Nikon D750 Quietly Disappears Amid Quiet Factory Recall

The Nikon D750, our 2014 DSLR of the Year, and a camera I personally own, has COMPLETELY disappeared from online retailer Amazon.com and is listed as “backordered” from Adorama, B&H and others as Nikon has seemingly and quietly recalled ALL D750 bodies from the supply chain worldwide due to an acknowledged issue regarding a light leak/flare issue near the top edge of the frame.

Reports from Japan and other countries confirm that this otherwise wonderful camera is not on store shelves and retailers are saying the body is “backordered”.

On 1/13/15 I received an email from “Amazon.com Product Safety” reading:

Greetings from Amazon.com.

We have learned of a potential issue regarding certain product(s) that our records indicate you purchased through the Amazon.com website:

Nikon D750 FX-format Digital SLR Camera Body

For more details on what you should do, please contact Nikon USA at https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/19336.

If you purchased this item for someone else, please notify the recipient immediately and provide them with the information concerning these issues.

We regret any inconvenience this may cause you but trust you will understand that the safety and satisfaction of our customers is our highest priority.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.com.

Sincerely,

Customer Service
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com

Clicking on the link in that email, you get the following message:

While D750 bodies are disappearing from the supply chain, Nikon has surely solved the problem with the light leak/flare and is furiously in production with a camera that should’ve gone out the door in the first place.

Will it be called the D760? We shall soon see.

In my opinion, it would be wise for Nikon to change the name just as it did with the D600 and D800 when they were spitting oil all over image sensors. In those cases, the corrected cameras were called the D610 and D810 respectively. As the current problem camera is the D750, it would need to be named the D760.

The Internets (that’s right, Internets) seems to think that Nikon is leaning toward fixing the D750 out there in the hands of its loyal customers rather than replacing them with new models. In my opinion, this would be a huge mistake. Imagine thousands of D750 bodies flooding Nikon repair facilities around the world. How long will D750 owners be without their great (albeit, light-leaking) camera? One month? Two months? What if this is your main camera?

I don’t think it’ll bode well for Nikon to have thousands of D750 users taking to the online forums, social media, etc. sounding off for months as they await the return of their camera. The drumbeat for replacement cameras will sound loudly and that can’t possibly be good for Nikon’s already tarnished image. I can’t think of another camera company who has had so many problems with their cameras in such a short period of time.

I’m a huge Nikon fanboy. I currently own the best body Nikon has to offer. I love my D4s. It’s wonderful. It cost me $6,500 and was worth every penny. In addition to the D4s and my D750, I own the D700. While I own the Sony A7s and a6000, and am moving more toward mirrorless (something I need to do to keep current in the industry and bring you the latest info), I’ll never part with my D700. It’s an amazing camera. It, like the tiny Sony a6000, has so much heart. It has a cult following for a reason.

So I’m not bashing Nikon. I love Nikon. Hear that loud and clear. But Nikon needs to hear that they must do better. It’s not just Canon they’re competing with, mirrorless is coming on strong. People can deny it all they want, but if you look at the numbers, DSLR sales are declining, mirrorless is on the incline and Nikon just can’t keep having these problems and it not affect their brand.

So what does this do to the Nikon brand?

Well, as someone who’s shot Nikon bodies (the best they make!) for more than 6 years now as a trained photojournalist (aka newspaper photographer), it’s a bit bittersweet. I heart the crap out of Nikon. I nearly lost my mind and got a Nikon logo tattoo. That’s how much I love Nikon cameras.

That said, a company shouldn’t get a pass just because they’ve rocked it for decades. When you have problems with the D600, D800 and now D750, one must wonder what the heck is going on at Nikon. How, after previous, recent problems with your (pricey mind you) cameras, do you allow a camera model out the door with an issue worthy of a recall?!!! It’s unfathomable.

It’s gotten to the point where many Nikon owners are having to make excuses and be apologists for Nikon.

Well, sure they’ve had a few recent, HUGE, camera problems, but Nikon is still awesome.

A friend actually told me that. A Nikon user should never have to make apologies for these issues. I can’t think of another camera company who’s had such problems in such a short period of time. And these weren’t a decade ago. These were in the past couple of years. Is this a trend? Can we expect more recalls from Nikon in the future?

I applaud Nikon for trying to head this off early, but we’ll see in the next couple of weeks what they’re going to do to make things right. In my opinion, they’ll gain a massive amount of respect and get back that lost brand loyalty if they send out new D750 bodies to those who have bum models. Repairing them while others don’t have to wait and get perfect models will just rub people raw; especially if current D750 owners have to wait weeks or months to get theirs back. Tell me that doesn’t help erode the Nikon brand. Can they afford any brand erosion?

If you’re considering which camera to buy are you likely to go with a Nikon (any Nikon!) after hearing about the light leak problem with the D750 and the oil spot issues with the D600 an D800 in recent years? Tell me you wouldn’t think twice and go Canon or maybe even mirrorless with Sony, Panasonic or Olympus.

Now hear me loud and clear that even with the light leak issue, the Nikon D750 is an AWESOME camera! It’s my pick for DSLR of the Year 2014 and that’s WITH the light leak. That should speak volumes about how I feel about this camera. That thinking comes with years upon years of using Nikon (and Canon) cameras and knowing what a great camera truly is. Hint: it’s not always the flagship $6,500 model.

Nikon already had brand issues thanks to the previously mentioned oil spot problems. Throw in this issue with the D750 and how the public thinks when they hear about these problems and you’ve got a company with an uphill battle to regain consumer confidence. Given this, I think Nikon has no choice but to release a D760, put the D750 in its rearview mirror and move forward as it did with the previous camera problems.

To regain consumer confidence, they need to get D760 bodies into the hands of those who’ve purchased D750 bodies and BEFORE the supply chain gets them. Imagine you own a D750, have to ship it to Nikon, wait who knows how many weeks or months for your D750 to return while you see new D760 (or D750) bodies for sale. Wouldn’t that make you just a tad annoyed and feeling let down by Nikon? Nikon can’t afford to let a scenario like that go down at this point. Not after previous problems with its bodies. You can’t be the company known for recalls. Not in a market where you have giant, diversified Canon keeping you on your toes while Sony and others in the mirrorless market are nipping at your heals.

Listen to Episode 12 of the Lens Shark Photography Podcast for more on this story.

If you have something to say about this, weigh in below in the comments.