Mark_L wrote:
Unfortunately shutter count has become like mileage on cars. People freak out if even 25% of the expected shutter life is used and seem to think it will self destruct once the expected life is reached.
A landscape photographer could cart the camera all of the world through rain, sand, mud, snow, airport baggage handlers and it would have a much lower shutter count than someone who only shoots occasionally and photographs models exclusively in a studio but one will have had a much harder life and more use than the other.
+1
I'd take a used camera with 200k indoor dance shots on it over one with 10k misty ocean sunsets. Especially since the 10k camera would probably be selling at a 10-20% higher price just because of it's 'low mileage.'
Putting a lot of actuation's on a body also adds wear on the battery's, mirror box, CF mechanism, shutter release etc... The problem with using actuations as an "Odometer" is the counter (on Nikon) is reset with a new shutter. If I wanted too i could sell my backup D3s as mint D3s with only 100 actuations once I get it back with a new shutter. Nobody would have a clue it really has 700,000.
I've pre-emptively replaced the shutters in a few of my 1D bodies with over 750,000 clicks. When replacing the shutter (or mirrorbox) Canon overhauls the body and replaces any other worn items they found. In my experience, the camera functions like new when I get it back.
We used to average over two Events per week, now we seldom do that many in a month.
My first D1 had over 1 million shutter releases on it when I upgraded to the D2h.
It was still in excellent condition. I mostly wanted the latest-greatest high resolution (4MP) camera
with a larger buffer for more shots at the beginning of a race.
But one of my cameras (D2x) shutter was replaced after only a few thousand.
So shutter count means little to me.
Only things I can think of that might degrade the sensor.
Shooting directly at or leaving the sensor exposed to the Sun.
Allowing excessive heat build up or dirt to accumulate.
These might effect the filter more than the Sensor, but the D7100 has no protective filter.
If considered shutter counts like car odometer readings then the prices of high mileage cameras should have been much less. In reality in the used market the high mileage cameras sell for almost the same price as low mileage cameras. The difference often is typically less than 10% which actually does not make too much sense to me
High mileage being only 10% less make sense to me. They may even be worth more.
The D1 I sold with over 1 million shutter releases was in much better shape than most Newspaper Cameras after only a few thousand.
RRRoger wrote:
High mileage being only 10% less make sense to me. They may even be worth more.
The D1 I sold with over 1 million shutter releases was in much better shape than most Newspaper Cameras after only a few thousand.
Sure but whether the camera is in a great physical shape is a separate from how much mileage it has. You can have a low mileage camera in excellent condition or in terrible condition. Similarly you can have a high mileage camera in excellent or terrible shape. (Though in general most high mileage bodies that I have seen for sale have obvious signs of use)
However as luketrot wrote a few posts above, having lots of actuations puts stress on a lot of internal components of the camera, regardless of what the external condition is. Given two accident free bodies with similar external condition, but different mileage, there is clearly a greater risk of something failing in the higher mileage body. And given that the repairs can get very costly I think that a 10% difference doesn't balance that risk sufficiently. Obviously thats just my opinion and you are free to disagree
I have seen quite a few News Photographers throw their cameras down.
Not sure if it is contempt for their employers, they are just in a hurry to get "the" shot with their other camera, or this is how they will get new equipment.
A camera that has been banged up could also have a lot of dust and even some water in it.
Likely the insides are coming apart leading to future failure.
My own crew does not seem to value my equipment either, so I make them use their own when ever possible.
