iFixit

And just like that, the front cover can be pulled off the camera body.

With it gone, you can get a good look at most of the components that make the D5100 roar.

An electric motor (presumably linked to the shutter) can be seen next to the battery door, and the gigantic flash capacitor is housed right behind the lens release button.

The light blue pad wedged between the end of the flash capacitor and the bottom frame conducts heat away from the capacitor to cool it down during flash-intensive shooting.

Nothing to explain here. We're just amazed by the dizzying amount of electromechanical systems contained within a mid-priced SLR camera. Just look at all that stuff!

Feel free to use these photos as wallpapers. Check them out in full size: Photo 1 and Photo 2

The top cover is a feat of engineering by itself. Within its walls are contained:

• Main control wheel, shutter/aperture control wheel, live view lever, On/Off switch, "info" button, record button, shutter button, exposure compensation button, IR sensor, AF lamp, flash, flash control circuitry, flash actuator, and the microphone.

The flash is actuated by a linear solenoid that pushes on a lever to release the spring-loaded flash -- either automatically if the sensor detects a low-light situation, or when the flash button is depressed.

It's time to take a look at the D5100's sensor. To get to it, we have to first remove the side cover for the ports, as well as the frame surrounding the ports.

With a couple more twists of a screwdriver, and a couple more cables disconnected, the sensor board comes out!

The D5100 utilizes a 16.2 megapixel DX format CMOS sensor to capture images.

• This sensor has the same specs of the sensor used by the Nikon D7000.

Chipworks reports that each pixel is 4.8 µm wide. That's about half the diameter of a red blood cell!

The sensor has a special glass cover that turns red when viewed at an angle. Neat! (This is the "hot mirror," which filters out the infrared spectrum.)

Nikon D5100 Repairability Score: 2 out of 10 (10 is easiest to repair)

• The battery can be easily replaced by opening the compartment with your thumbnail.
• The rear cover comes off with minimal unscrewing/desoldering (for this kind of device), allowing you to access the motherboard.
• The D5100 has several wires that need to be desoldered in order to take it apart.
• Approximately 4 billion screws hold the device together.
• Components are very tightly packed, making it more difficult to disconnect and remove them.
• For absolute safety, you need to discharge the flash capacitor, otherwise you risk accidentally killing your camera.