Shutter count, accurate or manufacturer business generator?

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Mr F Stop.

Mr F Stop.

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As I have said it other postsi am a second hand gear man. So always looking for a nice body with low mileage. But I have noticed here that there are some Nikon bodies with massive shutter counts. A 7200 with 330 000! There are several with 250 000, when Nikon say 150k is max tested what ever that means. It's obviously a good indication of use, but I have just turned down a 7200 with 33k on it that looked like it had done a million. I did how ever buy a very cheap one with 300k which is in mint condition externally. So my question is, is the shutter count just the manufacturers way of scaring folk into buying a new camera? The majority of shutter failures that I have read about seem to happen way inside the manufacturers top numbers for reasons other than being worn out. What say you?
 
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Yes of course its accurate like the speedo on a car BUT there are some people with the nikon service software to change it to anyting they want . Thats very very rare.External condition and having a box make a big difference.
 
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Some time ago I read that the shutter actuation count is affected when shooting in Live View with Nikon DSLRs. I think the reasoning was that the shutter opens to expose the sensor for the live view and then, when the shutter button is pressed, it closes before opening again for the exposure. This means that the shutter has operated twice for one image.

I don't remember where I read it or if it's true.
 
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There are plenty of low count cameras around at very reasonable prices so there is no need to even look at the high count ones.
When I wanted to see what mirrorless was all about I found a mint Fuji XT-1 body that was about 2 years old with 7k actuations at a great price. Then I fell over an XT-2 that was bought as second camera/spare body but other than checking it was working OK had never been used! Could not resist it especially as it came with a Fuji battery grip too! Paid under 50% of the new price (the XT-2 was still being sold new then) of just the camera body. Average used ones at the time were around 200 GBP cheaper without a grip.

I don't shoot high numbers so as examples I sold a Nikon D700 bought new between 4 and 5 years old with under 5k actuations and my D810 bought new with just 8120k actuations at around 4 years old. i'm not the only conservative user so they are there to be found.
 
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The shutter (on dslr) is a mechanical device, and as such, has a limited life. Like a car, it isn't always the mileage as condition and handling play an important role. I've seen high shutter count cameras that looked new and low count cameras that look like they had been through a war. The numbers provided by the manufacturer are estimates of service life and as they say, your mileage may vary. If you are buying a used camera with a high shutter count, like a car with high mileage, you should expect it to need repair of certain things. In the case of a shutter, it's not a matter of if, but when. Keep a car long enough, you'll need to replace brakes, shocks, exhaust etc.
 
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Warren D said:
The shutter (on dslr) is a mechanical device, and as such, has a limited life. Like a car, it isn't always the mileage as condition and handling play an important role. I've seen high shutter count cameras that looked new and low count cameras that look like they had been through a war. The numbers provided by the manufacturer are estimates of service life and as they say, your mileage may vary. If you are buying a used camera with a high shutter count, like a car with high mileage, you should expect it to need repair of certain things. In the case of a shutter, it's not a matter of if, but when. Keep a car long enough, you'll need to replace brakes, shocks, exhaust etc.
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Of course a shutter is a mechanical device, of course it has a life span, of course the manufacturers number is an estimate, and of course the shutter will fail at some point. I was a mechanic so I know all about the service life of cars. But what is the manufacturer basing it numbers on? I have 3 D7200 with a shutter count that is double their estimate? I also worked for KTM (motorcycle company) for a time and they wrote in their manuals that the RFS engine should be rebuilt at 100 hrs now I have personally own and used these engines for 3000 hours with out rebuild, so why would these manufacturers give such low numbers ............? surely admitting that your product actually last double or treble the time would be a good thing? No of course not because no one in there right mind would by new.
 
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dabhand16 said:
There are plenty of low count cameras around at very reasonable prices so there is no need to even look at the high count ones.
When I wanted to see what mirrorless was all about I found a mint Fuji XT-1 body that was about 2 years old with 7k actuations at a great price. Then I fell over an XT-2 that was bought as second camera/spare body but other than checking it was working OK had never been used! Could not resist it especially as it came with a Fuji battery grip too! Paid under 50% of the new price (the XT-2 was still being sold new then) of just the camera body. Average used ones at the time were around 200 GBP cheaper without a grip.

