Shutter activations?

[jojo]

Good morning all,
Having just bought my first dslr, a second-hand 30D, I am now a bit paranoid as to whether it may have had heavy useage. It is actually only two months old (seller gave me the shop receipt and its general condition is unmarked). I have trawelled various sites to see if I can find the info I need myself, but what I have found I'm afraid I don't understand. An email from Canon said that, "unfortunately it is not possible to determine the number of shutter activations"(?) Is is within the realms of possibility to tell from the file numbering or get at least an indication? Mine currently reads 659-9331. Sorry for being such a numpty.

jojo

[Ian]

Re: Shutter activations?

Good morning all,
Having just bought my first dslr, a second-hand 30D, I am now a bit paranoid as to whether it may have had heavy useage. It is actually only two months old (seller gave me the shop receipt and its general condition is unmarked). I have trawelled various sites to see if I can find the info I need myself, but what I have found I'm afraid I don't understand. An email from Canon said that, "unfortunately it is not possible to determine the number of shutter activations"(?) Is is within the realms of possibility to tell from the file numbering or get at least an indication? Mine currently reads 659-9331. Sorry for being such a numpty.

jojo

I'd be quite surprised if it had managed to get anywhere near its expected shutter cycle 'quota' in just two months. In any case, the shutter won't just stop when it reaches the manufacturer's expected action quota.

I'm not absolutely sure about the Canon file naming system, but I don't think there is an obvious way of gettng a shutter operation tally this way. I had thought that the camera kept its own tally - some other makes and models do, but I'm not that familiar with the 30D.

If the camera is just a couple of months old, won't you have the manufacturer's warranty to fall back on in the first year anyway?

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Shutter activations?

When the 30D first came out Canon promoted the fact that it now had a shutter that was good for at least 100,000 actuations. I think thats ample for the vast majority of people.

I have also read, but have no experience of this, that the camera numbering system can be influenced by putting old memory cards in the camera that already have high file numbers on them, and that the file numbering can pick up from where the file numbers are on the card.

[jojo]

Re: Shutter activations?

When the 30D first came out Canon promoted the fact that it now had a shutter that was good for at least 100,000 actuations. I think thats ample for the vast majority of people.

I have also read, but have no experience of this, that the camera numbering system can be influenced by putting old memory cards in the camera that already have high file numbers on them, and that the file numbering can pick up from where the file numbers are on the card.

Thank you very much Ian and Stephen I feel a lot happier now And as soon as this miserable rain eases off, walking boots will be on and I'm off up the Mendips to try my baby out
Thanks again,
jojo

[Goatsmilkuk]

Re: Shutter activations?

I seem to recall reading a week or two ago, that Canon have 2 counters in each camera, 1 that the user can reset and a hidden one that shows the total number of activations. I'm not sure if there is software you can download to find the total number or if it need to be taken somewhere.

If I find it I will let you know.


Stu

Edit, just found the following, don't know if it works, I have not tried it, the original poster uses a 1D but may work for others too.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/72050/0

[Ian]

Re: Shutter activations?

I seem to recall reading a week or two ago, that Canon have 2 counters in each camera, 1 that the user can reset and a hidden one that shows the total number of activations. I'm not sure if there is software you can download to find the total number or if it need to be taken somewhere.

If I find it I will let you know.


Stu

Edit, just found the following, don't know if it works, I have not tried it, the original poster uses a 1D but may work for others too.

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic2/72050/0

I wonder why the Canon communicatin denied it was possible to read a shutter activation counter?

I did a simple calculation. Even if the camera had taken 250 shots a day, 7 days a week, for two months, the total shutter activations would only amount to 15,500.

Ian

[Goatsmilkuk]

Re: Shutter activations?

I wonder why the Canon communicatin denied it was possible to read a shutter activation counter?

It's like most things in life, depends on who you speak to on the day.

I have read some forums that say a Canon rep has plugged the camera into a laptop at a stand during a free health check which has shown the total number.

[jojo]

Re: Shutter activations?

Thanks Goatsmilkuk, downloaded the link but had problems doing anything constructive with it! Ah, such is life, but thanks anyway.
Jo