# Nikon D600 Sensor issues, really bad...



## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

Ok everything was dandy with my D600, had a few minor spots on the sensor but nothing to worry about, now all of a sudden this has happened, I want to swipe clean the sensor but I´m not sure whether the marks are dust or oil, I have tried a rocket blower to no avail, camera has taken about 1000 pics maximum, any advice greatly appreciated.


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## 480sparky (Jan 22, 2013)

Looks like you need to grit your teeth and start learning how to clean your sensor.

Get a good cleaning kit and have at it.  It's really not the end-of-the-world process you fear it is.


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## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

480sparky said:


> Looks like you need to grit your teeth and start learning how to clean your sensor.
> 
> Get a good cleaning kit and have at it.  It's really not the end-of-the-world process you fear it is.



Hi Sparky, I´m not afraid of cleaning my sensor, I just don t know if this is dust or oil and depending on this there are different products, at my fingertips I have VisibleDust sensor clean Sensor Clean. Liquid cleaner for sensor. but if in fact its oil on the sensor then this product will just smear the oil and make a right mess?


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## sekhar (Jan 22, 2013)

I heard of oil issues with D600, but this is just awful. Apparently if you send it to Nikon, they not only clean it up but also make sure it doesn't happen again...at least not as badly. I'd call them.


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## amolitor (Jan 22, 2013)

The crud looks really sharp, to me. I confess that I am a trifle suspicious.


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## 480sparky (Jan 22, 2013)

Pabs said:


> Hi Sparky, I´m not afraid of cleaning my sensor, I just don t know if this is dust or oil and depending on this there are different products, at my fingertips I have VisibleDust sensor clean Sensor Clean. Liquid cleaner for sensor. but if in fact its oil on the sensor then this product will just smear the oil and make a right mess?



Use this stuff instead.


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## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

amolitor said:


> The crud looks really sharp, to me. I confess that I am a trifle suspicious.



Hi Amolitor, 
Suspicious of what?


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## amolitor (Jan 22, 2013)

Not to accuse you of anything, Pabs, but in my experience, the crud I get on my sensor doesn't render that sharply. Thus, I cannot help but wonder if this is a photoshopped image designed to make the D600 look bad, make Nikon look bad, or to otherwise stir up controversy and debate.

That said, I certainly have not got a wide range of experience with what various things look like on sensors, with various and sundry settings.


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## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

amolitor said:


> Not to accuse you of anything, Pabs, but in my experience, the crud I get on my sensor doesn't render that sharply. Thus, I cannot help but wonder if this is a photoshopped image designed to make the D600 look bad, make Nikon look bad, or to otherwise stir up controversy and debate.
> 
> That said, I certainly have not got a wide range of experience with what various things look like on sensors, with various and sundry settings.




Ah I changed the levels in PS to enhance the problem, here is the original, still bloody awful


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## runnah (Jan 22, 2013)

I think the piece of fiber in the bottom middle leads me to believe that it is not on the sensor, rather another optical piece.


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## KmH (Jan 22, 2013)

I agree, in part because the 'stuff' is not very blurry, which often indicates the 'stuff' is on the rear lens element and not the image sensor.

Though many of today's cameras have an image sensor self-cleaning feature, periodic manual cleaning is still a routine part of owning a DLSR.
There are limits to what the self-cleaning system can do.

There are good and bad practices when changing lenses.
A good practice is to always have the front of the camera pointed down when changing a lens, and getting out of wind to change lenses.


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## amolitor (Jan 22, 2013)

Yeah, just FYI, the usual way to isolate sensor gunk is to:

- stop down all the way
- ISO as low as it will go
- shutter speed suitable or use Av
- indoors pointed at a white wall or similarly plain and light colored background

exposure should come out to a second or two. Wave the camera around a bit as you expose to smear any background out to smoothness.

Then you can really see the sensor crud!


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## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

KmH said:


> I agree, in part because the 'stuff' is not very blurry, which often indicates the 'stuff' is on the rear lens element and not the image sensor.
> 
> Though many of today's cameras have an image sensor self-cleaning feature, periodic manual cleaning is still a routine part of owning a DLSR.
> There are limits to what the self-cleaning system can do.
> ...



