Help, Image Review Feature, Intermittent Malfunction

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PL8638

New member
New member. Got booted off as I went to make my post, so here is the concise version. May be better that way anyway... My image review does not come on sometimes. Yes, I have it enabled. NO, I`m not accidentilly cancelling it out by tapping the shutter or some other button. I`ve done extensive tests while watching my hands and fingers like a hawk. I`m positive that`s not it.

I may go 70 or so shots and it works every time, then out of the blue I take an exposure and it doesn`t come on.

The problem thus far has only manifested while shooting in live view.

And it has happened with two different D5100s, original and replacement, both refurbs from the same vendor. They are about 14,000 numbers removed in serial numbers, so not close.

This is frustrating. Any ideas?

I`m a convert over from Canon. Was sold on the sensor in the D5100, and it delivers great images.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
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Dave_W

The Dude
Live View eats up battery power like crazy, is there any chance this phenomenon coincides with a 1/2 drained battery? I know my D800 disables some features when the batter is below the 1/2 mark.
 
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PL8638

New member
Hello gentlemen, and I hugely appreciate the replies.

Dave your theory about the battery is interesting. Yes it was hit up pretty good today when the problem was manifesting. Showing 1/3rd drained, but I guess it can be more as I understand it only gauges in 1/3rd increments. As to the past, I can`t say that I remember. It is true though that the problem has never manifested outside of live view...

Don I filled in some of my profile. I want to create a signature with a list of my gear. Didn`t readily see how to do so, but will get to it later. I have a D5100, 18-55 VR kit lens, 55-200 VR, and a 40 2.8 Micro.

As to shooting in live view, some of it is just force of habit as I often shot from the LCD with my Canon P & S. Plus I have a long history with camcorders. Though as I`ve been getting to know this DSLR, I`m having less urge to shoot from the LCD, mainly due to the slower focusing. I did though read somewhere that auto focus is more accurate in live view...

Really comes down to being annoyed by having what may be a broken camera. Or if there is a reasonable explanation for what I`ve been experiencing, other than the ones I`ve eliminated, then it may be worth accepting and moving on with the camera as it is. Paul
 
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PL8638

New member
I think we can now probably scratch the battery theory. It just performed the malfunction about 20 shots after a full charge plus memory card reformat. I did notice this time though, via replay, that the image taken where the review was absent, was way out of focus. I`m wondering if the camera may be smart enough not to engage image review on out of focus images...

I`m running out of patience though, as I paid for a fully functioning camera and don`t seem to have one. Nikon support said send it in for service, but this seemed the canned response. I`m concerned they`ll just fire some test shots, never see the problem then send it back to me as "within specs." I have to pay to ship it to them, plus insure it.

If putting up with a level of quirkiness is just part of owning a Nikon DSLR I`d like to know, so then maybe I can come to just accept what is, keep it as long as it`s useful then sell it off while being up front about any problems.

Or of course if the problem is on my end and I`m missing something, would like to know that as well. If so, Nikon support couldn`t enlighten me as to what it may be...
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
PL8638 said:
I think we can now probably scratch the battery theory. It just performed the malfunction about 20 shots after a full charge plus memory card reformat. I did notice this time though, via replay, that the image taken where the review was absent, was way out of focus. I`m wondering if the camera may be smart enough not to engage image review on out of focus images...

I`m running out of patience though, as I paid for a fully functioning camera and don`t seem to have one. Nikon support said send it in for service, but this seemed the canned response. I`m concerned they`ll just fire some test shots, never see the problem then send it back to me as "within specs." I have to pay to ship it to them, plus insure it.

If putting up with a level of quirkiness is just part of owning a Nikon DSLR I`d like to know, so then maybe I can come to just accept what is, keep it as long as it`s useful then sell it off while being up front about any problems.

Or of course if the problem is on my end and I`m missing something, would like to know that as well. If so, Nikon support couldn`t enlighten me as to what it may be...
Click to expand...

How long have you had the camera? And where did you buy it?
 
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PL8638

New member
The camera will take an image when focus isn`t achieved, but will also show the image review, excepting of course when the malfunction is in force, so there doesn`t appear to be any correlation.

What would some of you do if in my shoes? Live with a D5100 with an unreliable image review while in live view mode? Or give up the time and cash to ship it insured back to Nikon, however many times it takes, and hope for a repair? I`m just outside the return period for the vendor.
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
PL8638 said:
The camera will take an image when focus isn`t achieved, but will also show the image review, excepting of course when the malfunction is in force, so there doesn`t appear to be any correlation.

What would some of you do if in my shoes? Live with a D5100 with an unreliable image review while in live view mode? Or give up the time and cash to ship it insured back to Nikon, however many times it takes, and hope for a repair? I`m just outside the return period for the vendor.
Click to expand...


I had a D3100 that was soft focus. I had bought the camera from Best Buy. I thought the problem was mine and kept trying things till I finally decided it was not my problem. I carried it back to Best Buy and the sent it off. It came back worse. Even the color was screwed up. I carried it back to them again and by this time it had been 4 months or so since I had bought it. I carried pictures from that camera and from my wife's Nikon L120. The L120 looked great. The sales person took one look at it and walked over to the shelf and picked up a new camera and handed it to me. It worked great till I dropped it and shattered the case. But that is beside the point.

How long have you had it and who did you buy it from. They might be willing to do something for you if you give them a chance and are nice about it. That worked for me.
 
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PL8638

New member
Hi Don. I very much appreciate you taking an interest in my plight. I don`t want to publish anything against the vendor just yet, as I think they are ethical. I`ve already gotten one replacement kit, and am 30 days past the first order. The second kit also had a totally useless, defective charger which they replaced. I suppose I could go for yet another replacement, or refund though I could get hit with a restocking fee. I`ve hit the shutter a lot... Time may have expired on all that though, need to check the dates, or maybe they`d bend the rules.

With the lemons you got stuck with, along with lousy warranty service, I`m tempted to quit while I`m ahead. Live View as I`ve found out is really about useless on a DSLR anyway, except for working from odd angles, or for candids, incognito. My camera takes great images, awesome color reproduction. Yet if it`s defective, I can`t help but wonder what will go wrong next...
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Well I did not get stuck with a lemon. BestBuy took care of it better than I expected. That is one of the reasons I like buying from them. I really don't think you have a major problem. It may just be part of the focus problem you were talking about. There are modes that will shoot whether it is in focus or not. As a last ditch effort try resetting the camera back to the factory settings just to make sure there is not a setting that might be causing this. I have a refurbished D5100 and I absolutely love this camera. Also it be be so rare to get two cameras that have the exact same problem.
 
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PL8638

New member
It seems to really like doing it with this new lens I just got, the AF-S 40mm, which to my eyes is only marginally, if at all sharper than the 18-55 VR, but that`s a different topic. That kit lens is actually very good.

I wish I could test a new D5100 body and see if it does the same thing. I`ve wondered if it`s a common quirk that many people just haven`t noticed as they shoot so little in live view. I don`t know, but I suspect the memory card is involved in some way. Maybe the system is too busy writing information and thus the image review doesn`t engage. That in fact was the only point that Nikon support was willing to acknowledge, but they dismissed it because I`m using an "approved card," a Sandisk. Though the problem has manifested with two different Sandisks of different sizes, as well as a Kingston, which isn`t approved...
 
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