actuations

[pikeman1960]

hi all am looking to buy secondhand dslr and question often asked is how many actuations camera has what does this mean .i,m guesing something to do with amount of shots camera has taken,if so what is a low figure and what is considered a high figure

 

[TCR4x4]

Its how many shots yeah. Each model of camera has a different quoted figure, but TBH it means nothing, as a camera could fail at the first shot, or on the 300,000th.

Its much better to judge by the cosmetics of the outside and the general look of the camera. If its been well treated, it will show and it should be fine for many years.

 

[specialman]

I'm of the opinion that what will be, will be. You can get cosmetically battered cameras that will last forever, and one that look mint that could just break out of the blue. Like anything, low 'mileage' examples probably give you a bit more reassurance that it hasn't been through a hard life.

Most 'beginner' (450D/D5000 etc) bodies will be rated to somewhere like 100,000 actuations, whereas big old pro bodies like the D3 or 1D series will be 200-250,000+. These figures don't neccessarily mean anything in real life because you might get the one that gives up at 99,999 shots or less.

Generally, if you want a bit of extra security, use a reputable secondhand dealer like MPB, ApertureUK, Mifsuds, who have been in that game for years and are actually real people who understand what buyers want, plus they're all UK-based businesses.

 

[Oggy]

It does mean something. It is a guideline to how much of the camera's life has been used up. When a piece of equipment will fail is not an exact science and it makes no allowance for the way it has been treated, but anyone who disagrees, ask yourselves this - would you pay the same for two cameras which are otherwise similar, but one has 1000 actuations and the other has 150000?