I found a cheap A7rii with a high shutter count

[lanruss]

I found a Sony A7rii for sale locally for only $1700 including a 28-70mm Sony lens. However it does have a little over 70k shutter actuations. The body itself and the lens appear to be in almost perfect working condition.

I know those cameras are rated at 500k but 70k still seems pretty high. But considering the low price it might be worth it.

Should I go for it?

 

[Derrel]

I saw a similar one on Craigslist for about the same price not long ago. I don't know...to ME, 70k is NOT that many clicks. A decade back, a fellow photo forum member's high-volume studio had a stable of cheap, Fuji S2 Pro cameras that were build on low-end Nikon film bodies and modified by FujiFilm with digital innards...John Fulton was his name...he mentioned, many times, that they had cameras with 200k to 500k clicks on them....and these were shutters designed NOT for the pro market, but cheap, early 2000's-era $249 Nikon camera bodies.

I kind of think that automatic, battery-driven shutter cocking helps shutters tend toward lasting longer than mechanically-driven, film-advance-and-shutter-cocking systems used in years past. Perhaps that's wishful thinking. I think that water and concrete, and drops into 1) water or 2)onto concrete, are the two biggest camera-killers.

There have been some shutter count/shutter failure web sites over the years.

I dunno...if they say 500K is the expected life expectancy, then it seems like you'd have a decent camera AND a very useful zoom lens for $1,600. My current favorite full-frame camera is paired most often with a small,light,low-cost 28-80mm Nikon zoom lens that's like 20 years old or more...shoots great on 12-MP APS-C, and fine on 24-MP,and is fine on 36-MP full-frame. On full-frame, 28 is a great, not-too-distorting wide-angle length, and 70mm is a decent short,short telephoto length.

 

[lanruss]

I saw a similar one on Craigslist for about the same price not long ago. I don't know...to ME, 70k is NOT that many clicks. A decade back, a fellow photo forum member's high-volume studio had a stable of cheap, Fuji S2 Pro cameras that were build on low-end Nikon film bodies and modified by FujiFilm with digital innards...John Fulton was his name...he mentioned, many times, that they had cameras with 200k to 500k clicks on them....and these were shutters designed NOT for the pro market, but cheap, early 2000's-era $249 Nikon camera bodies.

I kind of think that automatic, battery-driven shutter cocking helps shutters tend toward lasting longer than mechanically-driven, film-advance-and-shutter-cocking systems used in years past. Perhaps that's wishful thinking. I think that water and concrete, and drops into 1) water or 2)onto concrete, are the two biggest camera-killers.

There have been some shutter count/shutter failure web sites over the years.

I dunno...if they say 500K is the expected life expectancy, then it seems like you'd have a decent camera AND a very useful zoom lens for $1,600. My current favorite full-frame camera is paired most often with a small,light,low-cost 28-80mm Nikon zoom lens that's like 20 years old or more...shoots great on 12-MP APS-C, and fine on 24-MP,and is fine on 36-MP full-frame. On full-frame, 28 is a great, not-too-distorting wide-angle length, and 70mm is a decent short,short telephoto length.

I was planning on getting a Sony 28mm f2 lens. I'm moving more towards cinematography and timelapses. I figured since the camera lasted so many clicks without issues it might be less likely to break than a brand new camera. Is it true that shutter count on mirrorless cameras is not very accurate because of the EVF?

 

[KmH]

I agree that 70k is not a high shutter count.
The 500k estimate is just that - an estimate - based on lab failure testing and not real world usage.
Some shutters don't last as long as the estimate, while most likely exceed the estimate

Look at it this way. You're likely to get more than 430k more clicks from the shutter in that camera body.