Shutter count request to Canon.

[FTb-n]

Shannon76, do me a favor.  Try eoscount and get a shutter count of your camera.  Take a bunch of pictures and keep track of how many you take.  Then try eoscount again.  Does the shutter count increase by the number of pictures that you took?

Last winter I bought a refurb 7D from Canon.  I used eoscount (it was free then) and was impressed that my refurb body only had a few hundred shutter actuations on it.  After taking a couple thousand images, I used eoscount again.  It still showed only a few hundred.

There was a time when I took the rated "shutter life" somewhat seriously, particularly when a friend reported that his 50D died around 60,000.  But, then I ran across a story that reported the mean shutter count before actual failure as reported by service records.  For recent EOS bodies, most were 500,000 or higher.  Sorry, I don't recall where I read this story or the details of how they got their numbers, but it convincing enough for me to not worry about.  Although, I do agree that it can be one indicator for the use of a used camera -- but, not, necessarily, of the abuse it took.

[serendipidy]

Hypothetical situation:

Two guys buy the same expensive Canon DSLR on the same day. One is a casual user who takes some family photos and also a few vacation shots. His camera mostly just sits in his closet. The other guy is a pro who runs a booming wedding photography business. One year later, they both want to sell to upgrade to the latest model that just came out. The first guy's shutter count is 2000 and the second guys count is 300,000. Neither is aware of the number because they didn't check.

Are both cameras equal in value? Should a potential buyer be able to know this? If they were both offered at the same price, I think I would buy the first guy's camera, all else being equal.

Ignorance is bliss.
Knowledge is power

Just my humble opinion.

[Ew]

Both Magic Lantern and gPhoto are reliable ways of getting shutter count:

ML also breaks down shutter and LiveView count.

ML: http://vimeo.com/groups/magiclantern/forum/topic:253992

GPhoto: http://photolifetoys.blogspot.com/2012/08/control-your-camera-with-gphoto2-via.html

[jVillaPhoto]

Hypothetical situation:

Two guys buy the same expensive Canon DSLR on the same day. One is a casual user who takes some family photos and also a few vacation shots. His camera mostly just sits in his closet. The other guy is a pro who runs a booming wedding photography business. One year later, they both want to sell to upgrade to the latest model that just came out. The first guy's shutter count is 2000 and the second guys count is 300,000. Neither is aware of the number because they didn't check.

Are both cameras equal in value? Should a potential buyer be able to know this? If they were both offered at the same price, I think I would buy the first guy's camera, all else being equal.

Ignorance is bliss.
Knowledge is power

Just my humble opinion.

I agree, I'd definitely want to know the shutter count on a used camera if I'm considering to buy it. EOS Utility / camera firmware should feature a shutter count as well, in my opinion of course.

Will the shutter count tell you exactly how long your camera has left? Will it magically make you a better photographer? Of course not, but no need to bash on the OP, he was only asking a simple question. Instead of helping the guy, we try to make him look like a dummy..  Not cool!

[danski0224]

I don't know if knowing the answer would help.

There is no preventative maintenance for a DSLR, unlike a car. You use it until it breaks or buy a new one.

A garage queen car with low miles may seem like a deal, but if you start *using* it, stuff breaks. Fluids need changing, seals harden, brake lines rot from inside out and so forth.

While many DSLR's have rubber seals and gasketing, there is no maintenance schedule. I suspect that most are not "user serviceable". You find out that a seal is bad when the camera fries out in the mist or rain, and then you are probably SOL unless you do quite a bit of business with Canon.

I think that sensor on time would be more meaningful than a shutter count. I bet there is a difference between 100,000 1/1000 actuations and 10,000 actuations lasting 10 minutes each.

In my eyes, as long as the camera is in good physical condition, the shutter count doesn't matter.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I recently sold my used 5D Mark II with 735 shutter actuations and bought a mark III.
You can be assured that I sood it for a much higher price than one with 30,000 or higher actuations.  I received a huge number of responses to my Craigslist ad while the other would be sellers are still waiting.

[Timothy_Bruce]

What have you done with that 5DII ? How long have you used it that it has such a low count?

[SambalOelek]

What have you done with that 5DII ? How long have you used it that it has such a low count?

That's nothing, I recently bought a 1Ds II with 840 actuations (original price €6900). Thats about $10 per shutter cycle, so I hope the previous owner had a high keeper rate

I don't think I'll ever see such a pristine 1Ds again. It even had LCD screen protectors.

I also sold a 5D II used for video. The shutter count of around 280 ensured a quick and easy sell...

[Mt Spokane Photography]

What have you done with that 5DII ? How long have you used it that it has such a low count?

I bought it from the Canon refurb store in August after selling my 1D Mark IV, it had about 300 actuations.  I planned to keep it for a year or two, but then I had some hand surgery, which prevented me from using it, and Adorama had the $2750 deal on the 5D Mark III.  I was able to use it one weekend photographing my friend driving his Monster Truck, and then I decided to sell it since I had the 5D MK III, a 7D, and a old 10D and the 5D MK II wasn't going to get much use.
It was a great camera, and a dark frame of the sensor showed a much cleaner sensor and less banding than my first 5D Mark II.

[Sameer Thawani]

I'm a little confused: The "reply by Canon" posted - was that a real reply or was the poster being sarcastic?

Two other things:
I don't think even most Nikon systems or the software that comes with it reports shutter count.

Regardless, shutter count does play some part in resale value of a camera if nothing else. Someone offering a Canon 7D for $1100, shutter count 3000 vs 67,000 makes a difference doesn't it?

[neuroanatomist]

Canon's response:

Thank you for your inquiry.  You can send your camera to the nearest Canon Service Center, and we will happily report the shutter count to you, the charge will be approximately 100x what you paid to the website.  Alternatively, you may choose to purchase a camera such as the EOS 1D X, which reports the shutter count on the system status menu of the camera.

I'm a little confused: The "reply by Canon" posted - was that a real reply or was the poster being sarcastic?

I'm sure it's genuine. I know the guy who posted it, at least as an acquaintance, and I can tell you without even the most minuscule shadow of a doubt, that he doesn't have a single sarcastic bone in his body.  Not even one.  Okay, maybe one of his middle ear ossicles is just slightly sarcastic. But that's it.  I swear.

 

[thepancakeman]

Canon's response:

Thank you for your inquiry.  You can send your camera to the nearest Canon Service Center, and we will happily report the shutter count to you, the charge will be approximately 100x what you paid to the website.  Alternatively, you may choose to purchase a camera such as the EOS 1D X, which reports the shutter count on the system status menu of the camera.

Why do you want to know?

If it's such useless information (as espoused in other posts) then why is it reported on the EOS 1DX?     (I'm believing that that element of Neuro's post was a true statement...)

[Axilrod]

I'm a little confused: The "reply by Canon" posted - was that a real reply or was the poster being sarcastic?

Two other things:
I don't think even most Nikon systems or the software that comes with it reports shutter count.

Regardless, shutter count does play some part in resale value of a camera if nothing else. Someone offering a Canon 7D for $1100, shutter count 3000 vs 67,000 makes a difference doesn't it?

Definitely sarcasm, no one in their right mind would point out the fact that their company charges 100x more than this.  And OP why not try 40DShutterCount?

[nf]

I have used the 40D Shutter Count on Mac with 5d Mkii, works great! 

[Viggo]

What if batterylife in pictures were as inaccurate as the shuttercount guarantee? They say my shutter lasts 400k which you, Neuro, and MANY others have used as an argument over the shutter durability of the 5d3. I'd be pretty angry if my shutter gave in at 60k and my 5d3 would do over half a million, no?