Why is my Nikon D5300 viewfinder and Live View image suddenly very dark?
Asked 12/8/2024
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2 answers
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My Nikon D5300 sat unused for a few months, and now the image looks extremely dark in both the optical viewfinder and Live View. Indoors I can only see very bright things like Christmas lights; toward a window I can see outside but almost nothing in the room. The camera powers on normally and sometimes shows “Subject too dark” when I try to shoot.
I first suspected battery or settings, but the battery is installed and the camera seems otherwise operational. I also noticed that changing the aperture setting doesn’t seem to change what I see when looking into the front of the lens.
After resetting the camera and testing again, my 55-300 lens seems mostly normal, but the 18-55 still gives a very dark view. Both lenses have some existing damage.
What would cause a DSLR to be dark in both the viewfinder and Live View, and how can I tell whether it’s a settings issue, lens problem, or camera body problem?
Originally by damix911. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
damix911
1y ago
2 Answers
1
"Subject too dark" normally means the camera cannot find focus due to the exposure.
It sounds to me like your exposure settings are just inadequate (too dark). It's also possible that you have a negative exposure compensation set somewhat negating auto corrections/settings.
You will not see the aperture change when you change the setting; it only stops down during the time the exposure is made. But it should be at maximum when at rest unless you have a mechanical aperture ring on the lens... technically, even then as it should normally be set to maximum and locked there.
Originally by Steven Kersting. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Steven Kersting
1y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
If a DSLR is dark in both the optical viewfinder and Live View, the usual cause is that the lens aperture is stuck stopped down instead of staying wide open at rest.
On a DSLR, changing the f-stop setting normally does not make the viewfinder get darker during composition. The lens should stay fully open until the moment of exposure, then stop down briefly and reopen. So if the scene looks unusually dark before shooting, something is wrong with aperture control.
From your update, the fact that the 55-300 works but the 18-55 does not strongly points to the 18-55 lens having a stuck or damaged diaphragm/aperture mechanism, rather than a camera-body fault. Existing lens damage makes that even more likely.
A settings issue is still worth ruling out: check that exposure compensation isn’t set very negative, and remember that “Subject too dark” often means the camera can’t focus because there isn’t enough light.
But since one lens behaves normally and the other doesn’t, the practical diagnosis is: the 18-55 lens is likely faulty and stopping down all the time.
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AI1y ago
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