New Nikon D5100 Mirror fell off

Karly Shelton

New member
Last year my husband bought me a the Nikon 5100 for Christmas. We used it a few times and even bought a special padded case for it to use on our trip to Yosemite. Halfway through our big trip the mirror (or shutter) kept getting stuck. Our family photographs kept getting cut in half and sunspots. Well, we take the lens off and the mirror has completely fallen off. I was pretty upset because we had been so careful with the camera and it was new and here we were on a BIG trip and it broke.

I called Nikon and thought they would offer me some insight in fixing it but the woman I spoke to was not helpful at all (I wish I still had her name). She kept saying if it had been dropped or tampered with then we would have to pay to fix it. So here I have a nearly $400 camera that I had used a handful of times and it is already falling apart. We had been extremly careful with the camera the whole time and had not tampered with it at all. I just expected better quality from a Nikon.

So here is my question, should I try contacting Nikon again and send it back in? Find a local camera repair company? or fix it myself? I just don't want to pour more $$$ into this camera if it is going to keep giving me problems. Any insight is MUCH appreciated. Thanks so much.
 
The D5100 is a great camera. I shot mine for a long time and then my wife's got with it and I then sold it to a friend. It is still working just fine. It does sound like it did get dropped at some point. You may not have even noticed it at the time. Was this a new camera when you bought it or used?
 

cwgrizz

Senior Member
Challenge Team
I have never dealt with Nikon for repairs, warranty or otherwise, but if the camera is under warranty will they look at it and if they determine it is not a warranty repair, give an estimate ...before they repair it? If they will do that, I would send it to them for warranty repair and wait for their determination.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Welcome to the forum,as Don ask was it new or secondhand,there where reports in the early days of some mirror problem with this model,a temporary fix could be applied this would mean the camera could possibly be sold on.I think we had a member with a mirror problem on the D5100 i will put a call out for them to look into this thread. @Marilynne
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Welcome!

$400 for a D5100?? I paid over $1000 for mine. They've come way down in price.

Anyway, I had a problem with the shutter getting stuck. It only took about 1/8 of a photo. I didn't deal with Nikon, but an authorized Nikon dealer. It took three tries before they got it right, but the good news from that experience was I got the D7100.

Thanks @mikew for reminding me of that nightmare. I just reread my old thread (http://nikonites.com/d5100/14326-di....html?highlight=run+out+of+film#axzz3Tb86EfhY) and I think my blood pressure went up again.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Welcome!

$400 for a D5100?? I paid over $1000 for mine. They've come way down in price.

Anyway, I had a problem with the shutter getting stuck. It only took about 1/8 of a photo. I didn't deal with Nikon, but an authorized Nikon dealer. It took three tries before they got it right, but the good news from that experience was I got the D7100.

Thanks @mikew for reminding me of that nightmare. I just reread my old thread (http://nikonites.com/d5100/14326-di....html?highlight=run+out+of+film#axzz3Tb86EfhY) and I think my blood pressure went up again.

Any time,some had a problem with the mirror moving,cant remember who though.
 

Karly Shelton

New member
It was brand new, purchased from Amazon. We kept it in a padded camera case the whole trip and halfway through the mirror started getting stuck and then it just fell off. I have had other cameras and have yet to have had this problem.
 

skene

Senior Member
Why not contact Amazon directly (if that is who you originally purchased the item from)? Maybe they can better assist you as being a moderator between the manufacture.
 

Karly Shelton

New member
Thanks so much for your help. It was brand new and the mirror issue happened about 5 months after getting it. I have read about a few people using some sort of glue to adhese the mirror back on but it's not a permanent fix. I would rather not ship it back to Nikon and pay for shipping costs and repair so I am learning towards finding an authrized Nikon repair shop.
 

Karly Shelton

New member
Thank you so much for this info! What a great community. I agree and think I will find a Nikon authorized dealer and take it to them. I want it fixed right and would rather not ship it and risk any more jostling/damage to the camera. This whole ordeal is so frustrating!
 

Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Make sure you have all the paperwork if it's still under warranty when you bring it to an authorized Nikon dealer.
 
If you bought it new 5 months ago then it is still under the nikon 1 year warranty. Send it back and if it is a manufacturing problem they will fix it. If if as damaged then they can tell that also. Either way you need to send it back
 

Sandpatch

Senior Member
I can appreciate the aggravation you are experiencing. My D5100's shutter broke just over a year after I bought it. I wasn't confident in regional stores to perform the fix, so sent it to Nikon in New York. I had to dither around with their customer service person and then send it in. Cost was about $150 and two to three weeks. It's been fine for years now.

Good luck with your fix. I think that upon repair, you'll have may enjoyable years of great photography ahead with your D5100.
 
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