Nikon Issues Small Recall for a 16-Year-Old Film Camera

In unusual industry news, Nikon has issued a small recall for the Nikon F6: its last flagship film SLR, released in the year 2004. The recall is the result of updates to a European law on the use of hazardous substances, and if your F6 is one of the few that are affected Nikon will replace it free of charge.

The recall is based on a July 2019 update to the European RoHS Directive. In that update, the directive restricted the amount of the plasticizer dibutyl phthalate (DBP) that can be used in electronic devices, and Nikon found that some of its F6 cameras were in violation of this directive.

The announcement was made through the Nikon Japan website (Google translation) yesterday, and it’s important to note that it does not affect many cameras. In fact, only 152 units are impacted… so few that Nikon actually lists every affected serial number in the recall notice:

0035842, 0035862, 0035867, 0035868, 0035869, 0035870, 0035871, 0035872, 0035873, 0035909, 0035910, 0035911, 0035912, 0035913, 0035914, 0035915, 0035916, 0035917, 0035918, 0035919, 0035920, 0035921, 0035922, 0035923, 0035924, 0035925, 0035926, 0035927, 0035928, 0035929, 0035930, 0035932, 0035934, 0035941, 0035942, 0035943, 0035944, 0035945, 0035946, 0035947, 0035948, 0035949, 0035950, 0035951, 0035952, 0035953, 0035954, 0035955, 0035956, 0035957, 0035958, 0035959, 0035968, 0035969, 0035970, 0035971, 0035972, 0035973, 0035974, 0035975, 0035976, 0035977, 0035978, 0035979, 0035980, 0035981, 0035983, 0035984, 0035985, 0035986, 0035987, 0035989, 0035990, 0035991, 0035992, 0036010, 0036011, 0036012, 0036013, 0036014, 0036015, 0036016, 0036017, 0036018, 0036019, 0036020, 0036021, 0036022, 0036023, 0036024, 0036025, 0036026, 0036027, 0036028, 0036029, 0036030, 0036031, 0036032, 0036033, 0036034, 0036035, 0036036, 0036037, 0036038, 0036039, 0036041, 0036042, 0036043, 0036045, 0036046, 0036047, 0036048, 0036049, 0036050, 0036051, 0036052, 0036053, 0036056, 0036057, 0036058, 0036062, 0036112, 0036114, 0036116, 0036130, 0036133, 0036134, 0036135, 0036136, 0036137, 0036138, 0036139, 0036140, 0036141, 0036142, 0036147, 0036149, 0036153, 0036154, 0036155, 0036156, 0036157, 0036158, 0036159, 0036160, 0036161, 0036162, 0036165, 0036177, 0036188, 0036189, 0036191.

To find out if your Nikon F6 is one of the recalled units, check your serial number against the list above. The serial number can be found on the back of the device, below the rear screen:

As Nikon points out, this recall has nothing to do with performance. “The product has no problems in quality, function and performance, and has no effect on health in normal use, so you can continue to use it.”

However, if you want to have your camera replaced with one that complies with the European directive, you can get in touch with a Nikon service center and the company will replace your camera free of charge, even if you’re outside of your warranty period. For more details, read the full recall notice here.

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