Nikon Warns That There Are Fake D800E DSLRs Out in the Wild

nikond800e

Heads up: there are fake Nikon D800E DSLRs floating around. That’s according to Nikon Europe, which posted a notice “regarding fraudulent Nikon D800E digital SLR.” Apparently some unscrupulous folk are taking the D800, replacing its outer shell with the D800E cover, and selling the fake cameras through online auction sites (presumably eBay).

Nikon says that it discovered the problem when D800E owners sent their cameras in for repair. After examining the cameras, the technicians discovered that they were simply D800 DSLRs with their covers swapped with the D800E. Nikon’s warranty does not apply to these phonies, so the technicians were not able to touch the cameras further.

The D800E is a special version of the D800 that has modified innards in order to provide the sharpest possible images (at a cost of having more issues with moiré). It is generally priced at a few hundred dollars more than the D800.

Photographers who purchase a fake D800E may not be able to tell the difference between the two cameras unless they examine their photographs closely and know what to look for, since the specs are virtually identical.

So how do you tell if you purchased an actual D800E? Nikon recommends that photographers use their image playback to check:

Display an image captured with your camera in the camera monitor. When the overview* display option is enabled in full-frame playback mode, the name of the camera used to capture the image is displayed in the top right corner. If “NIKON D800E” is displayed, your camera is an authentic D800E. If any other name is displayed, your camera is a fraudulent D800E.

This is what you'll see if you have a real Nikon D800E.
This is what you’ll see if you have a real Nikon D800E.

If you purchased your camera from a third-party through a website like eBay, it might be a good idea to double check your camera’s authenticity, regardless of whether it’s a “D800E.”

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