Dngallagher wrote:
Just found shutter count by Dire Studios, grabbed it for my Mac & Canon 80D, and yes indeed it will show the shutter count.
I know that worrying about the shutter count is not productive, but like the mileage & actual gas mileage on my car, I want to know, so I now can know my shutter count. Why Canon does not take a page from Nikon and just put the shutter count into the EXIF of each image is beyond me.
2.99 is cheap in my book!
I agree, and I'll add a few other responses into this as well.
As another Canon user, why Canon doesn't make this information easily available is mystifying to me, I cannot think of a good reason, especially when it is pretty easy to find out if one wants to know.
The problem is that although Canon cameras record the information, because the company doesn't expose it third party companies need to reverse engineer a way to do that. Those options are available, but they vary in quality, availability, and cost. Shuttercount simply doesn't work since it relies on EXIF data, and Canon doesn't put the information in the EXIF data. Dire Studio software seems to stay fairly current, but does not support new Canon models on Windows at this time. EOSMSG works and is multi-platform. It is malware free IF downloaded from the main site - EOSmsg.com, but other sources may have potential issues as with any software download sites. The EOSmsg guys do a good job, but it costs about double the cost for Dire Studio stuff - still cheap - although I believe that they may charge for each camera with unlimited use per camera. EOSmsg also measures 'mirror up count' as does Magic Lantern which includes video and live view usage and is a better measure of usage.
The bigger issue is why do we care about shutter count? The vehicle analogy is a good one to consider.
When buying or selling a camera or a vehicle having some guide to wear and tear is useful, and visual inspections aren't always enough. Surprisingly, people don't always tell the truth, the full truth, and nothing but the truth. A new vehicle doesn't normally come with zero miles on the odometer, but less than 10 or 20 seems reasonable. Even a dealer demo vehicle should be just a few hundred. Same with a new or refurbished camera for click count. Buying used or refurbished is a little different, and selling follows similar rules. The shutter count is nice to know. The rest is just a comfort thing, nobody knows how long a camera or a vehicle will go before experiencing a problem.
Since I'm a Windows user, and will be getting a refurb 80D in a couple of days, I'll probably go with EOSmsg. It works well and I don't want to have to do it via wifi to iOS, which is Dire Studio's current option. $6.99 is the cost of a single cheap beer in a dive bar!
Now, beyond buying and selling there is big difference between cameras and vehicles. Vehicles have regular maintenance schedules that are important to pay attention to if you wish the vehicle to be reliable and not have excessive maintenance costs. How many UHH members have to change the oil, brake fluids, timing belts or water pumps on their cameras? Nada, zero, zip. On a vehicle that usage information - odometer readings and time between services - is important. A camera is not the same, keep it clean, but mostly it works until it doesn't.
So, in summary, I do like to know the shutter count on my cameras, and I will surely find out when my new refurb 80D lands in a couple of days, but other than making sure that it is low enough when I receive it, it really doesn't matter. I can work out how the camera should be doing by tracking my usage, by estimating how many images or videos I take on average in a week. I don't expect to wear out any of my cameras before I wear myself out!
Good luck, and unless buying or selling, 'Dinna fash yerself' as the Scots might say.