Exposure count on refurbished cameras: Does anyone have any knowledge as to the resetting of the exposure counter on a refurbished camera? I am considering purchasing a Nikon D500 and...

robbiedoug Loc: Cuero, Texas

Does anyone have any knowledge as to the resetting of the exposure counter on a refurbished camera? I am considering purchasing a Nikon D500 and have seen some refurbished ones in my budget range, but do not care to get one that is almost used up. If not reset, what would be a reasonable count for the D500?

PixelStan77 Loc: Vermont/Chicago

robbiedoug wrote:

Does anyone have any knowledge as to the resetting of the exposure counter on a refurbished camera? I am considering purchasing a Nikon D500 and have seen some refurbished ones in my budget range, but do not care to get one that is almost used up. If not reset, what would be a reasonable count for the D500?

Shutter life ratings differ across cameras, ranging from 50 000 shots for entre-level models to 500 000 actuations for some professional cameras. For the D500, Nikon claims a shutter life expectancy of 200 000 actuations. No way to reset the exposure counter.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Refurbish does not involve resetting the shutter. They're selling a new(ish) camera that has been returned or used only for demo. For the most part, they just double check all the equipment / accessories are returned and fresh packaging / plastic covers are included. There's no economic reason to invest any more effort preparing it for resale.

The D500 shutter is rated to 200,000. For refurbished, anything less than 10,000 is reasonable, but you can tell it's been a lot more 'used' at 5,000 than say 500.

You can do your own math on expected usage. If you shot 1000 images a day, that's the next 200 consecutive days with just overnight to edit. If 1000 a week, that's 200 consecutive weeks or about 4 years.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Refurbished cameras do not have the shutter count reset. I've bought them with between 15 and 500 - rough figures. Don't expect a dealer to tell you the count.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

CHG_CANON wrote:

Refurbish does not involve resetting the shutter. They're selling a new(ish) camera that has been returned or used only for demo.

Exactly. I bought my 6D from Canon as a refurbished and it had about a 480 shutter count. Very acceptable considering how much I saved over buying a new 6D. On the other hand, I bought a used Panasonic LX100 and the ad said "only a couple dozen pictures taken." The process for checking the shutter count on that camera is very convoluted, but I did manage to get through it and check the count. "a couple dozen" turned out to be more than 900! It wasn't a ridiculously high number but it sure wasn't a couple dozen either.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

Last year I scored on ebay a used D810 for $850. A photo studio was cycling its gear, so the camera was in great shape physically. I was fully aware that the shutter count was 80,000 (!), but I’m counting on Nikon build quality, and so far there have been no issues. This is an alternate body to my D500, so I am not relying on this to be my main camera.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

"Refurbish does not involve resetting the shutter."

This is a fact. Something else will fail in the camera before you encounter issues with the shutter.

47greyfox Loc: on the edge of the Colorado front range

I only buy from a factory refurb source, whether it be Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, whatever. Shutter count is never a concern, before or after the purchase.

russraman Loc: New York City

I bought a refurbished Nikon D850 from nikonusa.com at the end of 2018, and it arrived with a shutter count of 30 right out of the box. Never had any problems with any of the refurbished Nikon cameras I've purchased directly from Nikon.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

47greyfox wrote:

I only buy from a factory refurb source, whether it be Canon, Nikon, Sony, Fuji, whatever. Shutter count is never a concern, before or after the purchase.

Cameta Camera used to be very good for refurbs, but I heard they closed down. It looks like someone will taking over the building and the name. Time will tell how good it will be in the future.

http://www.cameta.com/

rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

MrBumps2U wrote:

Last year I scored on ebay a used D810 for $850. A photo studio was cycling its gear, so the camera was in great shape physically. I was fully aware that the shutter count was 80,000 (!), but I’m counting on Nikon build quality, and so far there have been no issues. This is an alternate body to my D500, so I am not relying on this to be my main camera.

Also depends on how well the previous user took care of the camera. Some photographers can be very careless or even downright abusive with their equipment.

BebuLamar

robbiedoug wrote:

Does anyone have any knowledge as to the resetting of the exposure counter on a refurbished camera? I am considering purchasing a Nikon D500 and have seen some refurbished ones in my budget range, but do not care to get one that is almost used up. If not reset, what would be a reasonable count for the D500?

While I believe it's possible by the manufacturers but I don't think they reset it ever. Just like the odometer on your car.

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

jerryc41 wrote:

Refurbished cameras do not have the shutter count reset. I've bought them with between 15 and 500 - rough figures. Don't expect a dealer to tell you the count.

Lenauthority ( a part of LensRental) lists the shutter count in the form of <x shts where x can be 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, etc. They seem to be the only company that lists the count. If you bought used gear that was rated in excellent condition, one would think that the shutter count is lower than one rated very good and below.