All my photos are black

edited August 2012 Posted in » Nikon D3100 Forum
Hello Guys!
My camera stopped working properly literally after one day to the other. I took pics, put the camera away and the second day it was only taking completely black pictures. I haven't done anything to it, I promise. The shutter actually opens when I press the button but the result is utter darkness. Sometimes it also says that the subject is too dark. I checked the ISO, reset all the settings, took the lens (18-55mm) off and put it back, took the SD card and inserted to my computer to see if it's just the LCD screen or the camera, and all of them were totally black. Obviously what I shot before the malfunction was ok. At this point I'm out of options. Please help! The warranty has expired today, just to make the situation funnier. :D
Thanks, Razy

Comments

  • edited May 2012
    Are you using Manual Mode?
  • I hope your battery is fully charged.
  • edited August 2012
    I hope you have taken the lens cap off.
  • edited August 2012
    Sorry to hear your camera is working poorly.

    I believe the fault lies with the mirror, but I could be wrong.
    Were you taking quick/burst shots before the images went black?

    All I would recommend do is reset back to factory settings. Take the lens off and look to see if the mirror is stuck. DO NOT TOUCH IT though. If it is, then you could be in for a big bill. :(

    Maybe the ISO has been knocked and is shooting at 100. If there is not enough light then this would cause a problem, so put that up to 1600 just to be sure.
    I can see you tried this but maybe it could be going higher?

    Take the battery out and try a full recharge.

    Nikon D40 had a similar issue. It was a glitch of firmware because it was caused by the ISO Auto that writes ISO 100 in EXIF. If you change that ISO value in EXIF of a RAW file the image was fine. Nikon D40 has no ISO 100 (the minimum ISO is ISO 200). It may be the same glitch and you are not shooting RAW so the result is a black JPEG.

    Hope this my help if not give Nikon a ring and see what they can do for you.
  • edited August 2012
    Hi Razy,
    Has your problem been fixed? Did you fıgure out a way? I have the same problem. :(
  • edited March 2014
    @Riddelske Thank you so much for the information about the firmware! I was able to fix a Nikon D3100 that had the same issues with black pictures. I tried taking photos with a different ISO, and suddenly the black picture symptom was gone. It turns out that the black picture issue only happened when the ISO was set at 100. =)
  • edited March 2014
    If you are going to contact Nikon, use their email address through their website, rather than by phone. This way you have the procedures on paper to follow.
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