D7100 Less than 3 years old (Bought 12/13) Will not power on and just show the Low battery indicator

acmooretx

I am a novice but have loved learning to use my D7100 and taking family photos. That said, I am a busy mom and have not used the camera a whole lot. But I charge the battery when needed and haven't had any real issues with the camera. A few months ago right before Christmas (so the camera was less than 2 years old), the camera would not power on and shows low battery. I charged the battery over night and tried again with no luck. As time has allowed I have tried to troubleshoot this issue. I bought a new battery, charged it overnight and still no luck getting the camera to power on. My husband purchased the camera as a Christmas gift from Costco and opted to not buy the extended warranty.
When I contacted Nikon service they told me to remove the lense and clean the contacts. I did this and still cannot get it to power on. I'm so disappointed and frustrated that we spent $2k on this camera and I am now being told I need to send it in to Nikon and will have to pay for any repairs. Any ideas on what else I can try that may correct this issue before I send it off. I have a Canon T1i that I've owned for 6+ years that has seen a lot more wear and tear and use with no issues. I'm starting to regret buying a Nikon. Help. Thanks in advance!!!

spraynpray

Hi acmooretx, welcome to NR and sorry to read of your problem. I had a similar problem to you and it was a bad contact with the battery. In my case it was a hair stuck in the contact slot of the battery, but it could be in the body on yours as you have tried a new battery.

Fingers crossed!

Pistnbroke

or corrosion in the camera body fingers...small torch and have a good look with your reading glasses on.

acmooretx

What are the camera body fingers? Again, I am new to all of this...Thanks for your help!

spraynpray

They are the bits that make contact with the battery and carry the electricity to where it is needed. Best solution perhaps is to take it back to the shop and get them to look it over.

Pistnbroke

You mean there is a shop with someone in it who knows anything about cameras?

to be serious (well I was actually) from what I have read this can be caused by the lens so take the lens off and re insert the battery and turn ON..if OK then turn OFF and re fit the lens and try again to see if it works.

spraynpray

@acmooretx: Any progress on this?

manhattanboy

Take the lens off. It is only confusing the situation.
With the new battery, does the charger stop blinking to indicate fully charged?
If so, then it's not the battery.
With the lens off and no cards in the slots, when you put the battery in and turn on the camera, what do you see? What does the LCD display?
All else fails, just send it into Nikon and let them fix it.

Ironheart

It's possible you have a bad charger. Is the light on and/blinking?

spraynpray

@Pistnbroke said:

Actually the flashing light on the charger does not tell you much..only that the charge current has dropped to a low pre set level indicating the battery is charged. If its capacity is only 20% of original then the light still changes from flashing to continuous.
the battery monitor in the camera goes from 0-4 dependent on the difference in charged voltage of the two internal cells ..as they go out of balance the number count goes up.

Ironheart

Yeahbut, a 20% battery will happily run a camera. Also, if there are no lights, blinking solid or otherwise, you have a dead charger.

Pistnbroke

Isn't it so irritating ..you put your time in to try to help and you never hear what the final outcome was ....same on all forums 1% thanks