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D600 Discussion and Questions

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satellites

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I am surprised at all the positive reviews...I recently bought a d700 and a d600 to see which would best replace one of my d300s which has nearly 200,000 clicks. My first impression of the d600 was favorable but upon closer examination the images had an unnatural look to them...overly saturated and with cartoony contrast...I found that this was difficult to correct in post or with in camera adjustments. I was very impressed with the look of the images at high ISO but to me the overall 'look' is the most important aspect of a camera and this was a deal breaker. I could have gotten over the plasticky feel and tiny grip...a battery grip would have probably improved the ergonomics. I could have gotten over the extremely small autofocus array. I could have gotten over the viewfinder design which cut of the corners of the frame...together though I found this camera unacceptable.

The d700 on the other hand felt solid and well built [as would be expected from a higher end camera]...The viewfinder was a welcome improvement from my dx cameras...it is huge, bright, and clear...the ergonomics were similar/the same as my d300s's. None of this was a surprise...what was a surprise was how much nicer the files looked from the d700. The raw files had a much more natural look, better color rendition, better white balance in auto, more realistic contrast etc. Even more surprising was the low light performance compared to the d600. While the d600 has less grain in general I found the d700's grain to be more easily eliminated in post and also I felt like the detail was more well preserved as well...Images were fairly sharp albeit quite grainy even at hi 1.

Of course this test was not scientific and I am not a pro camera reviewer. I am simply someone who makes a living with his cameras and knows what he likes. The megapixels weren't an issue since i need to downsize my frames to 3k pixels on the long end before they can be syndicated. So yea I'll be keeping the d700 and waiting for a d400 for when I need the reach. Considering the d700 is going for 1999.96 refurbished I would say it is a steal compared to the more expensive and toyish d600.

Posted 8 months ago #
jerl

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trevisthomas said:

On a related note, is there no way to have a single shutter click, (or remote trigger press) fire all of the shots? It sounds like the only way to get this is to program the fn button to activate this behavior and then i guess you have to press that before pressing the shutter everytime? I hope that that isn't the case.

After some usage, I think I have a solution for you: in the timers menu, you can set the camera to fire off X number of shots when you activate the self timer.

Posted 8 months ago #
blore_boy

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satellites said:
I am surprised at all the positive reviews...I recently bought a d700 and a d600 to see which would best replace one of my d300s which has nearly 200,000 clicks. My first impression of the d600 was favorable but upon closer examination the images had an unnatural look to them...overly saturated and with cartoony contrast...I found that this was difficult to correct in post or with in camera adjustments. I was very impressed with the look of the images at high ISO but to me the overall 'look' is the most important aspect of a camera and this was a deal breaker. I could have gotten over the plasticky feel and tiny grip...a battery grip would have probably improved the ergonomics. I could have gotten over the extremely small autofocus array. I could have gotten over the viewfinder design which cut of the corners of the frame...together though I found this camera unacceptable.

At times, I really wonder if should place any value in online reviews at all. Take this one for example : http://www.dpreview.com/products/Nikon/slrs/nikon_d600/user-reviews/0507270028

It totally contradicts what the guy above has to say. So whom should I believe?? Does the D600 make overly saturated and "contrasty" images or is it the exact opposite?
Already placed an order for the D600, and it is on its way. I hope both these guys are wrong.

Posted 8 months ago #
msmoto

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jerl said:
After some usage, I think I have a solution for you: in the timers menu, you can set the camera to fire off X number of shots when you activate the self timer.

Thanks so much for this info. On my D4 somehow I had set this up and forgotten and then could not figure out which "timer" to reset, getting four shots with the self timer. You have helped and old lady and should be blessed :-)

Posted 8 months ago #
jerl

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blore_boy said:
At times, I really wonder if should place any value in online reviews at all. Take this one for example : http://www.dpreview.com/products/Nikon/slrs/nikon_d600/user-reviews/0507270028

It totally contradicts what the guy above has to say. So whom should I believe?? Does the D600 make overly saturated and "contrasty" images or is it the exact opposite?
Already placed an order for the D600, and it is on its way. I hope both these guys are wrong.

