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First of all to be clear, the camera was not dropped or anything; it started to behave like this from nothing.

I turned on my camera and first it displayed "Turn off the camera and turn on again". After that, it constantly showed the "Press shutter release button again". Normally I first searched Google for the problem, and all the threads I could find was shutter mechanism needs to be lubricated, or the mirror was jammed etc. All these were due to dropping the camera.

I took the camera to Nikon, and they asked ~250 EUR to fix it. Since I don't have the money right now, I got it back home and turned it on - tada! Camera is working again. I took about 50 pictures when it showed the error again. This started to happen every time: I leave it for couple of hours, turn it on, and take ~50 photos before the error shows again.

I check the mirror, shutter blades and everything, but nothing looks stuck or jammed to me. I'm really puzzled by the "cooldown" time it needs to be working again. If the shutter / mirror / blades / whatever is jammed, it won't work at all.

Does anyone else had this problem? How did you resolve it?

Lawliet
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  • Is this the same message you get when you start a sensor cleaning? Or the one in bulb mode? – TFuto Sep 14 '14 at 09:57
  • I get the message when I turn on the camera, and cannot do anything else. When I choose to clean the sensor it says "Unable to process image". – Lawliet Sep 14 '14 at 17:40
  • I'm curious to know, how long have you had your D5100 for? I have had mine for about 2 years with about 40k actuations and I am getting to the point of realizing it might be nearing it's slowness as well. – Muhammad Usman Feb 10 '15 at 19:25

2 Answers2

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It's likely that there is either a sensor problem, or the mechanism does have dust in it somewhere which is causing resistance. This is something you already know. None of those are things you can either check for or repair yourself without a suitable dust-free workspace and the appropriate knowledge - attempting to do so will most likely make things worse.

You have a number of options available to you...

  • Have it serviced by an independent repairer. Charges will vary but will be significantly lower than Nikon.
  • Replace it, as according to eBay at this moment (with under an hour remaining), a D5100 is available in the UK for around €100 EUR.
  • Save up to have Nikon repair it
James Snell
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It's due to the dust that has blocked the shutter curtains. Dismantle and cleaning should help the camera recover.

Vivian Ambrose
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  • The OP said that was not an option due to cost. Please try to read the questions carefully so that you can give relevant and useful answers. – JenSCDC Nov 12 '14 at 14:53
  • Yes sorry i didnt read the complete thread.A friend of mine had a similar issue which was caused due to the lens mount ring malfunctioning. It would take a couple of pictures and stop working. Nikon service repaired this for 4000 INR (Indian Rupees) – Vivian Ambrose Nov 13 '14 at 04:23