If you like this artice, then also check the maximum write speed of your Canon, How to get rid of hot pixels on a Canon camera or troubleshooting your Canon.
- Lens Shutter Count Tool
- How To Check Lens Shutter Count
- Lens Shutter Count Chart
- Lens Shutter Count Calculator
- Lens Shutter Count Test
- Canon Lens Shutter Count
- Leaf Shutter Lens
- Shutter count, if accurate, is a good indicator of use, but other tell-tale signs are wear around the shutter button area and where your thumb would sit when holding the.
- Incorporating a commercial made Compur type shutter required lens designers to accommodate the width of the shutter mechanism in the lens mount and provide for the means of triggering the shutter on the lens barrel or transferring this to the camera body by a series of levers as in the Minolta twin-lens cameras.
Have you ever wondered how to find the shutter count from your Canon? Since the days of Canon EOS 1Dn II and 1Ds II Canon hides the shutter count inside the camera. That means you either need to send the camera to Canon or use a 3rd part software. Uploading an image to a webpage to get the shutter count doesn’t work with Canon cameras post EOS 1Dn II/EOS 1Ds II.
Do you wonder if the software below will show you the correct shutter count? Well, I have sent my 6D and 7D to Canon and the shutter counts I got from Canon are the same as I got from Magic Lantern, But Magic Lantern also showed me the Live view count.
The number of shutter count actuations is still important on these mirrorless cameras. Olympus rates the OM-D E-M5 at 100,000 shutter actuations. This means that after (or possibly before) 100,000 actuations the shutter may fail and need to be replaced. The Olympus OM-D E-M1 is rated at 150,000 shutter actuations.
Anyway, here are some links to different software with the ability to show you the shutter count. If you find it hard to find your camera model, use the search tool in your browser and type your Canon model. If you own a Rebel camera, use Wikipedia to get the European/international model name.
Software
Magic Lantern (free and open source)
With Magic lantern you can find out the count, not only for the the pictures you have taken but also the Live view. Software for M, 100D, 1100D, 1200D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 7D, 6D, 5D II, 5D III.
You find the software here and down below you have a tutorial how to find the shutter count.
EOSInfo and 40D Shutter count (free)
Software like EOSInfo (mirror site) for Windows and 40D Shutter Count (mirror site) for MacOSX are able to get the shutter count for 1000D, 40D, 50D, 450D, 500D, 700D och 5D II.
400plus (free and open source)
For 400D 400plus is available and works like Magic Lantern. Tutorial here.
Lens Shutter Count Tool
CHDK for 350D (free and open source)
For 350D CHDK is available and works like Magic Lantern. Tutorial here. Also check this tutorial.
Canon EOS DIGITAL Info (free and open source)
Canon EOS DIGITAL Info is for Windows and based on EOSInfo. Shutter count for M, M2, 100D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 7D, 6D, 5D II, 5D III, 1D IV, 1D X, 1D C.
DIRE studio (not free)
DIRE Studio has an app for iOS, software for OS X and Windows. It costs and supports M50, 100D, 200D, 250D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 2000D, 4000D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D 850D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 90D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D II, 5D III, 5D IV, 5Ds, 5DsR, 1D IV, 1D C, 1D X, 1D X II, 1D X III, RP, R, R5
For some newer models it reports counters in 1000 increments.
Gphoto2 (free and open source)
How To Check Lens Shutter Count
If you use Linux you can try out Gphoto2. Install process:
Contect camera and computer and write in Terminal:
Now you should see what kind of camera you have connected. If so, continue with:
If you get an error, try:
You will get something like:
Kill the first two process ID and try again:
Confirmed with 1000D, 450D, 550D, 600D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 7D, 6D, 5D II
Tornado EOS (free)
Tornado EOS comes in two versions. One free for reading shutter count, total shutter count, mirror count, total mirror count, language restriction, C-log and error logs. For $20/day or $65/month it is possible to upgrade and to edit for example shutter count, language restriction, GPS/WiFi or C-log. AV give false positive. Use virtual machine if you are unsure.
”Yes, for now many antiviruses have false positive detection of my program, because i use my custom protection system.
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for a single developer to influence huge corporations. So use virtual machine is not a problem”
Unfortunately, it’s very difficult for a single developer to influence huge corporations. So use virtual machine is not a problem”
100D, 200D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 2000D, 4000D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D II, 5D III, 5Ds, 5DsR, 5D IV, 1D IV, 1D X, 1D X II, 1D C.
SPT (not free)
SPT has software that can do so much more than just to check the shutter count. For example calibration of the AF or calibration of the shutter. Therefor it also costs much much more. Between $99-275. This one can also read mirror count and even reset both the shutter count and the mirror count. Works with: 100D, 200D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 2000D, 300D, 350D, 400D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D, 5D II, 5D III, 5Ds, 5DsR, 5D IV, 1D III, 1Ds III, 1D IV, 1D X, 1D X II, 1D C.
Lens Shutter Count Chart
eosmsg (not free)
Chinese software eosmsg that works with M, M2, M3, M5, M6, M6 II, M10, M50, M100, 100D, 200D, 250D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 2000D, 4000D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 90D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D II, 5D III, 5D IV, 5Ds, 5DsR, 1D IV, 1D C, 1D X, 1D X II, RP, R.
EOSCount (not free)
EosCount.com also costs money. Cameras that will work with the software are 100D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 7D, 5D II, 5D III, 1D IV, 1D X, 1D C.
ASSIST (free)
For Powershot and Ixus (and Canon EOS M3). You find the tutorial here and the camera support here.
ShutterCheck (not free)
Requires macOS 10.11 El Capitan or later.
