Why is there a bright band at the top of every photo from my Nikon D90?
Asked 4/5/2018
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My Nikon D90 has started putting a bright white band across the top of every photo. It happens with different lenses and after resetting and cleaning the camera. The band only appears in still photos, not in live view, video, or the viewfinder. Covering the camera reduces or removes the effect, and I also noticed it does not appear when using flash. Is this a light leak, or is something else failing? What should I do to fix it?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
8y ago
2 Answers
36
tell me whats happening
Considering that the White Thing seems to affect an entire band at the top of the image, I don't think it's a light leak. A leak that happened to shine evenly across the entire width of the sensor would be hard to explain.
Instead, it looks like the shutter is getting a little bit stuck near the end of its travel across the sensor. Remember that the image is inverted on the sensor, so the objects near the top of the scene end up at the bottom of the sensor. The opening in the shutter travels from the top edge of the sensor to its bottom edge, and it looks like it slows down a bit near the bottom, causing a slightly longer exposure in that region.
It might be that there's just some dirt in the mechanism that's impeding the shutter at that point, or it might be that the shutter mechanism is starting to wear out and may need to be replaced. Either way, this isn't a repair that you can probably do yourself -- send it in for service.
Update: If the problem goes away when you use the flash, that's consistent with the sticky shutter hypothesis. Light from the flash is obviously very bright, with a very short duration. You use the flash when there's not enough ambient light to get a good exposure. So, when you use the flash, almost all of the exposure happens in the few milliseconds when the flash fires. The shutter still sticks, but the extra exposure that happens at that point makes very little difference because the exposure is determined mainly by the much brighter flash.
Just looking at the shutter won't necessarily tell you anything. The shutter curtains themselves may be in perfect shape; the problem seems to be that something is slowing the second curtain down as it comes to the end of its travel.
Originally by user4262. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4262
8y ago
0
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This is probably not a light leak. A bright band that runs evenly across the full width of the image is a classic sign of a shutter problem, especially a slow or sticking second shutter curtain.
On a DSLR, live view and video work differently from normal still-photo exposure, which is why the issue may only show up in stills. The fact that it disappears with flash also fits a shutter-timing issue more than a body light leak.
Because it happens with multiple lenses, the lens is unlikely to be the cause.
What to do:
- Test with another lens if possible, just to fully rule that out.
- In a dark room, you can do simple checks like covering the viewfinder and taking test shots, but your symptoms already point strongly to the shutter.
- The real fix is service: cleaning/lubrication may help, but the shutter assembly may need replacement.
If repair cost matters, get an estimate first, since replacing the shutter on an older D90 may cost more than the camera is worth.
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