More on shutter count: There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used...

nitrophil Loc: Dayton, Ohio

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

Clif Loc: Central Ca.

Because it is there.

sodapop Loc: Bel Air, MD

That is a good question

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

Primarily photographers shooting film took the time to properly meter, compose and expose their shots due to the cost of film and developing. Nothing worse than waiting to get your prints or slides back only to find out you have your WB or ISO way off and wasted money on them.
Todays digital shooters have the instant gratification that breeds the "just keep the shutter button down and one of them will probably turn out OK" mentality. Just go to a zoo sometime and listen to how many people have their shutter on constant high speed settings and blow off 20 or 40 shots of the same animal in a row, its scary. Its also scary when you find out there are 130,000 shutter clicks on that "like new" D80 you just paid $400 for on Ebay and then find out it has an expected shutter life of 100,000.
Why want to know the shutter count? Because its there, just to paraphrase George Mallory.

Aldebaran Loc: Florida

Must say as a past reliability engineer that when you say 130,00 it is an estimated value. All cameras are different due to normal variations on materials, use and environmental conditions. Some can have more or less of the predicted 130,000 and others will vary greatly. Like expiration dates for pills, the medication is usually good for many more months (so don't throw them away immediately.).And I say this also as a chemist. Potency of that med can still be on the functional side and it usually is. They don't drop to "zero" potency on that date, which is always a conservative date to be on the safe side. After all, how many times have we been misled by "scientific facts" that had to be corrected later? I would use other factors like how cosmetically well it looks to define if it had a rough or gentle life, etc...

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

Response to Locutus of Borg: Because people shooting digital cameras of today do so with such abandon that they are afraid of being assimilated into the world of the obsolete and realize that uninformed resistance is futile. 8-) 8-) 8-)

amehta Loc: Boston

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

It's like asking how many miles on a used car you are thinking of buying. It gives a general idea of how much the camera was used. Just as all miles/trips do not result in the same level of wear, all shutter clicks/sessions do not either. But it's a starting point.

With film cameras, if we could have gotten shutter clicks or rolls of film, we probably would have. But since that wasn't an option, we asked things like "What was it used for, and how often?" Or we just looked at the condition and took our chances.

Nosie Rosie Loc: Carson City,NV

How can you tell how many shots have been used?

amehta Loc: Boston

Nosie Rosie wrote:

How can you tell how many shots have been used?

Many cameras record the current shutter count in the EXIF data of every image. You can take a picture and use a tool which will show the number from the EXIF. There are online sites where you can upload a picture and it will tell you the number.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Clif wrote:

Because it is there.

Exactly! I bet the first cars didn't have an odometer, but imagine what would happen if a manufacturer tried to sell a car today with no odometer. We crave information, the more the better.

Peanut_the_cat Loc: Bradenton, Florida

amehta wrote:

Many cameras record the current shutter count in the EXIF data of every image. You can take a picture and use a tool which will show the number from the EXIF. There are online sites where you can upload a picture and it will tell you the number.

Or use Photoshop if you have it. You can look up the shutter count in the EXIF data on the last image the camera shot. FILE - FILE INFO - SCHEMA. My D300 had the mirror/shutter twice replaced, each around 140K. My D7000 currently has 141K on it and will fail soon. When I asked the in State Nikon repair center to get the parts in they said "Wait till it fails as some camera can go to almost a million actuations". Although that has to be very rare. So I have a D7100 and the old D300 sitting on the sidelines. Repair of the D7000 about $275 - $350 - cheaper than buying a new or used one and it is like having a new camera. By the way the clock does not reset after repair. I friend brought me his just bought "new" used D700 to check shutter count. It had 190K on it. Fine if the shutter/mirror was replaced but who knows. He sent it back for a replacement to be sure.

Mick 53 Loc: Minneapolis

If this topic did not matter to us the thread would have died and not grown like it did. Getting my sensor cleaned and wanted this information. Interested also on how many miles on my camera. Just like to know how many photos I have taken.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

Aldebaran wrote:

Must say as a past reliability engineer that when ... (show quote)

I agree. You especially want to know if you are buying one used from someone that you don't know.

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll:

The shutter count on any slr or dslr is just as important as the millage on a used car or your car for that matter. Without that information you can't accurately judge your cars usage, when to change oil, all that stuff.

It's especially important if you should want to sell your gear just like a used car. To me it's a must have.

I keep track of mine with my continuous photo count. It keeps track of both stills and video. I used to use EOS count for an older Canon but it only found the still count and didn't include video.

DebAnn Loc: Toronto

I couldn't care less. I'll know when the camera has too many clicks or some other problem and then I'll see if it can be fixed. If a fix either isn't possible or it will cost too much, I'll either cry and stamp my feet or buy another one.

nitrophil wrote:

There seems to be a lot of attention focused (pun intended) on the shutter count. My question is why? I am sure my old film cameras and their shutters were used a ton, no one ever questioned about their longevity then, why now with the DSLR?

Why should we worry about it now?

Just asking! :roll: