The Nikon D600 has generally been free of complaints such as the AF point focus issues that plagued some D800s. However, one complaint I had heard about sometimes is oil spots on the sensor. Sometimes there's a little too much lubricant on the shutter. This is an issue that has affected the Nikon D7000 as well.
Oil spots look different from dust in a couple of ways: first they are visible at wider apertures like f/5.6 or f/8, unlike dust which is more likely to be seen at f/16 or f/22. Second, oil spots have varying brightness.
I took shots yesterday, and found what indeed look like oil spots on mine. :( See the top part of the shot above. I'm going to request Nikon to fix it. Hopefully they won't tie up the camera too long. Alternatively, I might ask for an exchange at Bel-Air Camera, where I bought mine (that's one benefit of buying from your local camera store). I'll update this post with the results of my request to Nikon or Bel-Air.
10/15/12 UPDATE: Picked up the D600 from Bel-Air Camera today. Their repair guys said they found no oil on the sensor, just dust. They said they were able to clean it with just a blower. I was surprised that the spots were just dust given all the characteristics I saw, and they said you can't really tell unless you look at the sensor with a loupe.
I took some test shots at f/8 through f/22. The spots that I saw were gone (there were a few specks that were visible at f/22 if I maximized contrast). See the test shots below. So it appears I didn't have any problems with my D600 after all. Meanwhile, one of the staff showed me how to use a sensor cleaning kit, which I will try on the D70 and I'll post about it then.
 |
| f/8 |
 |
| f/11 |
 |
| f/16 |
 |
| f/22 |
10/22/12 UPDATE: LensRentals' Roger Cicala has a related post http://www.petapixel.com/2012/10/22/the-nikon-d600-has-sensor-dust-issues/
RELATED POSTS:
Nikon D600 Resource Page (see under "Dust Spots")
Firefly DSC-2000 Review
It looks like D600 shares a lot of "features" with D7000. My D7000 also gets oil in the sensor fairly easily. It is a shame the same thing happens on D600.
ReplyDeleteI have this on my D7000 as well, and they come back soon after each cleaning. However, I have never seen them at f/5.6 or f/8. I don't see them until I get to about f/14. So I rarely go to f/14-f/22 because fixing all of the dots in post is a pain.
ReplyDeleteThe only good news is this gives me one more reason to put off buying the D600. ;)
@Xiaoli that makes sense because the D7000 and D600 have many similarities perhaps they are manufactured at the same factory and have the same manufacturing issues.
ReplyDelete@Al if they are visible at about f/14 perhaps they are dust spots? Are they visible everywhere on the frame or on just one side of the frame? I heard from the Nikon D600 Club discussion on this issue that oil spots show up on only one side of the frame.
Best regards,
Mic
They look pretty similar to yours whatever they are. Yours seem to be on both sides of the frame (although they are harder to see in the clouds).
ReplyDeleteHmm perhaps yours are oil spots too albeit with less density so maybe they dont show up at wider apertures.
DeleteAnyway my d600 is w/ belair. Their repair guy will take a look on mon. We'll find out more on Monday...
Mic, how do you distinguish this from regular dust spot ? I mean are we sure this is oil coming from the shutter mechanism ?
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marko
Hi Marko, I'm reasonably certain this is oil because dust doesn't show up until around f/16 or f/22. This was at f/8. They are also all round and of varying brightness/opacity. I'll find out for sure when I get it back from the shop.
DeleteBest regards,
Mic
Thanks, will stay tuned. However certain sources claim that up to the first couple of 1k shots this is normal. Go figure...
ReplyDeleteI'll keep updating this page with the status of my oil spots. I don't think it's normal because none of my other cameras have had them. However, in the Nikon D600 Club flickr forum they say it disappears after cleaning at around 2k shutter count, which is where mine is. We'll see.
DeleteI have the same on my D600 and its only done 171 shots
ReplyDeleteJust saw the full picture on my desktop screen, that looks pretty bad, it's not one or two spots, but a splatter of spots. I hope it gets fixed real soon, and never comes back.
ReplyDelete@malcson i didnt notice mine that early. At least you identified it before it started to collect dust and harden.
ReplyDelete@mshafik yeah too many to correct
I am really enjoying your blog. You are a very talented photographer and instructor. I look forward to reading your articles and using your ideas and suggestions.
ReplyDeleteI am a happy D600 owner with the 24-85, and yes, I had gunk on the sensor. More on that later. It's my first DSLR. I've been waiting for a FF camera like this for many years! I used SLRs from late 70's to late 90's from Olympus (OM1 & OM2), Leica (R3 & R4), Nikon (FE) and Canon (Elan IIe), shooting mostly K64 and E200. (What I would have given for ISO 6400 back then...) In the early 00's I started using P&S for digital, and the Canon S100 most recently. I've been patiently waiting for FF digital to evolve for stubborn old film shooters like me. I got the D600 for a New England Fall Leaf tour trip and it performed beautifully. The image quality knocks me out!
After nearly 1000 frames, I noticed some debris on the sensor filter -- and I had not taken the lens from the camera since putting it on! So, whatever was on the AA filter came from inside. Rather than send it to Nikon, or return it to Amazon.com, I opted to clean it myself. I invested $60 in start up supplies from my local shop. After 19 (!) dry & wet clean/test sequences, I have it almost, but not 100% clean. As a perfectionist, this was and is frustrating. A more experienced person could certainly do it with far fewer repeats, while getting it even more clean. I am planning to get an illuminated inspection loupe to speed up the process, and learn to locate and remove various single specks, which are what I was mostly dealing with the last several attempts.