I don't shoot high numbers so as examples I sold a Nikon D700 bought new between 4 and 5 years old with under 5k actuations and my D810 bought new with just 8120k actuations at around 4 years old. i'm not the only conservative user so they are there to be found.
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I paid less than 200 squid for this 7200, please show me one for even close to that money. I can have the shutter mechanism replaced here for 400 lev about 200 pounds so it had to be worth a punt surely.
 
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Couple years past I checked into a used D810 Nikon with 24-120 lens @ $700 asking price. The lens would focus and respond to aperture changes, but was stuck at 24mm. The body was very well beat the heck but did work correctly, I made a few images on an SD card I took along. Later I checked the shutter count: 486 thousand!
A friend of mine is photographer for the KC Chiefs, they used D5's until a couple years ago. He said the shutters took 800,000 or so then failed. They replaced the camera, no repairs. He and another shooter each shoot a couple thousand at practice and 3500ish at games. Followed the players around making photos at appearances and so on.. Killing D5's was the normal for them. Edit: D4 prior and same shutter count
 
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A friend of mine dropped his D4s on a trip a few years ago. He sent it in to Nikon to have it checked. They told him the camera was OK, but they advised him to have the shutter replaced. It had 780,000 actuations.

Needless to say he agreed.
 
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Bristolian said:
Some time ago I read that the shutter actuation count is affected when shooting in Live View with Nikon DSLRs. I think the reasoning was that the shutter opens to expose the sensor for the live view and then, when the shutter button is pressed, it closes before opening again for the exposure. This means that the shutter has operated twice for one image.

I don't remember where I read it or if it's true.
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Sure, because that's how often the shutter was activated. Two activations to take one picture. It's not a picture count, but a shutter actuation count. Good info. Thanks, I never would have thought of that.
 
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No, I don't think it's a manufacturers way of scaring people into buying a new camera rather than buying used. I think it's more like showing that one of the reasons a higher end camera is worth more money is a longer shutter life expectancy.

Meanwhile, I just sent one of my D500s in to Nikon to replace the shutter after it finally failed well beyond it's expected lifespan. Some people would just buy a new camera at this point. I guess it all depends on your perspective, and how deep your pockets are. :)
 
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Woodyg3 said:
No, I don't think it's a manufacturers way of scaring people into buying a new camera rather than buying used. I think it's more like showing that one of the reasons a higher end camera is worth more money is a longer shutter life expectancy.

Meanwhile, I just sent one of my D500s in to Nikon to replace the shutter after it finally failed well beyond it's expected lifespan. Some people would just buy a new camera at this point. I guess it all depends on your perspective, and how deep your pockets are. :)
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Surely if it was to show that the shutter count was a sign of longer life and better quality they would use a more accurate number? Besides a 7200 only gets 150k and is twice the price of a 3300 which has only 50k less? Oh and the 7200 I am talking about are doing more than their more expensive models? Telling your customers it's half as good as it really is, is crazy. Maybe if they were guaranteeing it that would be different but there not. As for repairing your camera, it only makes sense if the repair is a reasonable cost. I have seen this many many times with cars when they get older and people start replace major components. You end up married to it because of the money you have invested. I bought the cheap 7200 because it was still going to be a cheap camera even if I have to replace the shutter tomorrow. I don't think I would have even considered it as a main body. What was the shutter count on the D500 when it died?
 
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Woodyg3 said:
Sure, because that's how often the shutter was activated. Two activations to take one picture. It's not a picture count, but a shutter actuation count. Good info. Thanks, I never would have thought of that.
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Ah this is interesting. It's maybe why this high count camera I have bought instead of the lower count beaten up one has been used in LV most of it's life? That would effectively double the count in the same time period. I wonder if the type of photography has any bearing on the shutter life. But reading the posts here seems the faster and more you use it the better.
 
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