Nikon sets aside 1.8 billion yen to cover D600 warranty repairs

I've been a Nikon fan for over two decades, and I must say I'm disappointed at Nikon. I've seen their products going down the drain in terms of build quality and performance as each newer generation of cameras and lenses that came out. I doubt that Nikon would admit there's a problem with the D600 if it wasn't for the fact that China had asked them to stop selling the defective D600s. Here some suggestions for those of you who haven't heavily invested in Nikon lenses/bodies: buy the art series Sigma lenses (50mm f1.4 or 35mm f1.4) or go with Fuji X-series cameras/lenses if dof is not as critical for your photos. I still have my D800, but I use my Fuji XT-1/x100s 99% of the time...

since I own a D5200 and a D7100, I'm happy that any future upgrades in Nikon are less suspect. I'm still pi$$@d that a firmware upgrade to the D5200 wiped out the usability of an OEM battery. I think that's an area in which Nikon needs to be less predatory. To remain exclusive and elite, Nikon needs to emphasis quality and product support and not the apparent arrogance people have perceived.

That said, the firmware upgrade on the D5200 is the only gripe I have with Nikon. I'd put my pictures up against anything from a camera in the respective classes for the D5200 or the D7100. That's why I bought the cameras. the cache' comes from historical excellence. I sincerely hope they resume that tradition. I know many who are proud of a tradition of nikon excellence going back two generations.

DPR this is your Gold Awardee, a camera with a defective design that it needed an immediate replacement.

I have had 6 cameras from Nikon in the last twelve years. This is the first one with any issue, and they fixed it for free and it works perfectly and will fix the shutter for free as long as I own the camera. Could they initially been more upfront? Of course. Did they eventually do the right thing. Yes. Good enough for me.

Of course, there are an incredible amount of non nikon owners at DPR that love to shred on them every chance, real wing nuts. They are overjoyed by this.

If one camera cost $2000, $17.6m mean 8800 $cameras.

Billions?...but that's Japanese yen for christssake, chicken feed LOL. Just think on the huzzles & pain D600 owners have.

Nikon SHOULD HAVE PREVENTED it from happening at the very beginning. They lied to the public and now they pay the price. Not sure if the price is costly to this big company or not but it definitely has some impact to them. $17.6m is certain not a big deal to them but YEAH, they are thinking about the reputation right now.

I'm so glad I didn't buy this one!

very poor- I miss my old Nikkormat..... now that was reliable!

Shipped my D600 to Nikon facility. Waited 7 weeks to get it back. Had NO status update during that time (except a letter after 3 weeks saying my camera had arrived). Nikon said they replaced all the stuff responsible for oil spots. Started using my camera with great expectations only to find ugly spots back in a hurry. I am so so disgusted with Nikon right now (and I have been a huge fan).

it's expensive to crowdsorce quality control

Maybe this would not have happened if they would concentrate on making quality cameras instead of popping out a large range of cameras. Quality can be obtained when you concentrate on quality. This is what happens when you have your eye off the prize.

I returned my D600 a number of times for "cleaning" and the shutter mechanism replacement etc., only to suffer continuous and persistent spots from less than 1,000 until about 20,000 activations. Nikon then (via an approved distributor) replaced my D600 with a new D610. The experience was certainly frustrating, but the fact remains that Nikon belatedly acted in the most appropriate manner, and due to this have won my continued loyalty to their products. It is also true that the D600/D610 is fundamentally a superb camera and deserves it's reputation for this.

"the company says that it is taking the matter very seriously, and 'will be taking steps to restore confidence in the Nikon brand'."

Like releasing firmwares just to break 3rd party compatibility, instead of adding useful features like Canon, Olympus and especially Fuji do? Riiight...

Dear Nikon, 1.8 billion yen is the price to pay. Test the products properly, do not do things just for the cheap side. The cost can often be costly, not only for the material in question but also, and more valuable, the name of a brand and the costumers. Do not do some of your costumers Beta Testers. Will eventually bring a product to market in a hurry to give confidence to investors of shares. failed.

ps- Take your mistakes much earlier, the buzz has gone too far, and thought no one noticed.

A Nikon customer, too.

too late

Interesting to see the comments. I am sorry for all who had to go through some trouble and pain to get things right but

- PLEASE -
understand that there were in fact those who never had a problem.
Please do not oversimplify things. This is no fanboyism, no nothing. I simply never had any spot problem, be it dust or oil or marmelade or whatever.

I am now at over 11 000 actuations with my D600 and have used a blower twice.

This does not diminish the fact that Nikon could have been more clever in addressing the problem.

As for the number of problem bodies vs no problem, I don't have a clue. By reading these threads, one could get the impression that almost all bodies were affected. This may be very far from the thruth, though. I guess nobody knows but Nikon.

Why the emotional attachment? If you are a Nikon user but not a fan, this is just an unfortunate case of mismanagement. It doesn't have any bearing on any other Nikon product. If you are a fan, there's betrayal, lost of trust, etc.

They made a mistake, they denied it, they got caught. It's not like G.M. having a safety issue going unaddressed for 9 years.

