I was taking some pictures on my camera a Nikon-D3100 when I noticed a black line appearing at the top of the photos, doing a bit of research I thought it might be a problem with the shutter, could someone help me confirm if that's the problem?
As you an see I am not a professional photographer I would really appreciate any help
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2Were you using a flash during that photo? Was there another light source (such as a ceiling light)? If so, what was the bulb (incandescent, fluorescent, LED, ...)?– scottbb ♦May 10, 2021 at 6:58
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Considering the age of your camera, has it been heavily used? Regularly used? Has it sat around for a long time?– scottbb ♦May 10, 2021 at 7:00
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Is the image on the back of the camera a preview image of a still photo you have taken? Or the Live View feed with the camera set up to shoot video?– Michael CMay 10, 2021 at 19:32
1 Answer
That result is characteristic of using a shutter speed that is too fast with flash, and manual mode will allow you to do this. The flash sync speed for the D3100 is 1/200 and no faster. If the flash is off camera you may have to use a slower shutter speed than max x-sync in order to allow for some communication delay (but the exposed part looks like on-camera flash, so probably not an issue).
Edit: given the latest comment there is a physical obstruction in the way of the sensor. Take the lens off and I suspect you will find a stuck/broken shutter curtain.
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The example image shows a Tv of 1/10 used for the example shot. That's considerably longer than 1/200. It may be a sync issue, but if so it is not due to a Tv shorter than the camera's X-sync Tv, but rather a timing issue. May 10, 2021 at 19:28
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@MichaelC, it also shows live view video/audio recording along with picture settings (L/NORM)... I assume it is not image review data (I've never seen that display configuration before). I considered the possibility that this was video and the only thing I could come up with is a hanging mirror... but I believe that would obstruct the top of the sensor/bottom of image. And if it was not a flash image but video feed, I would expect the exposure to be much more even, especially at f/7.1 (no vignetting). May 10, 2021 at 23:04
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I still get the same result, the problem persists with any shutter setting with or without flash, the line also appears in the live preview before taking the photo or video. May 11, 2021 at 3:53
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@user99045 then there is a physical obstruction. Take the lens off and I suspect you will find a stuck shutter curtain. May 11, 2021 at 10:52
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Yeah, only the upper curtain is moving, the lower one is stuck, what you recommend? May 11, 2021 at 23:33