Seeing Spots on My D600

I posted yesterday about not updating the blog, citing some reasons why - but I didn't mention that I am presently without my "big camera" (the one that Hubby refers to as my third child - does anyone else get comments like that about their cameras or is it just me?).

I am without my D600 because I sent it into Nikon for what I thought would be a quick easy sensor cleaning, but unfortunately, it's more than that and I've been without it for over two weeks. So what's wrong with my "third child"?

Spots on my sensor.

For those of you who follow mainstream photo sites like dpreview or petapixel or any of the rumor sites, it is widely documented that many D600 models suffer from "dust" or oil spots on the sensor. (I'm pretty sure the spots are oil and not dust, but I've seen it posted both ways) I knew this potential issue existed when I bought my camera last November, but hey, there's risk in anything, so I took the chance that mine wouldn't be impacted.

I had over 3000 actuations on the shutter and figured my camera was in the clear until I tried to execute a star burst with a peek of setting sun, much like what I had on this photo:

Taken in 2012 with the D300

This effect is achieved by setting the aperture of the lens as small as it can be, which is denoted by the f-stop setting of f/22. I normally shoot no higher than f/8 and most of my shots are between f/2.8 and f/5.6. So imagine my surprise when I saw this photo, shot with my D600 at f/22:



Oh yeah, the photo really sucks and it was a total fail on the star burst thing. Actually it's a total fail in many regards! The left edge of the photo is covered with spots - you can see them if you click on the photo and get the enlarged view. I took two other photos (they are just as bad as this one - spots notwithstanding) with similar spots.

The thing is, you cannot see them at.all at lower apertures.

I decided to contact Nikon Service (and they have been very accommodating) - per their instructions, I uploaded the photo above to their system and was instructed to send my camera in for service. I received a prepaid UPS shipping label, packed it up and sent it out. Since then, I've heard back that my camera is "awaiting spare parts", so apparently, the issue was more that just a simple sensor cleaning. The camera is still under warranty since I've owned it less than one year. I'm hoping the fix is effective and the spots don't come back. And I hope I get my camera back soon!

So.... if YOU happen to shoot with a Nikon D600, please, please, please - take some test shots at f/22. As I stated above, I could not see any spots at my normal settings, but there are plenty at f/22. For those considering buying a D600 - yes, I would buy this camera again in a heartbeat - it is a great camera. Yes, it is a pain not having my big camera around, but I'm making due.