# Shutter Durability



## Soda Ant (Jan 5, 2009)

One of the things DSLR manufacturer specs and online/magazine reviews commonly list is shutter durability figures. Prosumer DSLRs (e.g. the D700) typically list 150,000 exposures and pro DSLRs (e.g. D3) go up to 300,000 exposures.

What does this number actually mean? Is this the actual expected working life of the shutter before it needs to be serviced or replaced? This is not a very large number of exposures, especially for a DSLR, where taking pictures is essentially free.

I'm not a pro, but I often take 1000 pictures a week--does this mean that if I buy a D700, I can expect its shutter to go belly up every 15 weeks?


----------



## jlykins (Jan 5, 2009)

Soda Ant said:


> One of the things DSLR manufacturer specs and online/magazine reviews commonly list is shutter durability figures. Prosumer DSLRs (e.g. the D700) typically list 150,000 exposures and pro DSLRs (e.g. D3) go up to 300,000 exposures.
> 
> What does this number actually mean? Is this the actual expected working life of the shutter before it needs to be serviced or replaced? This is not a very large number of exposures, especially for a DSLR, where taking pictures is essentially free.
> 
> I'm not a pro, but I often take 1000 pictures a week--does this mean that if I buy a D700, I can expect its shutter to go belly up every 15 weeks?


 

No, it means that you can go 150 weeks. By then it will be outdated and you will want something new...


----------



## TUX424 (Jan 5, 2009)

jlykins said:


> No, it means that you can go 150 weeks. By then it will be outdated and you will want something new...


Now you may be able to get more or less photos out of the D700, that is just what the factory says it tested for. Some People 1M Miles out of there car. By the time that 150 weeks passes it has been almost 3 years and your looking most likely at the replacement of the D700 being a year old so prices would be better.


----------



## Big Mike (Jan 5, 2009)

> I'm not a pro, but I often take 1000 pictures a week--does this mean that if I buy a D700, I can expect its shutter to go belly up every 15 weeks?


Check your math 

I believe the shutter ratings are for 'average rate of failure'.  So your shutter may wear out earlier or later than that.


----------



## Pure (Jan 5, 2009)

Replacing a shutter is around $250, however, by the time it needs replacing, you'll either want an upgrade, or you can repair it for some 1/10 the original cost, in the case of the D700.

Depends on the camera.


----------



## shivaswrath (Jan 5, 2009)

how does one know when a shutter has gone bad?? Differences in film and digital?


----------



## JerryPH (Jan 5, 2009)

Soda Ant said:


> This is not a very large number of exposures, especially for a DSLR, where taking pictures is essentially free.
> 
> I'm not a pro, but I often take 1000 pictures a week--does this mean that if I buy a D700, I can expect its shutter to go belly up every 15 weeks?



150,000 / 1000 = 150, not 15.  But a pro is not defined by the number of pictures they can snap off in a week but the quality of the shots that they do take.

The D700 is a camera that came out only 4 months ago, so it is hard to know how it will do long term, but so far, with the pros that I do know, it is doing amazingly well.  However, there are many D200s (which came out over 3 years ago) with well over 200,000 shutter actuations, that is two times more than it's maximum expected shutter life. 

I would not be surprised to see a well maintained D700 or D3 also double their maximum predicted shutter life before needing any kind of service.  Top of the line Nikon cameras are nothing if not well built.

Nothing lasts forever, but 100,000 pictures or more is not a small number, no matter how you twist it, if you look at a small point... out of every 1000 pics you take, how many are even keepers and how many are incredible?  

For me, this, more than how many thousand pics per week I can snap off is a better deciding factor... quality over quantity, any day of the week.


----------



## cin (Dec 1, 2010)

I think that might be just the point. 

A "noob" (for lack of better words) like me is more likely burning up shots by the minute on crap trying to learn, were as a "pro" (again for lack of better words lol )might use most of his photos trying to make something good. 

So quality over quantity doesn't really satisfy the original posters concern. loosing a zero after number of week would though lol. 

Nice forum btw. Happy to have found all of you


----------



## Big Mike (Dec 1, 2010)

Welcome to the forum.

For future reference, it's usually not good when you reply to a thread that is almost two years old.  :er:


----------



## cin (Dec 1, 2010)

I see :lmao: , didn't notice. 

It still showed up second on the list in a google search for shutter endurance. My appologies.


----------



## gsgary (Dec 1, 2010)

Soda Ant said:


> One of the things DSLR manufacturer specs and online/magazine reviews commonly list is shutter durability figures. Prosumer DSLRs (e.g. the D700) typically list 150,000 exposures and pro DSLRs (e.g. D3) go up to 300,000 exposures.
> 
> What does this number actually mean? Is this the actual expected working life of the shutter before it needs to be serviced or replaced? This is not a very large number of exposures, especially for a DSLR, where taking pictures is essentially free.
> 
> I'm not a pro, but I often take 1000 pictures a week--does this mean that if I buy a D700, I can expect its shutter to go belly up every 15 weeks?




Your maths have gone belly up


----------