Different people have different needs, and thus will have different opinions. A lot of what they've said is subjective so of course they will probably differ. The same would go of many of the positive reviews too. The only think I can suggest is try it out for yourself and to buy it from somewhere who accepts returns if you don't like it.

Posted 7 months ago #
roombarobot

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Shot with my D600 for the first time yesterday. Now I realize that there are two dust spots on the sensor, at least I hope they are dust spots. Any advice for cleaning them? I tried the ultrasonic sensor clean from the menu a few times, but these things won't let go. Help, please.

Posted 7 months ago #
aslightdelay

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@roombarobot: Giottos rocket blower, if you haven't already used it.

Posted 7 months ago #
roombarobot

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aslightdelay said:
@roombarobot: Giottos rocket blower, if you haven't already used it.

Thank you, I've ordered one of those. I hope it can get these dust spots off.

Is it normal for a brand new camera to have 2 dust spots on it?

Posted 7 months ago #
aslightdelay

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No. With that said, it doesn't take much for them to get dust spots... e.g., if you're changing lenses somewhere dusty, or your lens is a "breather" (sucking in dust and other schmutz when you zoom).

Posted 7 months ago #
Geoff_K

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Someone on FM posted about a left focus issue on his D600. He returned a D800 due to it and found it was also on his D600

If the D600 is found to also have the problem, WTF Nikon

Posted 7 months ago #
R8R

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Checked out the D600 at the local shop. It's nice. Not earth shattering, but nice. Then I held it with the MB-D14 attached...good lord. It's kinda perfect. The body feels nicer than the D7k. The body + grip is waaayyyy nicer. The grip feels fantastic. Makes it into what is essentially a baby D3x.

Posted 7 months ago #
iris chrome

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@Geoff, I wouldn't worry about it. IF the D600 does turn out to have some kind of issue, then I think it would be a different issue that what we've seen with D800. That doesn't concern me. What does though is how Nikon would deal with such an issue if it arises but I prefer not to go down that rabbit hole.

At any rate, I wouldn't worry about the guy on FM. He did his "testing" handheld trying to focus on a hanging light switch. Well no schnauzer he couldn't focus now, could he?

Posted 7 months ago #
Geoff_K

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I hope it comes out clean and smoking, though it is not the camera I really want.

Posted 7 months ago #
ericnl

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ben_v3 said:
This is my first attempt at a starry time lapse on the D600. Not so great. Id love to know how they did the ones on the samples.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/incitephotography/8012481532/

you could start with having a slower shutter speed, and maybe add some foreground in the form of a bit of landscape...

Posted 7 months ago #
ericnl

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iris chrome said:
D7000 vs. D600 AF Area Coverage in Viewfinder:

this is EXACTLY why I decided to not buy the camera when I was in the shop, money in hand. it is just too much of an issue for me (I did an overlay of it on my most recent shots, and I'm outside the focusfield with at least 50% of my shots).

and for those speaking or understanding German, this is a very insightful video about the D600 in live view/video mode and its (not so) obvious faults:

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Posted 7 months ago #
ben_v3

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ericnl said:
you could start with having a slower shutter speed, and maybe add some foreground in the form of a bit of landscape...

I did that at 30 seconds per shot. Probably need to head further out of town so the stars light up more.

Posted 7 months ago #
iris chrome

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ericnl said:
this is EXACTLY why I decided to not buy the camera when I was in the shop, money in hand. it is just too much of an issue for me (I did an overlay of it on my most recent shots, and I'm outside the focusfield with at least 50% of my shots).

