If you are a Nikon user and you’re planning to upgrade soon to a D800E, you might want to hold on to your cold, hard cash for now. According to Nikon Europe, there are fake D800Es currently being sold in the market. As it turns out, the fake D800Es are built up D800s with a D800E camera for its shell. Many of these cameras are reportedly sold at online auction sites such as eBay.
Nikon reported that they have discovered the problem when D800E owners sent their cameras for repair. After having the cameras checked, Nikon technicians discovered that these D800Es are simply D800s. Nikon warranty does not cover for these fake units and because of that, their technicians are unable to check the cameras further.
The D800E is an upgraded version of the D800 with better specs to produce amazingly sharp images and it is generally priced a few hundreds more than the D800. Because of having almost the same features, it would be quite tricky to tell the difference between the two. Luckily, would-be D800E buyers can check the image playback to see if the camera is a D800E.
Below is Nikon’s statement in identifying fraudulently modified cameras:
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.
Unfortunately for those who have already bought a fake D800E, Nikon mentioned in their official statement that they will not repair nor replace the units.