Hi Kmh, I have tried 3 different lenses and the results are the same


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## greybeard (Jan 22, 2013)

It looks like junk on the sensor to me.  I just ordered Sensor Swab Type 2  to clean mine with.


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## 480sparky (Jan 22, 2013)

Pabs said:


> Hi Kmh, I have tried 3 different lenses and the results are the same



If you just have spots with all lenses, that may still be on the rear elements.  If the spots are all in the same locations, then it's on the sensor.


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## 480sparky (Jan 22, 2013)

amolitor said:


> .............
> 
> exposure should come out to a second or two. Wave the camera around a bit as you expose to smear any background out to smoothness.
> 
> Then you can really see the sensor crud!



Excellent idea!  I think I'm gonna steal it.


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## amolitor (Jan 22, 2013)

I stole it myself! I forget where from, but it works like anything.


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## 480sparky (Jan 22, 2013)

amolitor said:


> I stole it myself! I forget where from, but it works like anything.



No honor among thieves, I guess!


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## Derrel (Jan 22, 2013)

Look into the Copperhil CCD cleaning web site tutorials, for both knowledge, and products needed to simply clean away your problem.


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## Pabs (Jan 22, 2013)

Thanks everyone for your replies, I am new here and I am grateful I joined, I will clean my sensor and see what happens, you guy´s rock


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## Pabs (Jan 28, 2013)

Smear Away. Liquid cleaner for sensor. is amazing, I have used it and the sensor is spotless, now I just hope it stays that way.....


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## slow231 (Jan 28, 2013)

also an idea for those trying to find test backgrounds, open up a blank document on your computer screen.  f22+ and a couple second moving exposure gives a nice even background.

at 1.2k clicks my d600 took many a swab to get it clean.  hopefully the next cleaning will be lighter.


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## KmH (Jan 28, 2013)

Pabs said:


> the sensor is spotless, now I just hope it stays that way.....


It won't.

Sensor cleaning has to be done periodically.

How often it has to be done depends on your lens changing procedure.


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## Pabs (Jan 29, 2013)

Ummmm took 100 shots at f22, blue sk and 3 oil spots have come back to haunt me, I just hope the rumour that this problem goes away after 3k clicks is true.


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## Heitz (Jan 29, 2013)

Pabs,
I had a similar problem with my D800 upon arrival.  I had spots identical to yours (minus the little hair thing - I don't know what that is), but mine were clustered in the upper left.  I took the plunge and cleaned the sensor.  It was not difficult.  It took a couple tries, but i came out with a perfectly clean sensor.  Here's the thread where I talked about it: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...oducts/306019-i-cleaned-my-d800-s-sensor.html


Edit: I just saw that you solved the problem. Disregard.


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## Pabs (Jan 29, 2013)

Heitz said:


> Edit: I just saw that you solved the problem. Disregard.



Nope, cleaned the sensor but oil has appeared again  I will read your thread, thanks Heitz.


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## Heitz (Jan 29, 2013)

Pabs said:


> Heitz said:
> 
> 
> > Edit: I just saw that you solved the problem. Disregard.
> ...



Wait hold on.  Are you certain that oil has *reappeared* after being totally absent following your cleaning?  If that's true, you might want to have it serviced; that shouldn't be happening.  An interesting test you might do (and include us on) is to post a picture of the spots now, then re-clean, post picture, then use the camera for a day and post again.  I'd like to see if the spots are really re-appearing.


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## Pabs (Jan 29, 2013)

Ok I'll take some pics and post one here as soon as I can.


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## Pabs (Jan 29, 2013)

OK just went outside and took 200 shots of the sky at f22, the other image was taken yesterday after cleaning, seems the camera is braking apart....BTW I am using a 24mm prime lens, so this is not dust from a zoom.


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## cgipson1 (Jan 30, 2013)

Pabs said:


> View attachment 34359View attachment 34360
> 
> OK just went outside and took 200 shots of the sky at f22, the other image was taken yesterday after cleaning, seems the camera is braking apart....BTW I am using a 24mm prime lens, so this is not dust from a zoom.



