D3100 Viewfinder indicators not showing up

R

robertoestivill

New member
Hi everyone,

I've just got a refurbished D3100 to get me started in the DSLR world and i can not get the viewfinder indicators at the bottom to show up.
By viewfinder indicators i'm refering to the following: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/nikon_d7000_viewfinder-display2.jpg
It just simple looks plain black in the view finder, with no characters or indicators at the bottom whatsoever.
I've tried all the possible settings/configurations and nothing worked.

Is it safe to say that the camera is broken?
What else can i try?

Thanks in advance!
Robert
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
The only thing you could try is to do a reset to the camera. Take a look in the manual for the usual 2 buttons push and hold. They should have green dots besides them (so does my D7000).

Good luck.
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
robertoestivill said:
Hi everyone,

I've just got a refurbished D3100 to get me started in the DSLR world and i can not get the viewfinder indicators at the bottom to show up.
By viewfinder indicators i'm refering to the following: http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/nikon_d7000_viewfinder-display2.jpg
It just simple looks plain black in the view finder, with no characters or indicators at the bottom whatsoever.
I've tried all the possible settings/configurations and nothing worked.

Is it safe to say that the camera is broken?
What else can i try?

Thanks in advance!
Robert
Click to expand...

Now ya got me curious. Who did the refurbishing? A camera store? A Nikon factory tech? Who sold it to you? Is this an E-Bay purchase? Are you in the U.S? Canada? Europe? What are the chances of you returning it to get it fixed?
 
R

robertoestivill

New member
Marcel said:
The only thing you could try is to do a reset to the camera. Take a look in the manual for the usual 2 buttons push and hold. They should have green dots besides them (so does my D7000).
Good luck.
Click to expand...

I'll definitely try this out as soon as i get my hands on the camera.

fotojack said:
Now ya got me curious. Who did the refurbishing? A camera store? A Nikon factory tech? Who sold it to you? Is this an E-Bay purchase? Are you in the U.S? Canada? Europe? What are the chances of you returning it to get it fixed?
Click to expand...

The camera has been refurbished by Nikon. I bought it on amazon US though. It came with all the warranty papers, bills etc.
Right now i'm in South America with chances of returning it with a friend that's travelling to the US next week. I didn't really want to bother him until i'm sure if it's a hardware issue, or just me missing something.

Thanks for the help!
 
R

robertoestivill

New member
Marcel said:
The only thing you could try is to do a reset to the camera. Take a look in the manual for the usual 2 buttons push and hold. They should have green dots besides them (so does my D7000).
Good luck.
Click to expand...

There are no 2 green buttons on the d3100. Though, there are two software reset functions that i have tried without any success:

Resetting the D3100
The D3100 does not have a 2 button reset option. To perform a reset you need to manually choose the reset option in the Shooting Menu and the Setup menu. To do this press 'Menu', select the Shooting Menu and scroll through the options until 'Reset Shooting Options' is highlighted, press ok, highlight 'Yes' and press ok again. Repeat this for the Setup menu.
Souce: Nikon D3100 - Buttons Lock

Mojo-Fstop said:
Take a look at pg 188 of the manual - http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/kie88335f7869dfuejdl=-cww2/D3100_EN.pdf you may have the auto info display turned OFF. If so, it will be a simple fix.
Click to expand...

I also tried this, and what this does is actually display the information on the LCD screen. If I turn it off, nothing will be displayed on the LCD. This doesn't modify anything on the viewfinder, at least in my camera.

I guess i'll be sending it back to the retailer.
Thanks everyone for your help.
 
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