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Swabbed it about 3 times but have occasionally run the sensor brush over it between the swabs which usually does the trick.
D600 - just how bad is the dust?
- Thread starter matty D
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Swabbed it about 3 times but have occasionally run the sensor brush over it between the swabs which usually does the trick.
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Well going to purchase my D600 today, opted for Calumet up the road even though its £30odd quid dearer than an Amazon UK supplied body, saves me hassle if I have problems with it later.
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After much consideration I decided to get a d600 at the start of the month.
60xxserial no. Started getting spots around 350 shots and was up to around 1000 by Saturday. I took it to the shop I bought it who cleaned the sensor, taken another 280 shots and the sensor has marks on it again. So sadly I will be returning it, really disappointed other than the marks the camera is what I want amazing iso performance and detail compared to my d60.
For those that have switched to the d800 how does that compare and is it usable for candid handheld shots. How does it compare in low light shooting iso 1600 3200. I know it will be better for tripod shooting. Also how is it at shooting bike racing, I'm not worried about the 4fps.
60xxserial no. Started getting spots around 350 shots and was up to around 1000 by Saturday. I took it to the shop I bought it who cleaned the sensor, taken another 280 shots and the sensor has marks on it again. So sadly I will be returning it, really disappointed other than the marks the camera is what I want amazing iso performance and detail compared to my d60.
For those that have switched to the d800 how does that compare and is it usable for candid handheld shots. How does it compare in low light shooting iso 1600 3200. I know it will be better for tripod shooting. Also how is it at shooting bike racing, I'm not worried about the 4fps.
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I have no stabilized lenses, and I find handheld shooting easy with the D800. Of course, with exposure times of 1/60 (basically anything slower than 1/125) you need to concentrate and keep your hands steady. It of course also depends on the focus length of the lens you use.
I think the D800 is actually better in low light than the D600. The AF is definitely better in low light or low contrast situations than the D600's, and at the same image size, the D800's pictures have less visible noise than the D600.
For bike racing, the D800 has more AF points, a larger area is covered by the AF, and the AF is one generation newer than that of the D600 (or so I'm told...). You should be ok for bike racing. But I only ever use the central AF point, I'm too old to learn anything new
I think the D800 is actually better in low light than the D600. The AF is definitely better in low light or low contrast situations than the D600's, and at the same image size, the D800's pictures have less visible noise than the D600.
For bike racing, the D800 has more AF points, a larger area is covered by the AF, and the AF is one generation newer than that of the D600 (or so I'm told...). You should be ok for bike racing. But I only ever use the central AF point, I'm too old to learn anything new
Got about 3000 actuations on mine and have some dust spots on it, but nothing more than I had on my D3 after taking the same amount of shots in the same conditions. I'll clean it myself when it starts getting noticeable but at the moment I have to go looking for it (edit and that means F22 shots with 2 minor spots lol, otherwise not visible at anything less than F11)
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There are 1000's of cameras out there with no problems or problems that users don't notice due to their shooting style.
The trouble is, you only hear of the problems so you could get lucky.
I'm not fussed about the issue - cleaning is part of owning a DLSR sadly!
The trouble is, you only hear of the problems so you could get lucky.
I'm not fussed about the issue - cleaning is part of owning a DLSR sadly!
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I've had a D600 for about a week now, and racked up about 700 shots, and there are definitely signs of dust/oil (more so than I would expect from a camera of this age) also they're all over on the left hand side. I can't seem to find my rocket blower at the moment, but I'll give the camera a blast with it and see how much of it clears.
I bought from Panamoz, and asked them what their position is on the issue before I ordered, they provide a 2 year UK warranty, and due to this being a known issue, sensor cleaning is covered.
It will be a pain if I have to send it away for cleaning, but at least I know it's covered for it.
Wouldn't stop me buying another one though, clearly this issue shouldn't happen, but it's still a phenomenal camera!
I bought from Panamoz, and asked them what their position is on the issue before I ordered, they provide a 2 year UK warranty, and due to this being a known issue, sensor cleaning is covered.
It will be a pain if I have to send it away for cleaning, but at least I know it's covered for it.
Wouldn't stop me buying another one though, clearly this issue shouldn't happen, but it's still a phenomenal camera!
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I think you won't be disappointed. The D800 is a pretty complete and professionally designed camera. For the u1 and u2 modes, the D800 has four Custom Settings Banks in which you can define sets of settings. I'm not sure if and how this is possible, but you might want to check in the manual whether you can assign opening one or two of these banks to buttons on the camera?
