How to Find Your Camera’s Shutter Actuation Count
When you are looking to buy or sell a camera, it’s important that you know the camera’s shutter actuation count. This is the number of times the shutter has fired, and different cameras have different life expectancies. It’s just like if you were buying a car – you wouldn’t make a purchase without checking the vehicle’s mileage.
If you’re looking to sell your camera, make sure to read our top tips on how to get the best price for your equipment.
The website Olegkikin.com has a database with the different average expectancies of all sorts of cameras. A camera’s value will change depending on how far along it is in its life. The number in each photo’s filename does not indicate the shutter count, and instead the information is a little harder to obtain. But luckily it’s still relatively easy to do, and most importantly it won’t cost you a penny.
How many shutter actuations is too many?
Cameras like the Nikon D5 and Canon 1DX Mark II are rated to around 400,000 shutter actuations. However, these are flagship bodies and the more affordable the camera, the less durable the mechanisms will be.
It’s safe to say that most cameras will have a life of around 200,000 shutter actuations. Consequently, most people are looking for second hand cameras that are around 50-60,000 actuations as a maximum. The fewer, the better.
Finding the shutter count on Nikon & Pentax cameras
The shutter count is stored within each photo’s EXIF data. All you need to do is take a photo and upload the file to the website myshuttercount.com. It’ll then tell you exactly what number that particular photo is.
How to find the shutter count on Canon cameras
You can upload your photo file to camerashuttercount.com. It claims to work with a selection of Canon cameras, although it is quite possible some cameras won’t work with this method.
If this doesn’t work, then you’ll need to download a program called EOS Info. It works for almost any DSLR (although potentially not the 500D series, but the website suggests it is worth a try). All you do is connect the camera to your computer via its USB cable and run the program. It’ll spit out a load of information, including the shutter count.
EOS Info will only work on Windows computers, but you can use the older 40D Shutter Count program if you are a Mac user. It will still work on other DSLR cameras too, except the 1D series.
Still not working? You’ll need to send the camera back to Canon or an authorised Canon retailer to check. For some reason they’ve made life tougher when trying to extract this information.
Finding the shutter count for Olympus cameras
For Olympus users, you can find out the shutter actuation count through the camera’s menu. Just follow these steps:
- Turn the camera on
- Open the memory card door
- Press “PLAY” +”OK” at the same time
- Press on the dial, in the following order: up, down, left, right
- Depress the shutter release button fully
- Press up on the dial
You’ll then be presented with the shutter count.
Shutter counts for Sony Cameras
Sony users can find out their shutter count using this particular website. Just upload a file straight from the camera and you’ll get your shutter count easily.
Alternative Methods
The website camerashuttercount.com works with a variety of different brands. If you have difficulty with any of the above methods, then it is worth also uploading a photo to this website to try and find your shutter count.
