Nikon D3100 Charging
So, I have a Nikon D3100 and I've heard that the orange light on the charger is suppose to blink whilst charging. However, my charger just has a solid orange light throughout it all, and only blinks for about a few seconds when I put the charger in. Why is this happening? (Also the camera is new and has only been charged a few times and the battery doesn't last very long) Maybe this is the reason why?
Get it sorted out at a camera shop.
If your camera comes with a warranty, first thing you should to is to keep calm and return it to where you bought it.tell them the problem. But remember that any damage inflicted can breach the warranty so be sure nothing happened like dripping water in it or the battery came in contact with water, or anything that can cause damage. If none of what i said happened and they will replace the camera, then it's good.
You are correct that the light flashes when the battery is charging.
Depending upon how depleted the battery is, it can take from a few minutes to over two hours to fully charge the battery
Your battery should last for about 550 shots as long as you don't use the LCD every time you take a shot and turn off the camera after each series of shots.
One thing you may not know, is that the worst thing you can do is let the battery sit fully discharged for any length of time. This will greatly reduce the life expectancy of any Li-ion battery.
I have some Li-ion batteries that came with my old D100 (circa 2002) that are still working just fine.
You need to read page 14 of your manual. Never trust anything that you've heard. The solid yellow light indicates a charge complete. You must not touch it while it is charging, you can screw things up. When it quits blinking, remove and insert the battery to make it start charging again. Repeat 4 or 5 times, then put the battery in your camera. Shoot until the battery goes dead. Start the charge process again. It should blink for a longer time - remember to not touch it. If it does blink longer, it should take more shots. Just keep using it and recharging, it will keep getting better. If it doesn't blink for a longer time, contact Nikon support.
http://www.nikonusa.com/...pport.page