# Problem with Nikon D7000



## Fstop12 (Feb 22, 2015)

Need some help with a Nikon D7000. My  D7000 is doing something funny and for the life of me I can't figure it out. Here's the problem.
Aperture Priority Mode. Iso 400. When I look in the view finder, the 0 on the exposure meter is flashing along with the Lightening bolt flash icon. I don't have any exposure compensation on.This happens when I am standing outside in plenty of light. If I push the shutter button halfway down I can hear the camera beep and lock in (solid green dot), but the 0 and flash icon are still blinking. Any idea why this is happening?


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## dennybeall (Feb 22, 2015)

Perhaps telling you it can't adjust the speed to get a good picture at the Aperture you've set??


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## Fstop12 (Feb 22, 2015)

Denny it doesn't matter what aperture I set. I can run through all the aperture settings, I can increase the ISO to as high as it will go. When I press the shutter halfway down the green dot lights up and I hear the beep telling me it's the exposure has been locked, but the exposure O and the flash icon keep blinking.


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## LostLensCap (Feb 22, 2015)

What shutter speed does the viewfinder show?


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## wfooshee (Feb 23, 2015)

Flashing means "limits of exposure metering system are exceeded," from p. 72 of the manual.

The green dot (and I suspect the beep) is not exposure, but focus being achieved.

The blinking lightning bolt is telling you you need flash.

Why it would think so while outdoors is a mystery.

Compare the behavior to shutter-priority. Set a reasonable shutter speed and see what aperture it gives you. If it says it can expose, then switch to aperture and set that aperture, see what happens.

This could be a lens issue. Does it happen with any lens?

Edited to add: I bring up lenses because some legacy lenses are not able to meter correctly in certain modes, but if it mounts on the D7000 I would think it would meter OK in aperture priority.

Try changing the metering pattern, too. Use center-weighted or spot instead of matrix and see if it does the same thing.


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## Fstop12 (Feb 24, 2015)

Thanks  for the reply. I have tried everything you suggested and the problem still exist.  The lens is a Nikon 18-300. I have cleaned the contacts, taken the lens off and put it back on. No help. I have changed the metering pattern no help. Heck, I even reset the camera back to factory defaults yesterday and the problem still exists. I stayed on hold so long with Nikon support and finally gave up. The mystery continues.


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## astroNikon (Feb 24, 2015)

If you put it on full AUTO what happens ?


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## Fstop12 (Feb 24, 2015)

If I put it on Auto, standing in bright sunlight, the 0 on the compensation meter is still flashing along with the flash Icon. If I push the shutter half way down, the pop up flash comes up. This happens when there is plenty of light and it doesn't matter what aperture I have set. The mystery continues.


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## Mr.Photo (Feb 24, 2015)

I just checked my D7000 and when pointed directly at a light source at close range I get the flashing icon indicating that flash is needed to properly expose the image.  However the only reason that you should have the exposure meter visible in the display is either when using Manual mode or if you have some Exposure Compensation dialed in.  When I add some exposure compensation I get the exposure meter visible in my viewfinder, and when pointing at a bright light source I get what you describe.

What this indicates is that there is too much difference between the light and dark area's in the scene for the meter to get a proper exposure for everything so it want's to use the flash to "fill" in the dark area's.

When you have the flashing exposure meter look below the zero.  When there is exposure compensation dialed in you will see one or more marks to either the left or right of center to indicate how much exposure compensation is set.  It is quite easy to accidentally dial in exposure compensation if you aren't paying attention to how you grab the camera as the button to dial it in is located directly behind the shutter release near the outside edge of the camera.  I've hit it accidentally myself while turning one of the dial's and set it.


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## Fstop12 (Feb 24, 2015)

The exposure meter is visible because my wife has that set in the menu options. I know we can turn if off but that is not the problem.  As far as the exposure compensation, there is no dialed in, we have already checked that. FYI, my wife and I aren't newbies when it comes to cameras.  The problem that we are experiencing  is something that has never come up. I even did a factory reset and the problem still exist. I guess worse case would be to send the camera i


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## Mr.Photo (Feb 24, 2015)

By chance in the menus do you have option "b3" (Easy Exposure Compensation) turned on?


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## Mr.Photo (Feb 24, 2015)

The exposure scale does not show in P, S, or A modes unless your settings are such that the automatic meter cannot adjust the other settings automatically for the available light.  What will happen in this case is that the exposure meter will appear and show you how much under/over exposure you will have.  If you continue to adjust settings beyond that (for example in A mode setting the smallest aperture with not enough available light) then the word "lo" will appear in the viewfinder, and the exposure meter will start flashing as well as the flash icon.  Simply having your lens cap on will cause this same issue.

Only in M mode will the exposure meter be displayed continuously or if you have exposure compensation set.

It sounds like either your lens is not communicating with the camera meter or possibly the meter in the camera is malfunctioning.  Do you have another lens you can try to see if the problem is still happening?


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## wfooshee (Feb 24, 2015)

Page 107 of the user manual: At values other than +/- 0.0, the 0 at the center of the exposure indicators will flash..... {talking about setting exposure compensation with the +/- button}

Page 212: if On (Auto reset) or On is selected {talking about Easy Exposure Compensation} the 0 at the center of the exposure display will blink even when exposure compensation is set to 0.

Playing with my D7000 I've found this: The zero flashes when exposure compensation is set and the metered exposure with that compensation is within range of the camera's settings. That happens with any auto-exposure mode, A,S, or P. What it's telling you is that the exposure, with your compensation, can be performed. In aperture priority that's usually any available aperture unless you have very bright light and a high ISO. In shutter priority it's not hard to go outside the range of available apertures for the exposure.

When you dial up some settings that the camera cannot reach and maintain your selected compensation, it shows Hi or Lo and the 0 stops flashing.

You have exposure compensation dialed in, telling the camera to expose some amount over or under the actual metered exposure, or you have menu b3 in one of the "On" settings. Even so, if you find a setting for which the camera cannot produce a metered exposure, the blinking stops and you get Hi or Lo.

The blinking flash indicator is a separate indication, not linked to the flashing 0, that the camera suggests it needs fill light.


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## 18.percent.gary (Feb 24, 2015)

LostLensCap said:


> What shutter speed does the viewfinder show?


If the shutter speed is displaying way too slow for the situation then you need to figure out why and go from there. Settings, stuck aperture blades/lever, whatever.


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## Fstop12 (Feb 25, 2015)

wfooshee said:


> Flashing means "limits of exposure metering system are exceeded," from p. 72 of the manual.
> 
> The green dot (and I suspect the beep) is not exposure, but focus being achieved.
> 
> ...





wfooshee said:


> Page 107 of the user manual: At values other than +/- 0.0, the 0 at the center of the exposure indicators will flash..... {talking about setting exposure compensation with the +/- button}
> 
> Page 212: if On (Auto reset) or On is selected {talking about Easy Exposure Compensation} the 0 at the center of the exposure display will blink even when exposure compensation is set to 0.
> 
> ...



Thanks so much for the info. The camera seems to be working fine. I guess my wife will just have to ignore the blinking O . She likes to have b3 turned on so she can adjust the exposure herself.


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## astroNikon (Feb 25, 2015)

What was the problem/solution ??


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## wfooshee (Feb 25, 2015)

The problem was misunderstanding the display, which was a normal display for the b3 menu being on. The 0 in the exposure indicator blinks when exposure compensation is enabled, either by an actual setting or by turning on b3 (Easy Exposure Compensation.) The shooter thought the blinking was indicating an error of some kind rather than just a mode indicator.


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