Refurbished shutter count vs internal file number
May 24, 2015 13:23:10 #
amfoto1
Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA
Don't confuse file number with shutter clicks.
There are several things that can cause a file number to change. For example, when inspecting a refurb camera, the tech very likely popped a memory card into it to take some one (or more) test shot(s). If that card had been used in other cameras for testing and already had taken file #2475, depending upon how it's set to treat file numbers, the camera might set #2476 as the next number (even though the camera itself had only done 45 clicks). Then, when you received the camera and put a brand new card in it, the camera "remembered" and made the first file #2477 (when it recorded shutter click 46).
Conversely, you may have a very "high mileage" camera... i.e. one with lots and lots of shutter clicks on it... yet can reset the file number count to 0 at any time.
Why would a camera with 6xx actual shutter clicks (not file numbers) go in for shutter replacement (surprising, in itself, on such a "low mileage" camera) and come back with 12xxx clicks?
Well, a couple possibilities are:
In the course of effecting the repair, they took a ton of test shots (upwards of 600). That's not impossible. I sometimes shoot 500+ images in an hour. If they had to calibrate the camera in several ways, they might have taken a lot of shots.
Or, they replaced the part where the shutter count is recorded, with a used item.
Keep in mind that while the shutter is the primary item with a set life expectancy, there are other moving and electronic parts in a camera that can and do fail. "Shutter clicks" are merely being used as a means of measuring how much use the camera has seen. It's much like mileage in a car.... the distance a car has travelled in its lifetime only gives you a rough and basic estimate of it's overall condition. It's possible a "low mileage" car received little or no preventative maintenance, was used under the worst possible conditions, and has been involved in several collisions. A "high mileage" car that's been well maintained, has mostly racked up easy highway miles at low engine RPMs and has never been wrecked might actually be in much better condition and may prove to be the more reliable of the two.
There are several things that can cause a file number to change. For example, when inspecting a refurb camera, the tech very likely popped a memory card into it to take some one (or more) test shot(s). If that card had been used in other cameras for testing and already had taken file #2475, depending upon how it's set to treat file numbers, the camera might set #2476 as the next number (even though the camera itself had only done 45 clicks). Then, when you received the camera and put a brand new card in it, the camera "remembered" and made the first file #2477 (when it recorded shutter click 46).
Conversely, you may have a very "high mileage" camera... i.e. one with lots and lots of shutter clicks on it... yet can reset the file number count to 0 at any time.
Why would a camera with 6xx actual shutter clicks (not file numbers) go in for shutter replacement (surprising, in itself, on such a "low mileage" camera) and come back with 12xxx clicks?
Well, a couple possibilities are:
In the course of effecting the repair, they took a ton of test shots (upwards of 600). That's not impossible. I sometimes shoot 500+ images in an hour. If they had to calibrate the camera in several ways, they might have taken a lot of shots.
Or, they replaced the part where the shutter count is recorded, with a used item.
Keep in mind that while the shutter is the primary item with a set life expectancy, there are other moving and electronic parts in a camera that can and do fail. "Shutter clicks" are merely being used as a means of measuring how much use the camera has seen. It's much like mileage in a car.... the distance a car has travelled in its lifetime only gives you a rough and basic estimate of it's overall condition. It's possible a "low mileage" car received little or no preventative maintenance, was used under the worst possible conditions, and has been involved in several collisions. A "high mileage" car that's been well maintained, has mostly racked up easy highway miles at low engine RPMs and has never been wrecked might actually be in much better condition and may prove to be the more reliable of the two.
May 24, 2015 13:35:28 #
photon56 wrote:
Very interesting observation. I purchased a refur... (show quote)
Try this shutter count site to get the true cound.
http://www.camerashuttercount.com/
Craig
May 24, 2015 14:11:51 #
amfoto1 wrote:
Don't confuse file number with shutter clicks. br... (show quote)
A very plausible answer. I hadn't thought about the tech usage. I'm sure they reuse the same memory card for testing each camera that comes across their station. That makes a lot of sense to me.
May 24, 2015 14:53:32 #
Past Pro wrote:
All this talk about Nikon not setting/resetting shutter count causes me to retell my story. I had sent my D600 in for one of the cleanings before they finally replaced it with a D610. When the camera was first sent in it had 6xx clicks--when I received it back it had 12,xxx clicks!!!! Don't bother trying to get a straight answer from Nikon as to the count difference. And this was after they had replaced the shutter!!
Those acuations were on the old shutter. Nikon has to see how many shutter clicks it takes to sufficiently spot the sensor before replacing that shutter. While I have had counts as high as 3000 on bodies I have sent in (13 of them), 11,000 seems high if that number is accurate. Seems maybe you didn't have a serious spotting problem to begin with. 4 of the cameras I sent in never had sorting issues to begin with, but I had the service done before selling them as used bodies. None of them have come back with spots since that service.
May 24, 2015 15:17:47 #
Past Pro wrote:
All this talk about Nikon not setting/resetting shutter count causes me to retell my story. I had sent my D600 in for one of the cleanings before they finally replaced it with a D610. When the camera was first sent in it had 6xx clicks--when I received it back it had 12,xxx clicks!!!! Don't bother trying to get a straight answer from Nikon as to the count difference. And this was after they had replaced the shutter!!
You got a brand new D610 out of the deal right???
Craig
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