How to check the mileage of the camera?

How, by acquiring a camera, find out that it is new and not used? And in the case of buying used equipment how to assess the wear of the internal mechanisms of the device? Of course, only an authorized service center can carry out a full diagnosis of the camera. However, for a quick preliminary assessment of the state of the camera, it’s worth knowing the camera’s mileage - how many frames have been made on it at the moment.

How to evaluate camera wear? What is a shutter resource?

Interchangeable lens cameras, SLRs and mirrorless cameras are always equipped with a shutter. These mechanical shutters control the flow of light entering the camera’s sensor and measure the exact exposure time. Like any mechanism, the shutter is subject to wear. Different camera models are equipped with different shutters, each of which has a certain guaranteed response time. So, for shutters of the most affordable cameras, it is only 15 thousand frames, and for cameras of advanced and professional level - as many as 150-300 thousand. This does not mean at all that, having reached this figure, the mechanism will immediately stop - it can work much longer. So, the editorial office knows of cases when the youngest amateur DSLRs practiced both 150 and 200 thousand frames. However, the shutter resource will show

Shutter Nikon D7200

Shutter Sony ILCE-7RM2

The analogy with cars suggests itself - with the same mileage, cars can be in completely different conditions, depending on how they were operated. Nevertheless, both in the field of automobiles and in the field of photography, mileage will be an important factor in assessing the general state of technology. As in the case of a car, the greater the mileage of the device, the lower its price will be.

What is dangerous shutter camera with high mileage? The old shutter works out shutter speeds less correctly, which means that the exposure of the frame will also be inaccurate. When shooting at slow shutter speeds or when using the flash, black bars may appear in the photo. The above is the reason for contacting a service center about replacing the shutter with a new one. Otherwise, the old shutter may at some point simply jam.

Unfortunately, the shutter distance does not display the number of videos recorded on the camera. After all, when shooting a video, the shutter is always open, but all the same, the wear of the electronic components, matrix, processor, battery, housing and controls. Therefore, when buying a second-hand camera, ask the seller how actively they recorded video on this camera. Even when buying a new camera, you should check its shutter - and under the guise of new equipment, they may try to sell you a used one or a refurbished one.

How to know the mileage of the camera?

How to see how many frames the camera has taken at the moment? Note that some devices do not allow you to accurately know your mileage, for example, the FUJIFILM X-series. Depending on the manufacturer and model of the camera, there are several ways to view data on the number of shutter releases. And we will start with universal services that are suitable for testing a large number of different camera models. Camera shutter count This service will help you check your camera’s mileage online. It mainly supports modern models from Nikon and Pentax, as well as some older Canon and Sony cameras. Just upload raw JPEG or RAW to the Camera Shutter Count , and the result will be shown in an instant.

The start window of the site with buttons for downloading a test picture. Below are the cameras supported by the service.

Window with the result of the check.

EOSMSG program This application is installed on a computer and allows you to find out the mileage of Canon, Sony, Nikon and Pentax cameras - a complete list of supported models is on the program’s website . One minus: on Windows 10, it only works in compatibility mode with Windows XP.

The EOSMSG program determined the mileage of the Sony ILCA-99M2 camera.

View EXIF ??Data In fact, the Camera Shutter Count simply finds the mileage data in EXIF ??(the data on the shooting parameters recorded directly into the photo file) of the image. So, we can find them there on our own. Nikon cameras and some other models, such as Pentax, record shutter mileage. A convenient option is the Jeffrey's Image Metadata Viewer service - it will help you see all the data you need online. Just upload the raw image and in the table that opens, find the item “Shutter Count” - it will display the desired number. We tested the performance of this method on Nikon D810 and Pentax K-1 cameras. So, the mileage of our Nikon D810 is 76599 frames.

How do I know the shutter mileage of a Canon camera?

In addition to the already mentioned EOSMSG , an online service has been created to check Canon cameras , which works only with Internet Explorer. It does not work exactly like the previous services - to obtain data on mileage, you need to connect the camera to the computer via USB. The EOSinfo utility works in the same way : install it on a PC, connect the camera and find out its mileage.

How to know the mileage of a Sony camera online?

A special service has been created for cameras of this brand - it will allow you to see online how many frames your camera made. Thanks to this site, we even managed to find out the mileage of the Sony A7 Mark II camera, despite the fact that it is not in the list of supported models.

Service start page. It lists the supported cameras and describes the mechanism of the service: it takes data from EXIF ??and calculates mileage using a special formula.

The mileage calculation for the Sony A7 Mark II is 313 frames.

How to see the mileage of cameras of other brands?

“Overboard” of this article there are many brands of cameras left, because you just won’t be able to write about all of them in a short article.

For example, at Olympus, you can check mileage through the service menu, but such a check entails a number of dangers, so here we are not talking about this. But you will very easily find such information on the net. To find out not only about checking the shutter mileage, but also about other nuances of using photographic equipment of various brands, thematic sites and forums will help, where owners share their personal experiences. Before buying a camera, do not forget to visit one of them - this will help to collect all the necessary information about the camera, its features and methods of verification when buying.

Conclusion

Viewing the shutter mileage will make sure that you are buying a new product, and in case of buying a used camera, it will give a reason to bargain if the numbers do not correspond to the seller’s statements. But it is important to remember that such a check does not replace the integrated diagnostics of the camera, but only helps to evaluate its general condition. The best way to fully check the camera is to pass it for diagnosis to an authorized service center.