My Nikon Df recently had a sensor replaced from Nikon. Having worked for six years in the camera repair business, I already knew it was the sensor. So I sent it off to Nikon knowing it would come back with a new sensor.
To my surprise, Nikon said the camera just needed a sensor cleaning. With reluctance, I approved the cleaning and within two business days, they came back and said it was actually a bad sensor.
As a member of NPS (Nikon Professional Services), you get some perks, like discounted repairs. So the price for the new CCD was not very high.
There are two reasons I am sharing this story with you.
- If you know your camera needs a new sensor, and the repair facility says it just needs a cleaning, be suspicious.
- I want you to see one of the signs of a bad camera sensor.
The untouched photo you are about to see is one sign of a bad camera sensor.
If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will notice many horizontal lines across the entire photo. This banding is a common sign of a bad sensor. Another sign would be purple, green and yellow splashes of color throughout a photo. Being that I had caught the bad sensor quick, it didn’t get to the splash of color phase.
Fortunately, I caught the sensor problem while photographing my family and my brother’s family, and not a paying client. However, the majority of the photos were ruined by the sensor.
If this were a paid client, I would have offered a second session to make up for the lost time and images.
Side note: If you run into a similar situation to me, be sure to check your bank statements. Nikon wound up charging me for the unnecessary sensor cleaning in addition to the sensor replacement.
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