Broken camera sensor?

I have a nikon d5100 and chances are the sensor is broken because all my camera can produce is black images yet it works perfectly fine (can autofocus/ adjust settings perfectly)… But to me at least there's not visible damage inside or outside of my camera

and if it is would it be covered under the warranty or would it be cheaper to just buy a new camera over the repairs if it is severely damaged?

Added (1). The live view also shows up black but the screen works, so its like the camera just registers black, its not that i don't know how to adust the settings…

It is sad that you don't know very much about how your camera works

You need to learn how to use the light meter of your fine camera.

What you are describing is NOT a broken sensor but due to gross under exposure.

You may want to take a class in photography and learn at least the fundamentals of photography

The warranty only covers defects in manufacture. Do you know why the camera suddenly quit working? If it's been dropped, Nikon won't fix it for free.

You might take the lens off and activate the mirror lock up (setup menu I think). That way you should be able to rule out the mirror not lifting out of the way, which is needed for live view. And while the other responder is certainly knowledgeable, live view has nothing to do with underexposure, meaning you should still get a live view image regardless of what the exposure settings are.

To be certain, turn your top dial to the green box-this tells the camera to use all automatic settings. Take a photo outside during the day, and see what happens. If even this image is black, then have the camera examined at your local camera shop.

My guess is that you simply have the camera set to a shooting mode you are not familiar with. Read the manual to learn how to use the shooting modes properly, starting with Program (P) mode, which is your first step away from full auto.

Also, don't forget to take the lens cap off! Sounds stupid, but even I catch myself trying to shoot with a covered lens every now and then.

Hi
I have had the exact same problem! My camera dropped a short distance onto hard ground and since that. The image taken is black and so is live view. It's not that I'm under exposing the photo (I understand my camera very well) but something is wrong with the camera.
Erica did you end up fixing it? Is it a problem with the sensor?