D600 dust - fixed??

I purchased a recent D600 with late serial number.  It didn't have the dust/oil/debris in the upper corner as was reported with the earlier batches, but it did have a lot of random spots.  I used a LED loupe (you can can get them cheap at Edmunds Scientific) and when I tried to clean the spots with a sensor brush, I could see that it dragged and smeared the specks.  I knew right away it was oil. I did a wet clean and got rid of most of it.  But it took a few wet cleans to clear it up completely.  Over time and after some use (and some more wet cleans) it seems to be better now. And I'm going to assume that it will remain pretty clean eventually.

In the several years that I've owned my D3s I've yet to have a dirty sensor aside from a few errant dust specks.  And I've used it in extreme environments and with lots of lens changing (I have only prime lenses.)  Not only does the D600 seem to spit lubricant, but the mirror chamber had a fair amount of fiber and dust bunnies when first purchased.  I suggest that one looks at the sensor with an illuminated loupe and not judge things by the 'white-wall-small-aperture' test only.  The loupe will show you exactly what's on the sensor's cover filter.

But the big question here is not whether the D600 has some lubricant/debris issues (it does.)  But whether or not this sort of thing is going to bother you.  If it will, then don't buy the camera.  If it won't, then buy the camera.  It doesn't bother me (but hey, I also scan film and load 4x5 sheet film into holders; talk about dealing with dust and crud :-D)  I don't mind cleaning the camera when needed and I will just see it as part of camera maintenance.  A colleague of mine wet cleans his sensors once a week as a matter of course (and you don't need to buy expensive kits, just get a loupe, some Pec Pads, a stick, and a bottle of Eclipse or methanol; that's all you need.)

It is an issue with this camera that can't be denied.  And sure, it should never have been a problem in the first place.  But I think one has to determine the relative degree of the issue and what it might end up doing to their own personal psyche and act accordingly.  Everyone has different comfort levels (I know some people who really shouldn't own a black car if they don't want to end up in an insane asylum.)