So, the big buzz around the internet surrounding the Nikon D600 is whether or not there is a dust problem with the sensor. To see if the D600 truly has a dust problem from the factory, I took a shot of a blank white wall today with a brand-new Nikon D600. The image below is a copy of the 92nd image from my Nikon D600. I processed the shot in Photoshop by applying extreme contrast to highlight the dust specks. And the verdict? Yep, dust. Most of it near the top left corner, just like everyone else is reporting on the web.
Dust on new Nikon D600 sensor.
Then, just to be fair, I shot an image with my eight month-old Nikon D800 using the same approach. Verdict? Dust (see below).
Nikon D800 sensor dust.
Then, just to be fair, I shot an image with my four year-old Nikon D700 using the same approach. Verdict? Dust (see below).
Nikon D700 sensor dust
Then, just to be fair, I shot an image with my two year-old Nikon D7000 using the same approach. Verdict? Dust (see below).
Nikon D7000 sensor dust.
Yes, the Nikon D600 does have dust on the sensor as it arrived from the factory and it definitely looks like it is generally biased towards the upper left corner of the image. HOWEVER, it isn’t any worse or better than my other Nikon cameras. In fact, I haven’t purchased a dSLR camera yet that didn’t have dust on the sensor when I pulled it out of the box. The truth is that every sensor accumulates dust over time and all sensors need to be cleaned on a regular basis. Even though I clean my camera sensors, you can see that they all have dust. The key is to be diligent with your sensor cleaning regimen.
For those of you worried about the dust issue on the Nikon D600, I’m here to tell you not to worry about it. Just clean your sensor every once in a while and you’ll be just fine. Trust me.
