acutations

clintham

clintham

clintham

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30 Jan 2010
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263
camera actuations

just to satisfy my curiosity really. i'm piling on the actuations on a reasably new camera and i'm not too bothered about it. i might be a bit less trigger happy if i had a 5d lol

1 - how many actuations does your camera have?
2 - do you ever think about not taking so many photos when 'out and about' due to actuation count?
3 - if you were buying a camera, is there a threshold number of actuations? (ie you wont buy a camera with more than 20,000 actuations for example)
 
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1 - Around 20k clicks (can't check on the 1DmkIII)
2 - No never, even when I had the 500d or 7d. I bought them to take photos and that's what they get used for. Mirror\shutter assemblies can be replaced if needed.
3 - Well the price should reflect if the shutter count is close to the "limit" of the camera. If you take 500 pictures a week on average (quite a lot?), then a 500d with 50k actuations has in theory got nearly 2 years of life in it (100k limit).

Be happy, be snappy :)
 
I think I got up to 8k in about two months on my old 500d :D Taking pics at the rugby doesn't help, I can easily hit 500 pics using fps bursts.
 
noob question alert!! How do i find out how many actuations my camera has? I know there is a number that is given to each shot in ascending order as they are taken but thats not it, is it? Mine is currently at 9xxx i think but then i would need to factor in the amount that has been deleted too.
 
i dont think there is any way to get an accurate count on a 450d other than use the numbers generated per picture. i know there is software for the eos xxD range, but not the xxxD range. its not by canon its some other third party tool.

if a picture is deleted, its number is still 'used' though. so you dont have to take into account for deleted pictures.

the count can be reset on a 450d. if you havent done that and have had the camera from new, the number given to any picture will be an accurate reflection of the shutter actuations.
 
clintham said:
the count can be reset on a 450d. if you havent done that and have had the camera from new, the number given to any picture will be an accurate reflection of the shutter actuations.
Click to expand...

In this case then i'm currently at 9899 in the space of 11 months. Since learning about the 'increase in actuations = closer to shutter death', i do have a small worry in the back of mind about it, especially since i'm normally using continuous shooting for birds etc.. Being currently unemployed it's not something i can easily afford to replace. I don't know what the average max number of actuations is for a 450d, if its 10000 then i better take it easy for a while lol.
 
I managed to rack up over 60k on my Nikon D50 over about 2 years. It's rated for 50k so I'm pretty happy that it's still going strong. It also goes to show that even on an entry level camera you're pretty unlikely to break it through actuations alone.

Regarding finding out how many shots your camera has taken can't you read some data in the RAW file for it? I know for certain you can on Nikons and have heard of people doing it with Canon RAWs too.

There a website somewhere where people submit data on when they're shutter died, or if it's still working, how many actuations they're on. When I get home I'll dig it up. (google didn't help just now!)

I imagine the 450d will be rated for 50-100k actuations. Either way, nothing to worry about really!
 
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some of those ratings are scarily low. i have got about 8000 actuations on my 450d and i too cannot afford to replace any time soon - just had first child :)

im damned if im gunna stop taking photos at my current rate. im expecting atleast 30-50k out of my camera and i dont think thats an unreasonable expectation on my part.
 
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Yes that's the website.

But...people are so much more likely to post if their shutter has died. Also the few 100 people who post on that site are a tiny proportion of all sales. I really wouldn't worry about breaking your shutter for another 50k, anything less and you'd hope Canon would replace it under warranty or similar.
 
On reading more of the info on that site i seen this: (for the 450d)

Submitted by Alex
Clicks: 2,350
Shutter still alive: No

Submitted by CoSYAcK
Clicks: 45,500
Shutter still alive: Yes

Failure at 2350 is just scary, but as mentioned, there's no point in worrying about it i guess, and i know for certain that should the shutter fail tomorrow i would somehow find the money to get it fixed. The contents of my shed and attic would magically transform into a carboot sale :)
 
if mine failed at 2350 i would definately be looking for a free manufacturers repair!

i have taken so many photos in such a short space of time but im so glad i did. i have repeated so many photos with slightly different settings. it has taught me so much. im treating my 450d as my learning camera even though i cant afford to upgrade/replace for a long time to come.

so many of my friends and family think of digital photgraphy as free though, especially ones that used to shoot film. its just not true but im not going to let it stop me pressing my shutter.

rather let it sit in the back of my mind and make me think a bit longer about composition etc before i press the button.
 
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clintham said:
i have taken so many photos in such a short space of time but im so glad i did. i have repeated so many photos with slightly different settings. it has taught me so much. im treating my 450d as my learning camera even though i cant afford to upgrade/replace for a long time to come.
Click to expand...

Thats exactly the same situation as me. My 450d is my first DSLR and has been a great learning tool sofar. Since i'm in still in my first year of use i think it's ok to have been a bit trigger happy and take LOTS of photos as part of learning about photography and being able to see where i'm doing things right and doing things wrong. Also helps increase the number of 'keepers' too :D At least now i have a better idea of what would be a potentially good shot and not just mindlessly pointing and shooting at stuff so i can ease off on the shutter a bit.

While we're on the subject, what sort of prices are we talking about to replace a shutter?
 
SQUEEZO said:
Thats exactly the same situation as me. My 450d is my first DSLR and has been a great learning tool sofar. Since i'm in still in my first year of use i think it's ok to have been a bit trigger happy and take LOTS of photos as part of learning about photography and being able to see where i'm doing things right and doing things wrong. Also helps increase the number of 'keepers' too :D At least now i have a better idea of what would be a potentially good shot and not just mindlessly pointing and shooting at stuff so i can ease off on the shutter a bit.

While we're on the subject, what sort of prices are we talking about to replace a shutter?
Click to expand...

Between £200-£300+VAT.


clintham said:
just to satisfy my curiosity really. i'm piling on the actuations on a reasably new camera and i'm not too bothered about it. i might be a bit less trigger happy if i had a 5d lol

1 - how many actuations does your camera have?
2 - do you ever think about not taking so many photos when 'out and about' due to actuation count?
3 - if you were buying a camera, is there a threshold number of actuations? (ie you wont buy a camera with more than 20,000 actuations for example)
Click to expand...


1 - 32,000 (bought at 12K) and 116,000 respectivley - I'll replace the shutters once they hit 150,000. MTBF of 200,000 so that way I should be safe-ish they wont let go on a job.

2 - No, but I don't tend to shoot too many shots aside from shooting at sport or demonstrations.

3 - Depends on the camera and the price its offered at. I would take the cost of a new shutter into account so comparing a camera with 1K and 100K on a camera with an MTBF of 200K then I'd offer £100 less for the 100K than the 1K.
 
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