Update on January 16, 2015: According to Dpreview, the D750 has been disappearing from store shelves. Nikon released an official statement, saying, “Nikon is working with retailers to replenish stock with cameras to which measures to address this issue have been applied. In late January, Nikon will announce details to service cameras from users, free of charge.”
Earlier this month it emerged that some owners of Nikon’s new D750 camera have been experiencing an issue where a black band appears at the top of the frame in shots that include lens flare.
The full-frame DSLR has been receiving stellar reviews since its release in September, so the issue will come as a disappointment to users who’ve shelled out $2,300 for the shooter.
Keen to reassure D750 owners that it’s investigating the issue, Nikon this week issued a statement on the matter.
The Japanese camera maker said it’d heard from a number of users that when photographing scenes involving an extremely bright light source, “flare with an unnatural shape caused by the reflection of the light may sometimes occur” in the image.
Apparently eager to show it can respond swiftly to such situations following its disappointingly slow acknowledgement of an issue with the D600 a couple of years back, the company added, “As we at Nikon are constantly striving to ensure the satisfaction of our customers, we have released this announcement to inform users that we are already working on measures to address this issue and will, of course, keep you advised of these as they occur.”
D750 owners who’d like to speak to a Nikon representative about the problem are advised to call the company’s customer relations number at 1-800-645-6687 between 9am and 8pm ET, Monday to Friday (closed certain holidays), or visit Nikon’s online page here.
As pointed out by photography specialist site PetaPixel, the issue can in most cases be overcome by sticking a hood on the end of the lens, but for photographers who use flare artistically in their work, this is obviously no solution at all.
The cause of the problem isn’t known for sure, though it’s been suggested it’s connected with the D750’s autofocus sensor module located at the base of the camera’s mirror box.
“On cameras in which this issue is occurring, the sensor unit protrudes from the bottom more than it does on cameras that are fine. It appears the protruding sensor affects how the light reaches the sensor,” PetaPixel says in its report.
Technical issues
It is of course not unusual for technical issues to be uncovered with new cameras, though it’s vital that the maker responds in a helpful and timely manner. Nikon came under fire for its slow response to a problem with the D600 that came to light shortly after the camera’s release in September 2012.
This time it’s acknowledged the D750’s issue rather more promptly, though users experiencing it will be understandably keen for Nikon to resolve it soon.
[Via PetaPixel]
