Issues with pictures

cjpatel32

I just bought a brand new Nikon D3100. I put it on Auto Mode and I'm taking some pictures. I noticed that the firstst picture would be black on top, the second picture is all black, and third picture turns out normal. I cannot for the life of me figure out what I'm doing wrong. I have been on these forums, looking at videos and all. Any help would be appreciated.

robbo

I'm guessing there might be a fault with the shutter. It operates horizontally, and if there's a fault with it (ie. not properly in sync) this will show up as unexposed areas on the images.
Might be a good idea to ask the dealer about it as it would need to be calibrated by an engineer.

pragati

How did you solve this problem?
Same is happening with mine and I have no clue.

bruto

If this is a brand new one I would take it back right now for warranty repair or replacement, if that is possible. As @robbo says, this looks like a shutter problem, though the usual terminology would call this a vertical shutter. The blades go up and down, which is why when it misbehaves, you get black on top. Older shutters that operate horizontally, right to left, produce black sides when they misbehave.

If possible, try taking pictures in a mode other than full auto, at least in "no flash" auto. If the problem persists, then it's the shutter. If the problem goes away, this might be a flash synchronizing problem, but still one that needs repair. Auto mode should not do this ever.

Remember that although the built in flash and dedicated flashes will set the shutter speed correctly, manual external ones will not, and it is possible to get partially dark frames if the shutter speed exceeds 1/200 with a flash.