Regarding the sensor contamination issue of the D600, I was and still am one of those who purchased the D600 knowing about the issues, fully prepared to clean the sensor more frequently than with other cameras. But it happened to me that I cleaned the sensor and 10 exposures later there was another dark blob in an image, and that was just too much.
If I could have waited a couple of hundred exposures between the cleanings, maybe only 200, I'd still have been ok. But basically, my sensor was always dirty, and that's when I decided that this was unpractical.
My D800's sensor is entirely clean, and I don't have any of the other issues people talk about either, so apparently with the D800, I got lucky. I do believe though, that given the amount of sensor contamination, that the D600 does have an issue with this in general, not only some selected guys with bad luck or overly critical eyes
But I'm still keeping the D600, hoping that I can get it fixed in a few months when a real fix is available. It's a great camera.
Regarding the sensor contamination issue of the D600, I was and still am one of those who purchased the D600 knowing about the issues, fully prepared to clean the sensor more frequently than with other cameras. But it happened to me that I cleaned the sensor and 10 exposures later there was another dark blob in an image, and that was just too much.
If I could have waited a couple of hundred exposures between the cleanings, maybe only 200, I'd still have been ok. But basically, my sensor was always dirty, and that's when I decided that this was unpractical.
My D800's sensor is entirely clean, and I don't have any of the other issues people talk about either, so apparently with the D800, I got lucky. I do believe though, that given the amount of sensor contamination, that the D600 does have an issue with this in general, not only some selected guys with bad luck or overly critical eyes
But I'm still keeping the D600, hoping that I can get it fixed in a few months when a real fix is available. It's a great camera.
Just on a point of interest. I bought a D90 second hand on here about two years ago I think. Since I bought it I've clocked up around 20,000 images. (It's used daily) I can honestly say I have only had two dust spots which removed themselves via the on board sensor clean function. Therefore I'd say that cleaning is not something we should expect to do frequently but maybe on occasion. I really want to buy a D600 but I'd be annoyed if I had to clean it every other week. It would ruin the enjoyment of owning such a beast. I'd love for someone to convince me I'd not be disappointed.
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Far smaller sensor though leading to a smaller mirror (less slap) and less room for dust to get into in the first place. My D3 was also a dust magnet, yet didn't have any self cleaning thing either, so it had to be cleaned about once a month.
Aye thats extreme. Wonder if it gets better after use? After 3000 shots mines got two minor dust spots with no oil marks. 600xxx serial
It's hard to draw any concrete conclusions but it seems that FF cameras are more susceptible than crop bodies. The D600 seems to suffer more than the D800, but experiences seem very varied and probably improving with later serial numbers.
I've shot a couple of thousand pic on my D600 and had some dust but nothing so far that couldn't be removed by the carefull application of a rocket blower. Hope it stays that way because otherwise I'm very happy with it
I've shot a couple of thousand pic on my D600 and had some dust but nothing so far that couldn't be removed by the carefull application of a rocket blower. Hope it stays that way because otherwise I'm very happy with it
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Guys, just wondering how bad your spots got?
I've only shot about 1100 shots and I'm seeing a lot down the left side of the pictures and a few in the centre.
Not sure what to do..... going away in a week so can't afford the time to send it to Nikon.
As its only 3 weeks old should I expect that the retailer would swap it for me?
I've only shot about 1100 shots and I'm seeing a lot down the left side of the pictures and a few in the centre.
Not sure what to do..... going away in a week so can't afford the time to send it to Nikon.
As its only 3 weeks old should I expect that the retailer would swap it for me?
I just took mine back after 3 weeks as posted on the previous page. I had the choice to swap for another or pay the extra for the d800. I chose the d800 as I didn't want to risk another d600 having the same problem. You could be lucky and get a good one but as above it's pot luck.
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Mike
Where did you buy it from?
Where did you buy it from?
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Had my D600 for a couple of weeks now, probably put around 1k of shots on it. Not noticed any spots but then again I’m really looking, as long as they don’t appear on the final shots then I’m not too bothered. I brought it knowing full well about the spots/oil issue, eventually I’ll get them and wet clean it.
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I'm going to drop mine into Calumet tonight, and see if they'll clean it for me. As it's only a few weeks old I'd hope they'd do it for free to see if it clears up.
I got it from a local camera shop in south wales.
You need to take it back as soon as you can and have a read up on your consumer rights before you go.
Just to give you an idea of your returning a faulty product rights, this will help you a lot if the retailer is being awkward.
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Mine was cleaned for free at around 1000 shots. Spots were back after around 200. There are a lot of posts on forums saying the spots improve more and more after 3000 shoots. But there are some in the 5000 shots and above range saying they still have the issue.