back-lit shots on my vacation and if it doesn't happen I may forget the whole thing and just enjoy the camera. I suppose I should see if the free service period expires at some point. I ended up still liking the edited photo despite the problem. I'm sure people who are actually skilled at editing (unlike me) could do a lot better job of fixing it.</p><div></div>

[greg_alton]

<p>I checked mine (bought in Europe) and got a 'your camera is affected by the issue.' Will have to figure out what to do. I certainly haven't run into the issue yet, and frankly, from what I've seen of what causes it, don't think I'm likely to shoot in such circumstances.<br>

Will be happy to hear from others their experiences and what is actually done.</p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>Now it seems that this flare issue has migrated to my D700 too. I admit that I was testing the limits with my camera and 50 mm f/1.4 G lens. Pointed practically directly to the sun. As you may see a tiny area in the upper part of the attached image is shaded by probably an element in the mirror box.</p>

<p>This does not matter anything to me. But it is there, at a tiny area though. Actually I may have another sample with 180 mm lens that has this shading to be seen. Also then I was testing back light properties of a lens.</p>

<p>I believe Nikon will fix the more serious issue of D750 for the current and future owners, concerning affected units.</p><div></div>

[donbright]

<p>Thoughout all of time invent the camera, and all of the technological advances made in optical lens dynamics, its a shame its come to this. If you don't take this seriously think again. These recalls are real black eyes on Nikon, and nobody could be more reticent, and sad in saying this. It's like we're going backwards! It's even common sense that you don't introduce objects that will disturb the projected light path onto a sensor plane, or film plane. Keep it dark, keep it clean, you know it, I know it, where are the engineers on this? Yeah, I'll probably get blowback on this, but if you can dispute that there is no trend here? Actually we will never get a real answer to this, I hope I'm wrong, but even the sales and marketing team must be pulling their hair out, I mean over and over Nikon in producing camera's that are offending the market, not nurturing it.</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>Of more concern is that the problem seems to be caused by a high focus module. This results in cameras that are prone to the problem to front focus more than cameras that are not prone to the problem.</p>

<p>See this DPReview article for details:</p>

<p> http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikon-d750/9<br>

<br>

Scroll down to the <em>Implications for autofocus accuracy</em> section.<br /><br>

<br>

</p>

[kari_oinonen]

<p>Maybe it is the use of virtual engineering and design environments. As a friend who resently invented and patented a new type of a multi function car trailer said: "I'd newer come to this just using a virtual engineering approach. You have to see it and feel it."<br>

When a feature, like flare shading in some D750 units, is out of the virtual engineering space, it just does not exist at the design phase. Add this to a parameter variation somewhere in the functional neighbourhood and the problem appears. I believe that designers even did not consider this flaw before they saw it. </p>

[donbright]

<p>Like the problem itself, there will be varying degrees of flare with defect included. How many defects are acceptable? How much flare is acceptable? In my view none of it is acceptable. I refuse to be desensitized in the parade of one defect after another, and by the way I noticed in the tone of this very thread, there is a form of desensitization taken place. I feel bad for those who have to go through the hoops with repair to get this addressed, and as for the same issue with other manufacturures, it seems that across the board the bells and whistles are interfering with basic Photographic light principals regarding camera light transmission. We want the most out of image impact, not at the expense of the conveniences.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>Over on DPRview, yesterday they have a new article:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>Nikon D750 flare investigated: Why we're not worried</p>

</blockquote>

<p>http://www.dpreview.com/articles/9859982806/nikon-d750-flare-investigated-why-we-re-not-worried<br /> <br />I think the title "Why we're not worried" says it all.</p>

<p>And over on Imaging Resource, the article we have linked to a couple of times on this thread: http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2014/12/24/nikon-d750-flare-problems-heres-why-and-what-to-do-about-them-its-not-lens</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I wouldn't hesitate to buy a D750 if I were in the market for a full-frame DSLR. It's a joy to hold and to shoot with, and its image quality apart from the flare issue is absolutely superb. Personally, it's very, <em>very</em> seldom that I'd shoot backlit scene of the sort that shows the problem.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Essentially everybody who already owns a D750, including constant Nikon critic Thom Hogan, has pointed out that it is very difficult to cause this problem on purpose, let alone in regular everyday shooting.<br /> <br />Hogan wrote:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I should note that my camera was noted as affected, though I’ve not been able to trigger the problem in testing.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>http://dslrbodies.com/newsviews/nikon-issues-d750-service.html</p>

