

Who said class action lawsuits do not work? Just few hours after I reported that the first D600 class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court, Nikon USA published a new technical service advisory where they announced a free cleaning and free shutter replacement for all D600 owners, even those with expired warranty. You can send your camera even if you do not have a problem. To schedule your service, go to this website. My only concern is that this advisory is valid only for the US, hopefully other Nikon subsidiaries will follow. Update: Nikon Japan, Nikon China, Nikon Canada and other subsidiaries have also issued similar service advisories - this is global fix.

New Nikon D600 cameras are still available on Amazon for slightly over $1,500. Check also the refurbished D600 prices on eBay.

Here is the full text of the service advisory:

Technical Service Advisory for Users of the Nikon D600 Digital SLR Camera

Affected Products:

Nikon D600 Digital SLR Cameras

Some users of Nikon’s D600 D-SLR camera have reported the appearance of tiny spots on certain of their images. Not all users have experienced this issue. Nikon has thoroughly evaluated these reports and has determined that these spots are caused by dust particles which may become visible when the camera is used in certain circumstances and/or with certain settings. It is a well-known fact that the presence of dust particles cannot be completely avoided when using a D-SLR camera even after normal sensor cleaning procedures, because of a number of factors including components moving at high speeds when images are taken, the use of interchangeable lenses, and the different environments in which a D-SLR camera may be used. As part of its customer-service commitment, Nikon is providing a customer-service measure to reduce the potential impact of dust particles on images taken by its D600 D-SLR cameras.

The solution: Nikon is making available to all owners of D600 cameras (even if Nikon’s product warranty has expired) this customer-service measure, which includes the inspection, cleaning and replacement of the shutter assembly and related parts of your camera, FREE OF CHARGE as well as the cost of shipping D600 cameras to Nikon and their return to customers. Once again, please understand that regardless of this service, your D600 camera as is the case with all D-SLR cameras, will continue to require normal periodic sensor cleanings.

To have your D600 camera serviced free of charge please follow the steps below:

Click on the Schedule Free Service link below. On the following pages, you will need to provide the serial number of your D600 camera and your contact information. Then, you will be prompted to create and print your Pre-paid UPS Return label and packing slip. In shipping, please secure the D600 camera in a plastic bag inside the shipping box with several inches of quality packing material on all sides of the D600 camera. Please send your D600 camera and packing slip only. Do not include any lenses, batteries, memory cards or other accessories. Please do not ship in the original display box (It will not be returned) Drop the shipping box off at any UPS facility. (Visit https://www.ups.com/dropoff for hours and locations.) You may also arrange to have your shipment collected by a UPS driver.

Nikon will notify you by email when your D600 has been received at Nikon’s repair center. Nikon will notify you by email when the service is complete and ship your D600 back to you free of charge via UPS Ground.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused. Nikon remains committed to providing only the highest quality cameras and components, and we hope that you will continue to choose Nikon for your photography needs.