Though this seems to not have hit America just yet, Nikon Europe recently issued a product advisory notice on the D810 camera. It’s a strange problem that occurs during the shooting of long exposures and when the camera is in the 1.2x crop mode. Apparently what happens is that the camera’s images will show bright spots. Only certain serial numbers are affected and you can see if yours is subject to a free repair from Nikon.
For the most part it seems like a very rare problem and one that only occurs is a very unusual circumstance as we don’t see many folks doing long exposures in that specific crop mode on the camera.
The full product advisory notice is after the jump, but also be sure to check out our full review of the camera.
Via the Product Advisory
Thank you for choosing Nikon for your photographic needs.
We have received a few reports from some users of the Nikon D810 digital SLR camera indicating that bright spots are sometimes noticeable in long exposures, and in some images captured at an Image area setting of 1.2× (30×20).
After looking into the matter, we have determined that bright spots may occasionally be noticeable when shooting long exposures, and in images captured at an Image area setting of 1.2× (30×20).
Nikon service centers will service these cameras that have already been purchased as needed free of charge to the customer.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused.
Identifying affected products
To check whether or not your camera is one of those affected by this issue, please click the Affected Product Serial Numbersbutton below and enter your D810 serial number as instructed. Your camera’s serial number will be checked against those of the affected products. If your camera is one of those affected, you will be given additional instructions. If your camera is not one of those affected, you may continue using your camera without concern for this issue.
> Affected Product Serial Numbers
Please be aware that cameras with a black dot in the tripod socket on the bottom of the camera body, like that shown in the photo below, have already been inspected and the necessary adjustments made to prevent this issue from occurring. Therefore, if your camera has the black dot, you may continue to use the camera without concern, even if its serial number is one of those indicated above.
The black dot means that inspection and necessary adjustments have already been made.
Servicing of affected products
Please consult your nearest Nikon service center if you own a D810 affected by this issue. They will keep your camera, and modify some of the image sensor adjustment values and update your camera’s firmware to resolve this issue. After servicing, the occurrence of bright spots in long exposures, and in images captured at an Image area setting of 1.2× (30×20), will be reduced. As image resolution and sharpness have been increased with the D810, even after cameras are serviced to resolve this issue, bright spots may be more noticeable in exposures longer than 30 s than they were in images captured by previous cameras with the same exposure time. Should this be the case, bright spots can be further reduced by setting the D810 Long exposure NR function to On. Please consult your instruction manual – page 124 / 299 for further details.
Please accept our thanks for your understanding regarding this matter. Nikon remains committed to providing only the highest quality photographic products and hopes that you will continue to choose Nikon for your imaging needs.