There was definitely some gunk (lubricant?) on there other than dust, and it was persistent and stubborn to remove as it smeared easily. I think I kept transferring the gunk to the sensor cover from the outer frame surrounding it.
It's frustrating that a new camera has so much debris inside it, but IMO it's not that big a deal to clean, and not worth exchanging the camera or shipping to Nikon. On the other hand, I can understand why many folks are not confident enough to do this, and with good reason if they are not meticulous and DIY oriented. It certainly made me uncomfortable at first.
By the way, unlike it's US customers, Nikon trusts it's Japanese customers to clean their own sensors. They sell a kit in Japan that has you wrap tissue around a flat wooden stick which you moisten with a fluid and rub against the AA filter. This is apparently the same technique used in their service centers. The equivalent would be Pec-Pads, a narrow spatula and Eclipse fluid. I'm going to try this approach next as the ready-made, one-time use pads are very expensive.
Once Adobe releases full support for the D600, I plan to purchase and learn. Meanwhile, View NX2 is good enough for basic RAW file manipulation. Gotta love that shadows slider and the often surprising detail hidden in plain sight.
Cheers and good luck to all of you getting your cameras cleaned and back in service quickly.
Hi! Thank you very much for the feedback on our blog! It is encouraging and helps motivate us to keep working on the blog.
DeleteWow what a spectacular camera for a first DSLR :D Yes I know what you mean about ISO 6400. I don't have a lot of film shooting experience myself but I know enough to appreciate how low the noise is on the digital cameras these days compared to the grain I see even on ISO 400 with print film. (BTW I don't know if you shot with slides or negatives but if the latter, you may be interested in the Fuji S5, which I've also reviewed. To me it combines the best of digital and film.)
Glad you got most of the gunk out of your sensor. I've never cleaned the sensor myself because I've been too averse to the risk of damaging the sensor of a very expensive camera. But I might try it on my D70. Meanwhile, I hope they do fix the spots on my D600.
If you think ViewNX2 is good you will absolutely love Lightroom, even with just the beta support. There is just no comparison between the two... :)
Thanks again and pls. keep in touch!
Best regards,
Mic
well, i also have 'stuff' on my sensor/ aa filter - dozens of little boogers (and one big one)!
ReplyDeleteinteresting, i shot the 1st 200 frames of the D600 with only a single lens mounted. the 1st 100 or so images was clean, then the next frame (taken only seconds later) had a large spot (visible even at f/8) - so this is proof that the contamination happened while the lightbox was sealed.
i can still return to amazon (feels extreme) OR will Nikon El Segundo clean it for free while I wait? not sure if they will see this as a 'defect' or warranty issue, since sensors will eventually get dirty in all DSLRs.
btw, this is my 6th Nikon DSLR, and first time experiencing this on the first day :-(
Hi meta. About the sudden appearance of the large spot, it is possible that the dust bunny was there inside the camera but wasn't on the sensor, and only got attracted to the sensor after you shot some frames.
DeleteYou may want to ask Nikon if they will clean the sensor. They might do it as a courtesy for such a new camera.
Best regards,
Mic
That's certainly a possibility. Still unhappy that i have literally dozens of spots with a new camera (i even cleaned the rear of my lens before mounting on D600)
Deletebtw, amazon is sold out of D600 - expects 1 to 3 months to re-stock.
Hi meta. Yeah I can understand the frustration. One thing to consider is that this is an FX sensor, so it has a lot more charge and can attract dust more easily. I know my D3's sensor got quite dirty but was ok after cleaning by Nikon.
DeleteThat's interesting news about the D600 stock. I thought they had an oversupply but I guess there's healthy demand for the D600. Thanks again.
Best regards,
Mic
The answer for you guys is simple !
ReplyDeleteCANON.
Nikon has treated all of you like
S--t !
That's very irresponsible of Nikon
to look the other way and even wants to make
you pay for the sensor cleaning.
Hello, friend. First of all, it's great that you are very happy with Canon.
DeleteAs for me, I think an important choice like choosing a system should take into consideration many factors. With respect to Nikon's customer service, my experiences have either been positive or neutral:
1. I took a flash there for repair. They fixed it. Six months later I brought it back because the LCD backlight wasn't working. They fixed it again and other stuff at no additional cost. They also gave me a free USB splitter.
2. I took my D3 there for sensor cleaning. It was ready for pickup the next day. Cost was very reasonable $25.
3. With the D600 I complained that the autofocus on live view wasn't working. They took my question but didn't give me a good answer. However, it turned out to be my mistake.
4. On this oil spots issue, I found there were no oil spots after all. The store didn't charge me for the cleaning. (I didn't ask Nikon.)
Overall I am satisfied with Nikon's level of customer service.
Best regards,
Mic
So, do you still have any oil or dust spots popping up after the cleaning at the store? I'm interested in buying D600 but this problem worries me. Thanks. Really enjoy ur blog :) Cheers!
ReplyDeleteHi Iwan thanks for the feedback! I've been wondering about this myself. Recently i took some test shots at f/22 and didnt see anything. However i have a lighted sensor loupe and plan to take a closer look tonight. Pls check back soon. Thanks!
DeleteBest regards,
Mic
See the updated post here http://betterfamilyphotos.blogspot.com/2012/11/update-on-nikon-d600-sensor-oildust.html
Delete