How do you find out shutter count

Paul Parker · 15 Nov 2016

Hi guys,
Buying a camera second hand sellers normally state how many times the shutter has been fired? Open to debate as probably like an old Capri car for sale in Exchange & Mart you wind the clock back or list its shutter count or mileage lower than what it actually is?

If i was to purchase a second hand camera how is it best to find out exactly what the shutter count is? Is there special software i can download to check this or on more modern cameras is it in a menu option?

PP

danny_bhoy · 15 Nov 2016

This will be your best option for Canon cameras Paul:

http://www.eoscount.com/

gramps · 15 Nov 2016

or this.

michaelharmon · 15 Nov 2016

The Apple App Store has an app for Canon cameras called ShutterCount for $2.99. I have the app on my Mac, it gives the exact shutter count. I've tried it with a 7D and 6D, it works great. There's also a ShutterCount mobile app which I don't have.

Byker28i · 16 Nov 2016

michaelharmon said:
The Apple App Store has an app for Canon cameras called ShutterCount for $2.99. I have the app on my Mac, it gives the exact shutter count. I've tried it with a 7D and 6D, it works great. There's also a ShutterCount mobile app which I don't have.

How does that work then, just from interrogating an image? I which case it'll just be reading info from the exif details. Seems silly to pay money for that.

badboy1984 · 16 Nov 2016

gramps said:
or this.

I use this and it seems to be right. I remember I bought a used D3 with 55k on the shutter, first thing I do is take a test shot and check the shutter count. Pretty spot on. This only work if you upload the image from camera to the site. You can't convert a raw to jpeg and expect to give you the figure. I tried that and it didn't work. Either the RAW file from the camera or the jpeg from the camera. Low res jpeg from the camera is easier to upload.

snerkler · 16 Nov 2016

Using mac and opening the image in preview (Mac's default picture viewer) shutter count for Nikon is in the EXIF when you open the info window (says image number rather than shutter count). Doesn't work on Fuji though, and I'm not sure of other brands. IIRC you can view it in the camera with Olympus, google will be your friend for that. Also, there are some websites that you can upload pics to and it will show you the shutter count, not sure which brands it works with though.

michaelharmon · 16 Nov 2016

Byker28i said:
How does that work then, just from interrogating an image? I which case it'll just be reading info from the exif details. Seems silly to pay money for that.

Nope, you don't have to mess with any of that. Plug your Canon straight into the USB port on your Mac, turn your camera on with the app open and it immediately pops up a window giving you the camera model, serial number, shutter count, and time stamp, thus providing accurate numbers not attainable with simple EXIF based methods. So the one time $3 I paid for ease of verification and peace of mind, was totally worth it to me when paying $900 for a used 6D from an individual that I hadn't previously met prior to buying the camera. I've used it on 2 cameras, so $1.50 per camera. There's also another app on there now called EOS Inspector for only $1.99, which I don't have.

michaelharmon · 16 Nov 2016

Admittedly though, if I had been aware of MyShutterCount.com (the link Gramps provided), I would have tried that first. If I remember correctly, I tried another site first and it seemed like a hassle, maybe it was the eoscount.com which didn't support Safari.