What is 20,000 shutter clicks worth?

[TexPhoto]

I just bought a 1D Mark IV on eBay, and got a pretty good deal. I paid $2925 and $30 for shipping. Looks flawless, and only has 7500 shutter clicks (according to the listing) Problem is the camera has 26,996. (according to EOScount.com) Other than that the camera is spot on. Looks flawless, has the accessories (2 batteries, A/C adapter, big 2 batt charger)

There was another hick-up in that the buyer emailed me asking for $35 more for shipping and seemed to think it was my fault that shipping was higher than his prediction. I explained that I did not pick the shipping (set before the auction), or send the invoice with $30 shipping after the auction. A buyer can't even change the shipping, it's set by the seller. I was considering paying all or part of it when it arrived, but felt a little strong armed by the first emails.

Anyway, I think 19,494 clicks is a bit much to overestimate. And I intend to request the price is lowered, or return the camera. I don't "need" it. It was sort of a birthday gift for myself and an upgrade to my 7D.

What do you think? Just return it? Just suck it up? Ask for a partial refund? $300?

 

[mwh1964]

20.000 shutter clicks is like nothing on a pro body. Don't worry about it. Enjoy the camera instead. Just my opinion though.

 

[Jim Saunders]

On principle send it back. On pragmatism consider what it would cost new and how much a new shutter will cost; Do you expect to wear it out?

Jim

 

[Canon1]

At the least I would report the seller to eBay for selling items not as described and for the shipping issue. Otherwise if the camera is sound, enjoy it. Never hurts to ask for partial refund and getting eBay involved might help facilitate this.

At the end of the day you still got a great deal, just a bummer it didn't go smoothly.

 

[PeterJ]

I guess if you wanted to put a dollar figure on it the extra is about 6% of the rated count. Not sure exactly what a replacement shutter costs but if say $500 then it would be 'worth' $30.

 

[Invertalon]

Not sure why people worry so much about shutter failure... They can fail at ANY time. The one you got with 30K may last to 300K no problem, if not longer. If you return and get another with 5K, it may fail at 10K... It is a roll of the dice.

My 5D3 has 60K on it right, going strong. It has its routine check-ups with Canon twice a year... I don't worry about it failing at all. It IS rated up to 150K but I know it can fail now, at 150K or at 300K (or more).

Shutter replacement is what, $250-300 and your camera is brand new again... Not that significant, considering the camera cost me $3500. I think of it as routine maintenance, like a car battery! ;D

I would buy a high shutter count camera without thinking twice, as long as it was taken care of along the way...

If you want figures though... Let's assume on the high side, the camera shutter is $400... (I believe it is $250-300 though). Your 1D IV has a rated shutter life of 300,000...

The 7500 you were told it would have would roughly be $10 of 'usage'... The 27,000 would be $36 of 'usage'.

So if you really want to worry about $26 of shutter usage cost...

Your "estimate" of a $300 refund is just insane and a rip-off to the seller. Considering its only $26 of usage... Just forget about it and enjoy the camera.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The thing to be concerned about is that the seller is a liar. That means that anything he said about the camera is suspect.
Return it for a refund. Chances are that it has other expensive issues that you will discover later. Leave feedback explaining the issue.

 

[helpful]

20,000 shutter clicks is absolutely nothing, completely ignorable. For what I do in sports, it's easy to shoot 5,000 in a day. I've shot as many as 12,000 in a day. The back up to my back up to my back up Canon 7D already has 36,000 photos on it and I consider it to be brand new. In fact, I've only had one camera shutter fail so far, and that was a Nikon D7000 after 136,000 actuations (it was completely replaced for free under warranty).

Pro bodies like this one have never had a shutter failure for me, but I'm probably lucky because they have hundreds of thousands of shots, and they definitely DO fail (more often for people who don't have backups, it seems to me, however!).

But just 20K is completely irrelevant. Don't return it. Just enjoy it.

As far as lying, the other posters do have a valid point there. A lie is a lie, and maybe you can't trust the seller to be clear about other details. But it is possible that those extra exposures were actually put on the camera AFTER the sale began. For example, he used it for a wedding while the auction was going on... 3,000 actuations... for track and field in Moscow.... 25,000 more actuations, etc.

But if there is anything wrong with the camera worth returning it, it has to be something else, not the actuations.

 

[Tabor Warren Photography]

I'm sorry that you even had to post this. The seller should have been honest in the first place.

