# Shutter Count



## xxarmando (Oct 27, 2013)

Hello everyone. I have been reading around a lot about shutter count and how a camera has x amounts of shots it takes before it "breaks". As as beginner to photography this has me somewhat concern. I have a D7100 and it already has around 800 shutter count. It's been about 3 weeks that I have the camera. As a beginner I take pictures of everything without thinking twice, and multiple shots to find the right aperture and shutter speed, ISO etc. I would like to know how important the shutter count is, and also if anyone knows the count on the D7100. I might have to start taking less unimportant shots and planning more.

Also what are your shutter counts, would be interesting to see everyone's. Again I am new to photography all around and I am taking multiple shots to see how certain things affect others.

P.S If my the shutter in my camera reaches it's limit and starts having problems does the whole camera become useless or is there anything I can do to put maybe a new piece or sent it to Nikon down the line for repair? and how much would it be if such thing exists.


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## DeathDiesel (Oct 27, 2013)

lol if it makes you feel better, I've had my camera since the 14th, I think I have over 1100 already? Took 670 yesterday alone. Im interested in the awnser to this though. Btw it doesn't "break" to my knowledge, just its not rated for life after that, kind of like hours for an LCD screen.


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## lambertpix (Oct 28, 2013)

Most DSLR shutters are rated for around 100,000 actuations (pro models are higher than that, even).  That doesn't really mean anything about your specific camera, any more than you can expect "around" 100,000 miles on a car, for instance.  You might see problems before or well after, but that gives you a rough idea what sort of numbers you're looking at.


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## robbins.photo (Oct 28, 2013)

xxarmando said:


> Hello everyone. I have been reading around a lot about shutter count and how a camera has x amounts of shots it takes before it "breaks". As as beginner to photography this has me somewhat concern. I have a D7100 and it already has around 800 shutter count. It's been about 3 weeks that I have the camera. As a beginner I take pictures of everything without thinking twice, and multiple shots to find the right aperture and shutter speed, ISO etc. I would like to know how important the shutter count is, and also if anyone knows the count on the D7100. I might have to start taking less unimportant shots and planning more.
> 
> Also what are your shutter counts, would be interesting to see everyone's. Again I am new to photography all around and I am taking multiple shots to see how certain things affect others.
> 
> P.S If my the shutter in my camera reaches it's limit and starts having problems does the whole camera become useless or is there anything I can do to put maybe a new piece or sent it to Nikon down the line for repair? and how much would it be if such thing exists.



Well it isn't something you probably need to worry about - the D7100 is tested and rated for 150,000 cycles.  That means odds are good unless your shooting professionally pretty much on a daily basis you'll most likely upgrade the camera long before the shutter fails, because it will probably last you for a lot longer than the actual "useful" lifespan of the camera.  If you are really attached to your D7100 say 5 or 10 years down the road and still don't want to upgrade, you can always have the shutter replaced at that point.


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## AceCo55 (Oct 28, 2013)

I shoot around 2000 per week.
My D300 is rated to 150,000 ... but at around 135,000 the shutter stopped working. Sent it off to Nikon to have shutter replaced - I think it cost me around $400 (not sure). I really is a bit of "luck of the draw". I have heard of D300 still going at 300,000

Whilst it was being fix I bought a second hand D300 with only 1500 shutter actuations.
I now share my photo taking between these two - lot less lens changing too.

To be honest, I wouldn't worry about it at all. Enjoy taking photos and if the shutter dies earlier than the expected it doesn't break the bank to get the shutter replaced.
My D4 is supposedly rated at 400,000 actuations. We will see!!!


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## gsgary (Oct 28, 2013)

At the rate you are going a quick calculation your shutter wil last 10.7 years

Sent from my GT-I9100P using Tapatalk 2


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## xxarmando (Oct 28, 2013)

Ok thanks for clearing that out everyone. Also does pressing the shutter halfway to obtain focus etc count as an actuation?


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## sm4him (Oct 28, 2013)

First of all, as others have said, it's just an "average"--the typical number of shutter actuations you can expect on that camera. It's like the average mileage expectancy of a car. Within the exact same year and model, some may last 200,000 miles +, others may die at 50,000. 

The other thing is that the camera doesn't "break," the shutter mechanism fails.  At that point, if you really wanted to, you could just pay to have the shutter mechanism replaced; current cost for that on D7000s is, I think, around $300. But given that the CHANCES are your shutter will last a very, very long time, it is quite likely that by the time it ever dies, you'll want to just buy another camera anyway.


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## manicmike (Oct 28, 2013)

xxarmando said:


> Ok thanks for clearing that out everyone. Also does pressing the shutter halfway to obtain focus etc count as an actuation?




No, only when the shutter actually triggers.


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## sm4him (Oct 28, 2013)

xxarmando said:


> Ok thanks for clearing that out everyone. Also does pressing the shutter halfway to obtain focus etc count as an actuation?



No, it doesn't. An actuation is when the shutter actually actuates, which it doesn't do if the button is only pressed down halfway.


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## Forkie (Oct 28, 2013)

Don't count your shutter actuations or you'll never take any shots.  What if you want to take some continuous shots at high speed or make a timelapse?   That'll take a few hundred shots on it's own.

I sold a D40 a couple of years ago with 120,000 shutter actuations and it was perfectly fine and spritely. Nikon only test to shutters up to 100,000 actuations. They don't test them until they break.


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## Coasty (Oct 28, 2013)

This thread got me curious about my own cameras, and how I abuse them.

My D200 from November 2006, around 14,500. 5.675 shots per day average. Most shots in one day, 982.

My D300 from April 2008, around 43,700. 21.421 shots per day average. Most shots in one day, 1485.

My D7000 #1 from April 2011, around 16,000. 16.931 shots per day average. Most shots in one day, 1254.

My D7000 #2 from April 2013, around 3,500. 14.286 shots per day average. Most shots in one day, 421.


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## DarkShadow (Oct 28, 2013)

800 its still breaking in. I had a Nikon D3100 I put 3000 clicks in a month. Don't worry about it and just shoot and have fun.


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## robbins.photo (Oct 28, 2013)

Coasty said:


> This thread got me curious about my own cameras, and how I abuse them.
> 
> My D200 from November 2006, around 14,500. 5.675 shots per day average. Most shots in one day, 982.
> 
> ...



Wow coasty.. have you considered taking up a hobby of some sort.  I  know.. how about photography?  Oh.. hmm.. wait, nevermind.. lol


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## Coasty (Oct 28, 2013)

robbins.photo said:


> Coasty said:
> 
> 
> > This thread got me curious about my own cameras, and how I abuse them.
> ...




I&#8217;ve thought about it. Most of the pics are garbage. When you don&#8217;t have to buy film, or wait until it is developed, you can get sloppy.  Some of it was also for my work.


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## minicoop1985 (Oct 29, 2013)

My Oly's got about 1200 on its new shutter. It's only rated for something like 40,000, which seems insanely low to me... but again, as they've said above, if you worry about that too much, you'll never take pictures.


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## astroNikon (Oct 29, 2013)

This worried me too when I first read of it.  It is in the specifications of the camera, but when you look at it, it's like changing the tires in your car.  The shutter wears over time and may fail.

I've had my camera since Oct 2012 and have over 10k on it.  I'm far far away from worrying about the shutter having issues.  I have heard of someone having to have it replaced but they used theirs at 74k.

I no longer worry about it.


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