Wow.. where did all the crap go? lol! Looks good!


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## Pabs (Jan 30, 2013)

cgipson1 said:


> Pabs said:
> 
> 
> > View attachment 34359View attachment 34360
> ...



You are kidding right?


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## cgipson1 (Jan 30, 2013)

Pabs said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Pabs said:
> ...



I didn't see much wrong with the image on the right... that is the after cleaning image, right? Since you didn't label the images.. that is what I assumed...


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## Pabs (Jan 30, 2013)

The image on the right was after a wet clean, the image on the left was after 200 or so clicks...............


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## cgipson1 (Jan 31, 2013)

Pabs said:


> The image on the right was after a wet clean, the image on the left was after 200 or so clicks...............



Wel.. that means the "Wet" clean worked like it should... so what's the problem? I had exactly the same thing happen with a D7000 and a D800... no big deal!

Or did you mean that you did a wet clean... and then 200 clicks later the sensor was dirty again? If so.. the photos were not in the correct order to infer that.....

If that is the case... then you may have a problem... (I re-read your earlier post.. and it could be interpreted that way...)


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## Pabs (Jan 31, 2013)

cgipson1 said:


> Pabs said:
> 
> 
> > The image on the right was after a wet clean, the image on the left was after 200 or so clicks...............
> ...



I cleaned the sensor, wet clean and everyting was perfect, went outside and shot 200 shots of the sky and the sensor was covered with oil.......I am so pissed off.


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## cgipson1 (Jan 31, 2013)

Pabs said:


> cgipson1 said:
> 
> 
> > Pabs said:
> ...



Ok.. that makes more sense.  Maybe try another clean.. if it gets dirtied up again, call Nikon support. Only option really.... Sorry to hear that! I thought the dirty one was a Before.. clean was and After.. based on their positioning...


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## Pabs (Jan 31, 2013)

I wet cleaned the sensor, it was perfect then I took a few shots (as I said) and the sensor was full of spots again. This is a fcuking nighmare for me.


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## BrianV (Jan 31, 2013)

Send it back to Nikon for service. You are not the only person that is having these problems. Members of other forums have posted similar experience.

Found this:
http://nikonrumors.com/2012/11/29/t...sor-seems-to-disappear-after-3000-shots.aspx/

The D600 is new, Nikon will probably rev the part or change the process that is the root of the problem. Not the first time a new camera experiences birthing problems.


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## Soni213 (Feb 9, 2013)

Hard to tell from these photos, but It  _ might _  be oil and not dust. Some Nikon Cameras D7000's needed their mirror box  replaced due to excessive amounts of oil from the mirror motor getting  on the sensor. Maybe this is a problem with the D600 as well.


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## greybeard (Feb 9, 2013)

It really sucks that this has happened.  Every company has problems sooner or later and it is how they go about handling these problems that separates them.  Give Nikon support a chance to make this right.


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## SabraDesigns (May 9, 2013)

greybeard said:


> It really sucks that this has happened.  Every company has problems sooner or later and it is how they go about handling these problems that separates them.  Give Nikon support a chance to make this right.