A word to the wise: The differences between the D600's and the D7K's AF area coverage are no bigger or more exaggerated than the differences between the D800's and the D300s' AF area coverage. Said another way, the AF area differences you see in the D600 vs. D7K GIF above are an atribute of FX vs. DX and not the cameras themselves.

ericnl said:
and for those speaking or understanding German, this is a very insightful video about the D600 in live view/video mode and its (not so) obvious faults:

Nope, I don't speak German nor do I understand it. I wish you had selected an English video so that all forum members here could understand it.

Posted 7 months ago #
kenadams

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iris chrome said:
I wish you had selected an English video so that all forum members here could understand it.

I bet eric would have, but that guy just taped his reviews in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish and a Massai dialect. Lazy &$^&&^$...

Posted 7 months ago #
ericnl

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kenadams said:
I bet eric would have, but that guy just taped his reviews in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish and a Massai dialect. Lazy &$^&&^$...

yes I would have, and I'm not a native German speaker myself, but those two years of German at school finally paid off.

if I find some time tomorrow I will try to make a summary of it here.
if you read that slowly while playing the video for visual support you will get the message.

Posted 7 months ago #
Rx4Photo

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iris chrome said:
A word to the wise: The differences between the D600's and the D7K's AF area coverage are no bigger or more exaggerated than the differences between the D800's and the D300s' AF area coverage. Said another way, the AF area differences you see in the D600 vs. D7K GIF above are an atribute of FX vs. DX and not the cameras themselves.

This is true. When switching the D800 from FX mode to DX 1.5 crop mode it appears that the focus points are bigger and cover more of the viewfinder when in fact they stay the same but your image area shrinks giving the illusion that the focus points have gotten bigger.

Posted 7 months ago #
donaldejose

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I have been shooting with a D600 for one day now and I am bothered by the smaller coverage of the focus points. They are too small and too closely packed together and the red active spot lighting is too weak. Focus spots should at least cover a wide enough area so you can focus on a primary subject composed according to the rule of thirds. Such a subject falls outside the D600 focus points. Even my D3100 has a more usable focus pattern. Nikon should have adjusted the focus pattern for FX and not just use the same one they had for DX in an FX body.

Posted 7 months ago #
Rx4Photo

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So donaldejose, clear this up for me...you're saying that the focus points on your D600 are spaced differently than the focus points on your D800 (both on full frame mode) ? But even on the D800 the outermost focus points are "inside" of what I would consider the corners of the rule of 3rds lines, yet close enough to work with.

Posted 7 months ago #
msmoto

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donaldejose said:
I have been shooting with a D600 for one day now and I am bothered by the smaller coverage of the focus points. They are too small and too closely packed together ......

I just shot a few snaps with a D600 and noticed the exact same thing. It seemed the focus point when moved to where I wanted it for the eye in a portrait, did not seem to be as far out as it could have been. On the D4 it seems the points can be moved further toward the edge of the image.

Note, I am using the word "seems" and did not actually hold the D4, D600 side by side. But it is interesting how I had the same impression, whether this is real or a function of some viewfinder appearance, I do not know. My initial impression with the D600 is that at least for me it is a bit too small, as when I have a DSLR I like a lot of bulk in my hands. Maybe with a grip on the bottom this would correct itself. Otherwise a very sweet camera....

Posted 7 months ago #
R8R

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I checked out the D600 in a store. The focus system including the points is very much like the D7000, but maybe a tad faster. (at least by my perception).

The focus area is exactly like the D7000, same size and everything, but you have the rest of the full frame around it - like the D7000 has been "un-cropped".

It's small but not a deal breaker for me. Coming from a D40, then D70s, and now a D7000 and F100, I've learned to adapt to whatever AF points are available. 3 is plenty, 39 is more than enough even if a little tightly clustered.

Posted 7 months ago #
ben_v3

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After reading this and looking through the D600 I do think "why doesn't it cover more.." But in the last week of shooting it hasn't bothered me.

Posted 7 months ago #