The image in viewfinder is incorrect - horizontal striping and dark

If the image results are dark, the problem must be inside the camera. If you changed the lens something fell inside it and is blocking the light to the camera. You should check your nearest Nikon store and get it fixed because if you try doing it yourself you could damage the sensor permanently and destroy your camera completley.

Hi there,

Your camera had a CCD (image sensor) problem. And this is something recognized by all digital camera manufacturers.

Olympus is distinguishing themselves by offering to repair affected cameras, even if they aren't displaying the problem yet. Their free repair policy is extended for up to four years from the original purchase date.

For more information of your problem, you can click the link below.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/badccds.html

The finished image looks dark or it looks dark in the viewfinder?
If your question is "the image looks dark" in the viewfinder my answer is it's an F4.5 lens so letting less light into the viewfinder and it will look dark. The big difference will be seen if you are coming from lets say a Nikon 50mm F1.8 which is two stops faster then your F4.5.
If it's the finished picture after you taken it I'd say you underexposed the shot.

See this FixYa link.

Check the mirror. The image you see in the viewfinder comes through the lens, and is reflected by the mirror. If it's dirty, it will affect the image you see. When you take the picture, the mirror lifts up, the viewfinder image is interrupted, and the light from the lens goes to the image sensor. So...if the mirror is dirty, the picture will be fine but the viewfinder image will be dark or out of focus.

See this link.

inside the viewfinder there is a button, called amazingly enough ZEBRA, next to the OIS button,(optical image stabilizer button). You push this button to turn zebra on or off. In the menu, you adjust the zebra to show at 80% or 100% of optimal exposure on the brightest spots of your shots. You need to dial your iris up or down to make the zebra go away, then turn it back up until it barely registers on the brightest spot of your image, then you are using zebra to it's effective use. When shooting in zebra 80%, try to make the people's faces barely register a tiny bit of zebra striping to have their faces exposed at the best light. The white shirts will be blazing, but then again, they should not be wearing white shirts anyway if your pre production crew did their job when advising talent what to wear. (No stripes, solid colors are best. Dark colors are even better, especially for dark skinned people.)

It sounds to me that you are using an incompatible lens or a broken one. Does this happen with the lens that came with the camera?

Defective ccd imager!! company will replace this ccd imager free of charge. Year 2002 up to 2005 released unit has a factory defect ccd imager. the company recalled those units and replaced with a stronger version of ccd imager ( they are still doing it). check it out.

The problem is a broken CCD sensor. Contact HP and ask whether they would repair it for free.