M6 II, M50, 100D, 200D, 250D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 1500D, 2000D, 3000D, 4000D, 8000D, 9000D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 90D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D II, 5D III, 5D IV, 5Ds, 5Ds R, 1D C, 1D X, 1D X II, 1D X III, RP, R, R6, R5
APT – Astro Photography Tool (free)
The democlaims to read shutter counts from cameras with Digic III and newer. The shutter count will be displayed in the Log panel.
M50, 100D, 200D, 450D, 500D, 550D, 600D, 650D, 700D, 750D, 760D, 800D, 1000D, 1100D, 1200D, 1300D, 2000D, 4000D, 40D, 50D, 60D, 70D, 77D, 80D, 7D, 7D II, 6D, 6D II, 5D II, 5D III, 5D IV, 5Ds, 5Ds R, 1D III, 1Ds III, 1D IV, 1D C, 1D X, 1D X II, EOS R.
Modern cameras have complicated electronics, but only a few moving parts. The most important are the shutter mechanism and the motor that flips up the mirror in a DSLR. As a camera gets older, it’s important to be aware of your camera’s shutter count. This is also very important when considering purchasing a used camera.
What is Shutter Count?
Shutter count is the amount of photos that your camera has taken. It’s an important number that indicates the life expectancy of your camera. It’s a mechanism that flips a DSLR’s mirror out of the way, built from tiny and delicate parts. Then, a curtain will move from top to bottom, exposing the sensors, followed by another curtain covering it. This process also often moves incredibly quickly, which can subject them to a surprising amount of force:
For example, if you’re taking a picture in bright afternoon sunlight, your shutter may only be open for 1/1000 of a second or less. In order to stay open for such a short amount of time, it needs to start moving very quickly and then stop moving just as fast.
Over time, the forces involved in opening and closing the shutter are going to lead to the parts wearing out and the shutter mechanism breaking down. When this happens, you may have to either send the camera back to the manufacturer to replace the shutter mechanism–which is expensive and time-consuming–or get a new camera.
Fortunately, shutter mechanisms are built for a fairly large number of actuations. In most cameras, the shutter is rated for at least 100,000 to 200,000 shots, with top-tier pro models rated even higher. It’s also common for camera shutters to last far longer than their official rating.
For casual shooters or even many semi-pro photographers, this could be enough to last for many years and longer than you would want to keep the camera. Heavy shooters, though, will start to run into problems much sooner. If you shoot 2,000 shots a week (not difficult for certain types of photography, such as weddings and events), you might only be looking at a year or two before hitting the shutter lifespan.
If your camera is starting to get some age on it or you are looking at buying a used piece of gear, it can become important to check your shutter count to know how close you are to reaching the shutter’s limit. After all, the last thing you want is to have your shutter fail during the middle of an important shoot.
How To Check Shutter Count
Luckily, camera manufacturers build a tool into a camera to keep track of the shutter count. It’s not always easy to access this data, however. Depending on your camera, there are many ways to check your shutter count.
What is EXIF Data?
All cameras store a lot of info in each image’s EXIF data. For many cameras, such as most Nikons, most Sony Alphas, and some Canons, this includes the shutter count. You can use any program that will show you the complete EXIF data (not just an image viewer that only shows the basic information) and look for a line that says something like Image Number or Shutter Count.
Adobe Photoshop will show your EXIF data by clicking on File Info in the File menu and clicking on the Raw Data tab. You can view complete EXIF data on images uploaded to Flickr. There are also a large number of websites that will allow you to upload an image and will tell you the shutter count.
Alternatives for Canon Cameras
For Canon cameras, if the shutter count isn’t saved in the EXIF data, there are some alternative tools you can use. If you use a Mac computer, the Shuttercheck App will connect to your camera and show your shutter count. For some camera models, you can use EOSInfo to find this information on Windows. The firmware hack Magic Lantern also adds the option to view shutter counts directly in the camera.
Shutter Count Ratings
Different cameras have different shutter counts ratings from their manufacturers. These ratings are what the camera makers expect the minimum shutter life to be. Depending on how you use your camera (and your general luck), your actual shutter life may be lower or far higher than what the manufacturer states.
Canon Shutter Count Ratings
Canon has released shutter count ratings for most of their cameras above the Rebel line. Only some of the Rebels have official ratings available.
Camera Model | Shutter Rating |
---|---|
Canon 1D X Mark II | 500,000 |
Canon 5D Mark II/III/IV | 150,000 |
Canon 6D Mark II | 100,000 |
Canon 7D Mark II | 200,000 |
Canon 60D/70D/80D | 100,000 |
Canon T5i/T6i | 100,000 |
Nikon Shutter Count Ratings
Lens Shutter Count Calculator
Nikon also states shutter count ratings for most of their camera models.
Camera Model | Shutter Rating |
---|---|
D4/D5 | 400,000 |
D500 | 200,000 |
D850 | 200,000 |
D3500 | 100,000 |
D5600 | 100,000 |
D7500 | 150,000 |
Lens Shutter Count Test
Sony Shutter Count Ratings
Canon Lens Shutter Count
Sony has for the most part avoided giving official shutter count ratings on their cameras. The only models that have been given an official statement for their shutter count lifespan are the a7R II, a7R III, and a9, all of which are rated for 500,000 actuations.
It’s common to hear comparisons made between camera shutter counts and car mileage. While this isn’t exact, it can give a useful frame of reference about how long to expect your camera to keep working well.
Like with mileage, this value is generally a suggestion and not a rule. You can get far more or less life out of your camera than their official rating. If you’re preparing for a major shoot or looking at buying a used camera, know if you’re near the rating to avoid potential problems.
Tags: Used Cameras