[FONT=&quot]Sorryto bring you some bad news but I was in a similar position. I bought my wife aD600 in November. With the holidays we were not able to do too much with it butby February we noticed the issue of dust\oil\noise on many of her pictures. Mywife was a professional photographer and as we get closer to retirement we arethinking of a small cottage photo business or just enjoying a passionate hobby.This should have been a great experience.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wewent to the Addison Texas Nikon photo school on Feb 23 and 24th. We decided towait until after the class to send it in as we followed Nikon's protocol. Theyreviewed the pictures we sent in and they said send it to them in California.On the 25th we sent it in which cost us $137 ($122 for shipping and insuranceand another $15 for the box and packing materials.) We sent it in two day UPS.They did not even acknowledge receipt of the camera until the next week eventhought we had proof of delivery. Once they looked at it they simply cleanedthe sensor and sent it back. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Rightout of the box, we barely had the camera body open for 10 seconds while weattached a lens, we experienced the same problem. We called them and wentthrough the hassle of sending in the pictures. By the way we received differentinstructions each time for the proper way to send files and each time it tookseveral tries. They really should know how to handle large files and beconsistent. We implied once again that we did not want to have to pay another$137 to send it back. We received the same email saying sorry but you will needto send us the camera again. We had enough. We were never offered a prepaid UPSlabel.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Wewent to a great local distributor. We did not buy this from them but since wehave shopped there before they were gracious enough to listen to our situationand send it in to the Melville operation on our behalf. Just like you ourcamera was put on parts hold. They eventually, after 4 weeks and me getting onthe phone with them, replaced the shutter mechanism and did a complete low passfilter cleaning. They sent it back apologizing for the issues and even sent mea check to repay me for my original shipping. They explained I should have beenoffered a free shipping label. There were several other miscommunications thatare irrelevant as they had nothing to do with the issue at hand.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Thecamera arrived at the distributor on Thursday and we picked it up on Friday. Weshot some pics on Saturday and went to the Dallas zoo on Sunday to put itthrough some real shooting. We got home Sunday evening and we saw the issuereappear. We started shooting at around 11:30 AM at 1:05 PM we noticed thefirst issue. WE figured this oput as we reviewed the shots Sunday evening usingNikons software. The spots gradually got worse. Yes we do have the pics toback all of this up which we eventually got to send to Nikon on Monday. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Mondayafternoon they issues an overnight UPS label. I boxed the camera up and sent itback to them. They had a manager intercept put on the label to review. My wifewill be travelling internationally next week and we needed the camera (werequested a replacement) before she left. I heard nothing on Tuesday morningbut followed up and found out that they had it. I was told I would hear backlater that day or early today.  Nothingagain. I call up and am told they will speak with the service manager and putin a request for a replacement camera. I would hear within 24 hours. In lessthan 6 hours they called me and said that the service manager said there isonly one spot and they are simply going to clean it and send it back. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Nowthe pictures clearly show more than one spot and additional noise or again morespots. I asked them to review that as I do not believe they reviewed thepictures although why would they agree to overnight something for pickup afterthey saw the pictures if there was only one spot?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Soin less than a week I received a refurbished camera with a new shuttermechanism and a cleaned low pass filter. In less than 4 days they requested thecamera back. This is the third time it is in for the same issue. They did notoffer to replace the camera. They are simply going to send it back after a sensorclean.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Hereis the dilemma: The original place I purchased the camera from has graciouslyagreed to take it back and put me into another camera. They said we could eitherget another D600, a different camera or a store credit. That is customerservice. That is a great customer experience. Nikon should learn a lesson fromthis. Right now I am leaning towards getting rid of our Nikon Gear. You see wealso bought a D3200 and a Nikon 105MM micro lens as well as some other smalleritems. That may  sound drastic but thatis how they have made us feel. We would rather have a nice working model of theD600 but how do I in good conscience reward them with more business after howwe were treated and how the other people with poorly working D600 were treated.While I have no idea how prevalent the issue is, the manner in which they havehandled it is disgusting. I am happy for all the people who I know and hearabout that have working D600. However, a $2000 plus investment for a consumeror a pro is a significant amount of money. With Nikon currently reporting morethan a $159M profit this quarter (down almost 50% on a 5% increase in sales),why should their customers take this kid of treatment?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Foreveryone with a good working D600 enjoy. For everyone who has been treatedpoorly by Nikon customer service I empathize with you. Luckily there are stillsome great companies that treat their customers with exceptional respect. Nikoncould learn a thing or two. They have brought fumeiyo upon themselves.[/FONT]


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## Fishhawk460 (May 10, 2013)

I was thinking of upgrading to the D600 and heard that Nikon has admitted there is an issue with oil spots. So rightly or wrongly I was assuming they were addressing the problem. I've had no oiling issues with my D90 or D7000 and was starting to get excited about a new full frame camera purchase. Seeing that the replies on this thread are recent can I assume Nikon has done nothing about a fix? Should I pull the trigger, or wait and see if the latest models are still spewing oil on the sensor?


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## ahsantahirseo716 (Wednesday at 4:29 AM)

Lenses could get dirty sometimes. I know how to clean lenses with safety.


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