Anyone that was bullying and harassing posters in the D600 oil spot threads over the last few years should be banned from this website. The threads represented exactly what this GEAR website is all about. The discussions were every bit trying to assist Nikon to trouble shoot and pin point the problem as they were to inform possible buyers to beware. The bare-faced denial and ignorance displayed by the cement heads who tried to scuttle each thread, and neutralize the whole notion that there were problems only amplified the suspicion that manufacturers not only monitor the discussion forums, but also participate under the cover or over zealous fan-boys. Nikon's true loyal fans are the ones that openly discuss issues, and challenge the company to improve.
I for one am proud to have added my few decibels to the bigger ROAR of disapproval towards Nikon. Consumes need to protect their money. Let the noobies and the feeble in character take notice that THIS is how consumers GET IT DONE!

It is hard to gauge what the powers at be are thinking. Their market is declining but it seems as if the idea makers are just drinking too much alcohol.

As a DEVOUT Nikon fan, I was kicked in the face when I bought 2 D600s and basically played musical service runs with Nikon, sending them for cleaning about every 2 months. The amount of downtime I went through was enough for me to finally give up (before the repair announcement) and switch to another brand, to which, I am not having any issues with.

I hope Nikon gets things going, goes into the black, and next time, reacts quicker to a service and PR nightmare they created for themselves.

I still like Nikon, I just don't want to own one right now.

*** Edit - Duly noted, the D400 would have been a great choice. The d7100 is nice, but they needed a 1 step up 24 or 36mp D400 in their lineup to take that step away from the prosumer models, and give a hybrid option in which users can appreciate without the next massive price jump.

That won't hurt them too much since it's mostly covered by the 14.5 million dollars Nikon was awarded from Sigma.

They could launch the D400 and get upsales like rockets - But no, they are waiting for people to realise Pentax K3 is the D400 equivalent and the price is just getting MORE MARVELLOUS each day

I swear I don't work for Pentax, always loved Nikon and still, but not for longer, waiting for the D400 not a crappy overpriced 7200

What about the value of the reputation lost?

How much is that?

My Canon 5D was plagued with dust, I had to pay to clean it.
My Nikon D600 will be forever free to clean.

Lifetime cleaning warranty, how can't I be happy? :-)

Glad we get to see the blood from this battle! Bleed Nikon Bleed, ha, hahaha, Mwuhahahaha.

Nikon sales must really be hurting so they launched this campaign. Good, but too little and too late.

I hope Nikon is not oblivious to the notion that DSLRs are slowly progressing on a way to extinction. In my opinion it's not only about rebuilding user confidence in the brand, but also about deciding where to take the company next.

Hint: The Nikon 1 system is great in hands-on practice, but poorly marketed, and unappealing to the Western consumer. Why? The Western consumer wants large numbers, i.e. large sensors, large ISO values, large etc., and at the same time he wants full manual control. Actually none of those things are needed in practice because Nikon 1 is so surprisingly smart in taking photos in auto mode, but the consumer won't know this until they use the camera, and to use it they need to buy it - because now cameras are mostly bought online not in a brick and mortar store when they can be tried first. Nikon 1 is expensive - the consumer concludes to skip it.

Nikon lost me after the D600 debacle. First denying the problem and then releasing then D610 to cover it up. D600 owners that were selling their cameras were forced to eat the steep depreciation in value. Then after selling their cameras they find out that Nikon would have indeed fixed their cameras or even replaced them with a D610.

That equates to 2 slaps in the face, followed by a kick to the nuts.

Too late. I am a Nikon fan, been using the brand on an off since the days of film. But their handling of the D600 problem was inexcusable and has tainted the good name of the brand forever. Shame on you.

Shame it had that problem. Other than that black eye, the D600 made many wonderful images for me. Only other bad thing was the tiny AF area. In the end, it was the size/weight that finally got me to sell off all my D-SLR gear. Maybe I would have kept it longer though, had they given me a free D610 replacement ;-)

Nikon lost me with the D800 green lcd and poor autofocus. Then they take an inordinate long amount of time to fix this. Unacceptable! Too bad really, they have great lenses and ergonomics.

I've been shooting with Canon for over a year and a half now. The lens optics are excellent and the 5D3 is what the D800 should have been.

Would I ever switch back? It would take years of exemplary Nikon service and products that are far and above their peers. Otherwise, they can go out to pasture for all I care. Good riddance!

Loyal D600 owners insisted that the "problem" was imaginary or exagerated by Canonite trolls. One could clean the sensor or, by using the camera very little, never see a sludge problem at all. Loyal owners never whined or sent their units for repair or replacement. Loyal owners were chagrined when Nikon "went wobbly" and offered the D610 with a "fix" for the problem. Loyal owners have the Nikon emblem and five stars tatooed on their head, chest, biceps, and behind. The Marines borrowed the Semper Fe motto from Nikonites. Just ask Santa or the Easter Bunny.

The price increase of the D800, SB400 strobe, and other Nikon items should cover the losses resulting from repairs and replacement of the D600's.

Brilliant use of their limited R and D resources!

Photokina 2014 will be a defining crossroads for Nikon. Will they embrace the future with attack and renewed engineering vigor, or continue to wither, shrink and decline?

I don't understand why they didn't do it at first???

I will cost much more for Nikon to repair or exchange D600, and restore confidence, than to have done the right thing at the right time! Dumb!

I hope they don't raise prices to make up for the $$$$ they lost due to their mistake.