Can the number of clicks always be trusted?

[haggie]

Recently I have seen many second hand Canon camera's being offered for sale, both in real stores and on the internet, with a low number of shots taken.
Often around 8,500, but also less than a hundred.
They are claimed not to be refurbished camera's, but camera's from a private owner.

There are tools to check the number of images taken with a specific camera body, and these are not by Canon but by someone who managed to make it.

Can a camera body's number of shots taken be manipulated (the equivalent of turning back a car's distance) by somesoftware tool?
I know reading a value is diferent from changing it, but still ......

 

[ajfotofilmagem]

As far as I know, the various shutter-count software can not be easily tampered with, but a screenshot can be. So if you buy, repeat the test yourself to make sure the count matches with the one performed by the seller.

 

[haggie]

Thanks ajfotofilmagem, that is a good point too. Trust has to be earned!


But what I mean is:
is it known to be possible (in whatever way) to manipulate the number of exposures that is stored in each camera body?

In theory the number of exposures is just a counter and a register value that stores the present value at some point. The software tools read this value, so there is some knowledge how to access that value.
If someone knows the details, it could also be possible to manipulate that value, for instance decrease it from 110,000 to 20,000. Again: in theory.

What I want to know: has such a thing been done as far as anybody knows?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

There are some who have claimed to be able to change the counter, but they have not really presented proof. I expect that it would be a big task involving getting access to the motherboard, but, it is certainly possible, all the new cameras are set to zero at some point during production. There are test shots and calibration shots done at the factory that are zeroed out.

Many cameras just do not get much use, and eventually the owner decides to upgrade and sells a virtually unused camera.