Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Ever since I bought the camera years ago, it has been plagued with exposure issues. Most of the photos are of my 6 grandchildren involved in their sports programs. I have had to ramp up the exposure setting on the camera most of the time I shoot, especially in low light conditions such as night games of football and indoor basketball. Rather than invest another thousand dollars to buy a used D500, I am opting to send my unit in to a Nikon authorized repair shop. I will be asking the repair shop to not only look into the exposure issue, but also give the camera a cleaning and/or adjustments. My question to all of you is: Where should I send it to be serviced, does it sound like I need an exposure adjustment, and approximately how much should I expect to pay for the service. I live in Northeast PA. Thanks for your time!

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The free approach is to post unedited JPEGs that demonstrate your issues. Be sure to store the files so the EXIF can be examined.

The D7100 was released 2013 and discontinued at the end of 2014. If a solution can't be identified from the example images, the next most cost effective approach might be to find a used body D7100, or a used version of a D7200 or D500. That is: replace the faulty camera rather than pouring money into a repair.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Thanks for your response, CHG. Here are some sample photos. I hate to go to high on the ISO to avoid noise. Like to see clarity of the ball using a slightly higher shutter speed.

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CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Exactly what is needed to discuss. I picked two images, annotated below. I downloaded the two images and looked at the details in Nikon Capture NX-D. I made screen captures from NX-D and annotated in PSE-11.

From the two examples I looked at, consider two global changes:

1) Change to Nikon's Matrix Metering rather than spot. The D7100 will meter at the active single AF point, but you need that AF point to be positioned on something relevant. For the soccer picture, this seems correct (no active AF point was found, so the center was used). For the basketball example, you're AF point in Spot Metering is positioned on the dark background, not the players.

2) You have two exposure 'tuning' settings active. The Nikon manual suggests using only Exposure Compensation.

Finally, by managing the shutterspeed in Shutter Priority and the ISO by manually setting, there isn't anything the camera can do beyond opening the aperture to the f/2.8 max for the lens used in these two examples. Try AUTO ISO, Matrix, remove exposure tuning, and maybe less EC (say around +2/3 to +1) and see if the camera behaves differently.

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Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

Thanks again, CHG, I really appreciate your time and effort. I have recently been using the matrix metering, but did not use it in the samples I supplied. I am concerned about the exposure tuning as I had no idea what the exposure tuning is all about. Will look in the manual to see how that is done. Now if I could only find a used D500 with low shutter clicks, a verified US model, in good condition, at a fair price, from a reputable seller...........but I digress.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

The other thing to note is that you have Active-D lighting turned on and set to "Auto." Active-D has the effect of flattening the ends of the response curve. This can noticeably change the overall exposure of your image...by as much as two stops. When you have it set to "Auto," it can have a completely different effect from one frame to the next. It is a very useful function. I use it a lot. But never on Auto. Results are too difficult to predict.

Be aware also that "Vivid" Picture Control cranks Contrast way up, among other things, unless you have edited it not to do so. This fights against the effects of Active-D. I'd suggest reviewing both Active-D Lighting and Picture Control options in your manual, then experiment to see how they work together.

Orphoto Loc: Oregon

Some additional thoughts to supplement Paul's fine suggestions.
1) exposure tuning is suggested only for folks really familiar with their cameras in a wide range of uses who are able to determine that is consistently in all conditions underexposes.
2) high school sports lighting is famously fickle. many of the lighting systems flicker at 60 times per second. some more recent bodies will look for this and only fire during the brighter portions of the lighting cycle if say 1/3 of your images are well exposed while 2/3 are off, blame the lights. only solution is upgrading to a body that recognizes flicker cycles.
3) the D7100 is notorious for higher levels of noise as ISO's go up. a used D7200 is fairly inexpensive to help out on this.
4) unless you enjoy post processing, your needs will likely be better met shooting srgb rather than adobe. if you don't mind processing, shoot in raw so you can lighten up darker images much more successfully.
5) Because you are in shutter priority and the images are taken wide open (f2.8 for that lense), the camera may not be able to add any exposure via compensation because you are already maxed out on the aperture options. In other words, the situation is just too darn dark for your choices and equipment. Your only solution is faster primes, more expensive bodies that allow higher iso s, or shooting only in better lit situations. Look into a used D3s or D4 for low light shooting.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

A big thank you to all who have responded to my concern. I appreciate your assistance. I have reviewed all of the suggestions and have implemented most of them. Fortunately, I am a novice to Lightroom, so that saves my assets. One thing that I have noticed about the camera is that the exposure meter normally pegs at the far left (underexposed), unless I change the shutter speed to a ridiculously low number (30, or less). I agree that using primes would be better for exposure purposes; however, My only primes are 50 & 85. While sitting in the stands/sidelines, I need a good variable lens. Looking forward to taking some more photos of grandkids to see what the suggested changes do for the finished product.

maxlieberman Loc: 19027

I still use my D7100 to good effect. I recommend that you discuss this issues with Authorized Camera Repair on Old York Road in Willow Grove (you can get the number by doing a Google search). They are honest, reputable helpful and reasonable. They can tell you whether it is worth fixing.

Dziadzi Loc: Wilkes-Barre, PA

All of my lenses are DX models. I need to stick with a DX camera.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

I too use D7100 and D7200. CHG CANON and the other folks have given you a good bit of great data/methods to experiment with...have fun! I don't think it looks like anything is actually wrong with the D7100. It will handle ISO float very well too, so try auto ISO with a set (acceptable high limit to you) high limit, I regularly use it for wildlife up to 3200, although I don't print much above 8 x 10, usually 5 x 7. I sometime shoot up to 6400 iso....give a try and see where you find your ISO limit.....

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I suspect the cost of repair on this old camera will be too high. Look for a good used D7200, or consider buying something new (or reconditioned or used).

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Another thought...the fact that the problem is less or absent at shutter speeds of 1/30 second or slower is a pretty strong hint that the problem might be due to the built-in flicker of modern, non-incandescent lighting. If so, your D500 idea would be a legitimate solution since it has Flicker Reduction.

maxlieberman Loc: 19027

My D7500 also has flicker reduction.

Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

CHG .., that’s an amazing unselfish analysis and review of the problem .., took a little work on your part .., you’ve always been an asset on this site .., my hats off to you ..