Problems with nikon D5100 shutter?

Boney · Jul 16, 2012

If the edge of the division between the dark area and the image is sharp, then it is most likely an electronic problem. If it is a little soft then maybe a mechanical problem.
i am a se-miretired electrical engineer and have designed several CCD cameras, but no hands on with CMOS sensors. So this is just a guess. Send it in. You should have posted a shot.

Lockdownx99 · Jul 16, 2012

ill post up a shot. the edge of the picture where the cutoff is is soft/blurry at the immediate edge, not sharp. i guess that indicates that the shutter was blocking the sensor. i had the guy at the store check it out and he knew right away apparently that it was a shutter issue. the reason i bought a D7000 is because i really want to get into photography as a serious hobbyist/amateur and i would like to improve my photo editing skills and really put out some good stuff for my family and friends. The reason i didn't send the D5100 in was because i was on vacation in orlando and did not know if i even had the paperwork/proof of purchase back at the house. it would have been upset if i did not have the paper work and ended up having to buy another camera anyways so i decided to just buy one then, capture the rest of the vacation, come home and pray i had the paperwork Which i found out that i did and nikon is going to take care of everything. The bright side is that i came out of it with a better camera and I'm going to have the 5100 as an alternate. maybe my wife will get into it and we will both have a camera to use.

SendTonyMail · Jun 29, 2015

Lockdownx99, I hope you get this. I see its been some time since your last post.

I just experienced

the same exact problem you described. Out of nowhere, after years of using my Nikon D5100, all of a sudden every other image was cut off over the upper 1/3 of the image. Time in between exposures has nothing to do with it. Using flash or no flash. Tried different lenses. I don't have a clue what happened.

I did notice that on really fast exposures, the entire image was black every other image. On indoor exposures, that's when I experienced the 1/3rd black cutoff.

What was the conclusion to your story? Did you ever find out what the problem was and how it was fixed? Does anyone else have a suggestion before I send this body in for repair?

nauman · Sep 21, 2015

Lockdownx99 said:
not one suggestion. man. i was hoping someone would have had some kind of experience with this sort of shutter malfunction before. i walked around and asked a few of their photography employees if they had ever seen anything like this. someone said check the settings, and another said i had to send it in to nikon because the shutter was sticking.

My concern is why is one picture coming out full frame, and then the second picture is coming out 3/4ths of a picture? i thought there was only one shutter inside the camera so if it malfunctioned onces, it should do it overtime. I've taken over 100 pictures with the malfunction and can conclude that it is a consistent every other picture problem. anyone with any suggestions or input please help. i bought the camera back in november but never registered it and misplaced the proof of purchase. sams club gave me a printout of the purchase that day but I'm unsure if nikon will accept that since it is not the original proof of purchase. thanks.

Hi there...I've been experiencing the very same problem for a while now. I've tried looking up online to see if anyone else had the same problem and so far you're the only one I've come across. Just wondering if you've found a solution or had the camera fixed/replaced. Would appreciate any help or advice. Thanks

SendTonyMail · Sep 21, 2015

nauman said:
Lockdownx99 said:

not one suggestion. man. i was hoping someone would have had some kind of experience with this sort of shutter malfunction before. i walked around and asked a few of their photography employees if they had ever seen anything like this. someone said check the settings, and another said i had to send it in to nikon because the shutter was sticking.

My concern is why is one picture coming out full frame, and then the second picture is coming out 3/4ths of a picture? i thought there was only one shutter inside the camera so if it malfunctioned onces, it should do it overtime. I've taken over 100 pictures with the malfunction and can conclude that it is a consistent every other picture problem. anyone with any suggestions or input please help. i bought the camera back in november but never registered it and misplaced the proof of purchase. sams club gave me a printout of the purchase that day but I'm unsure if nikon will accept that since it is not the original proof of purchase. thanks.

Click to expand...

Hi there...I've been experiencing the very same problem for a while now. I've tried looking up online to see if anyone else had the same problem and so far you're the only one I've come across. Just wondering if you've found a solution or had the camera fixed/replaced. Would appreciate any help or advice. Thanks

I had to take it to my Nikon repair center. Luckily, I live minutes from the only one in Florida. $200, shutter cracked. Needed to replace for a new one.