My 2 cents, if you are going to use it as a pro body, return it sooner than later, however, if it is going to be a "fun" yet expensive toy for a hobby then I would not worry about it in the least. I imagine either way it would be fine.

For my purposes, I would return it simply because my business relies on my equipment working when I need it to. Additionally, I hate lying, it has got to be my greatest pet peeve, (just ask my kids). If nothing else, you have grounds to return it, but if you decide to keep it, have an awesome time.

Essentially, whatever you choose will be the right decision.

Cheers,
-Tabor

 

[dgatwood]

The thing to be concerned about is that the seller is a liar. That means that anything he said about the camera is suspect.

Including, quite possibly, the claim that the seller actually owned the camera. Is there a way to do a search for camera serial numbers to make sure it hasn't been reported as stolen?

 

[Atonegro]

The thing to be concerned about is that the seller is a liar. That means that anything he said about the camera is suspect.

Including, quite possibly, the claim that the seller actually owned the camera. Is there a way to do a search for camera serial numbers to make sure it hasn't been reported as stolen?

That came into my mind as wel...

I never do business with people who are lying to me, not even the small lies.
When they lie about the small things, they lie about the big things.

 

[M.ST]

20000 shutter releases more are not much for a pro body. Even my 350D prototype (with 20D shutter system in it) has now over 1,6 million shutter releases.

But if the seller say that the camera has only 7.000 shutter releases then return the camera. Don´t make business with liars.

If the seller is a professional photographer I even don´t believe only 26996 shutter releases.

In the last years I saw a lot of 1Ds Mark III bodys sold by alleged pro photographers with only 3500 or 15000 shutter releases, but the bodys look much worser than my 350D now.

The truth is, that some people are able to change the shutter amount and sell bodys with a few hundred shutter releases or more as nearly brand new for a lot of money.

The last hint comes from the Canon headquarter in Japan. But if you ask Canon official as a normal customer or magazine they don´t confirm this fact.

 

[DigiAngel]

i dont think it makes any difference (technically and from a price point of view) if a pro body has 7500 or 25.000 shutter cycles. Its practically brand new either way.

But your seller gave false information, thats another story. Maybe he just did a mistake. Or, worst case, the cam was stolen. i would ask for a clarification, copy of purchase bill or anything.

 

[alexturton]

I had a 7d for 3 years which I think had over 300k of shutter clicks before I sold it (for a 5d3). I had no problems @ 300k

 

[sama]

The thing to be concerned about is that the seller is a liar. That means that anything he said about the camera is suspect.

Including, quite possibly, the claim that the seller actually owned the camera. Is there a way to do a search for camera serial numbers to make sure it hasn't been reported as stolen?

Yes. http://www.stolencamerafinder.com/

 

[ams2d]

Based on the other posts seems the extra shutter clicks isn't a big deal. But I agree that you should either report the seller to ebay or give the seller a negative review for not being honest about the details of the camera. Would make me concerned if there was anything else that wasn't disclosed. For example I would ask to see any paper work from canon that the sensor was cleaned.

As far as knowing if the body was stolen or not there are sites like https://www.lenstag.com/stolen/ that allows owners to register their gear and if stolen will be posted on their site. But the trick is getting people to check these sites before buying.

 

[jdramirez]

I don't think accurate shutter count would have devalued the camera, but it would annoy me. if it is in otherwise pristine condition, I'd ask for a 6% refund. I hate eBay, but all the power is given to the customer.

 

[Dylan777]

My 2cents:

1. How did the seller cames up with 7500ish clicks? Was he been honest or playing around? Maybe he is 2nd or 3rd owner and only used 7500ish clicks, not counting prev. owner(s)

2. 26,000ish clicks are not that much for the pro body.

With that much money, why not get a NEW 5D III from authourized dealer

 

[jdramirez]

I had a 7d for 3 years which I think had over 300k of shutter clicks before I sold it (for a 5d3). I had no problems @ 300k

out of curiosity, how much did you sell it for?

 

[dstppy]

The thing to be concerned about is that the seller is a liar. That means that anything he said about the camera is suspect.
Return it for a refund. Chances are that it has other expensive issues that you will discover later. Leave feedback explaining the issue.

THIS. I would send it to a dispute rather than return right away since you're going to eat shipping. If he cares about his reputation, you'll get out of it OK, if he doesn't, he needs to be dinged for the deceit.

IF you get stuck with this, send it in for service/evaluation right away so you can figure out what it'll cost you since failure later on will be more stress and money down the road.