<p>As I have demonstrated above, if I shine a flashlight into the lens from the front, I can generate similar effects on the D810, but somehow there is no recall for the D810. Both DPReview and Imaging Resource have also found that this "problem" is probably worst on the Canon EOS 1DX, which has been on the market for 2.5 years, and yet there is essentially no complaint about that and on many other DSLRs with similar effects.</p>

<p>I think the real issue is internet hysteria. For those who would like to criticize Nikon, this is yet another opportunity. And after the D600 dust/oil issue (which IMO got blown way out of proportion with all the silly law suits, etc.), Nikon is very afraid that they will be accused for not address this D750 issue promptly and create yet another PR problem.</p>

<p>I bought my D750 last month when all the flare and banding discussion was already on full swing. While I can create this effect if I shine a flashlight into the lens, I everyday shooting, this will almost never be an issue, as it is not on my D700, D800E ... or someone else's 1DX ....</p>

<p>Meanwhile, Nikon is going to have thousands of D750 to fix. I wonder whether they are going to ship them back to the Thailand factory for adjustment or they'll find a bunch of local technicians. On the record, I am going to resist all this hysteria and will not send my perfectly working D750 for "repair." If anything, I have had very bad experience with refurbished Nikon USA lenses, so I would rather not take that chance that they may mess up my camera.</p>

<p>For those who would like to send their D750 back for repair, my advice is to wait a few weeks. For one thing Nikon doesn't seem to have any time limit for the repair. I would rather let other "pioneers" get their cameras done and see how their repairs turn out. Any time you mess round the AF mechanism, it can potentially be trouble. And I would like to see some before/after comparison and see how Nikon can improve an issue that is extremely minor to begin with. For those who shoot stage work a lot with lights straight ahead, maybe it is a bigger concern.</p>

<p>I recall that back in 1996/1997, a lot of brand new F5 bodies has the "false battery low" problem. A friend of mine had two early F5 and both had that issue and went back for warranty service multiple times. One went back so many times that Nikon eventually gave her a new one instead. Meanwhile I waited a year and my F5 has been perfect.</p>

<p>In other words, Nikon camera problems are nothing new. What is new is the scrutiny every new model is now getting. I have little doubt that every new Nikon FX DSLR model will have "problems" from now on.</p>

[alan_wilder1]

<p>Just received my camera back from Nikon Service (Melville, NY) for correction of the issue. Mine was an early body that had the problem. The fix was perfect, free and the problem is now gone when comparing pre to post test shots. The repair was extensive ( S classification) involving replacement of the front of the camera among other things replaced and adjusted. If I had to pay out of pocket, I'm sure it be quite high. They also updated the firmware. <strong>Great job Nikon for addressing and correcting this issue!</strong></p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>I suppose most people who need this service advisory have already gone through the repair process.</p>

<p>Earlier, I had made it very clear that as far as I am concerned, this is a non-issue such that although my D750 has a serial number in the affected list, I was going to resist any repair. Unfortunately, I realized that the GPS connection on my D750 was not working from the beginning. I just didn't notice that earlier.</p>

<p>Eventually I used the recall to generate an UPS shipping label and sent my D750 to the Los Angeles repair center. I am within California and it is a two-day UPS ground shipping each way. I shipped the D750 on Tuesday, July 28. It arrived Nikon on Thursday, and then I received an e-mail within an hour acknowledging it. On Wednesday, August 6 I received a notification from UPS that a return shipment was initiated, and I just received the D750 back today. The total process was 10 days, including two days of shipping each way an one weekend in between.</p>

<p>Nikon repair has reset all of my settings. Plugging my GP-1 and it is now working with this D750 for the first time.</p>

<p>In 38 years of using Nikon cameras, for me, this is the very first time a camera body needs warranty repair. Previously, I have had one flash (SB-800) and one lens (35-70mm/f2.8 AF) that required warranty repair within the first year. I should point out that last year, I had a loaner D810 that was defective, generating all corrupted RAW files. That D810 would need warranty repair also, but that was not my camera.</p>