Scared to use my camera

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Gaz Jones

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Ever since reading up about how many actuations cameras are usually good for, I find myself getting scared to use my mine. I'm on 8k shots through it at the moment, and I feel I'm not using it as much as I should for fear of it breaking.

Last night for instance, I was going to try my hand at some time lapse. After realising I'd need a good couple of hundred shots to get anything worth doing, I decided against it.

Am I just being stupid? Should I just use it as I like and if it breaks, it breaks? Or do others feel the same as me?
 
Just use it! I read somewhere on here that they are good for at least 250,000 actuations. Probably more if it is really well taken care of. I plan to just use mine until it dies then worry about getting a new one then!
 
Gaz Jones said:
Ever since reading up about how many actuations cameras are usually good for, I find myself getting scared to use my mine. I'm on 8k shots through it at the moment, and I feel I'm not using it as much as I should for fear of it breaking.

Last night for instance, I was going to try my hand at some time lapse. After realising I'd need a good couple of hundred shots to get anything worth doing, I decided against it.

Am I just being stupid? Should I just use it as I like and if it breaks, it breaks? Or do others feel the same as me?
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To put things into context, when I sold my D300 with 42k on it the difference in price between it and what I'd have got had it something like 8k on it was about a tenner.

We're not talking about a £1million vintage car here, it's a low-priced consumer electronic item, just go out and use the damned thing! :naughty:
 
Gaz Jones said:
Am I just being stupid?
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Yes :P If you're scared to use it you might aswell not have it.

It doesn't cost that much to have a shutter replacement done anyway.
 
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Do you not watch TV incase it blows up, or not use a toilet incase the syphon breaks, or a car incase it breaks down, or a computer incase the PSU packs up?? Do you not wear shoes incase the sole rubs through, or clothes incase they get a hole or wear out?

Just use the thing for what it was designed for.... Taking photos
 
And, let's be honest with ourselves here - who wouldn't want a perfect excuse to upgrade? OK, having a body crap out on you at a critical moment wuld suck but then, shopping time...
 
norters said:
Just use it! I read somewhere on here that they are good for at least 250,000 actuations. Probably more if it is really well taken care of. I plan to just use mine until it dies then worry about getting a new one then!
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All the DSLRs are rated to a figure, usually the consumer models with a lower rating than the pro models.

The figure is called a "mean" number not because it is nasty but because they like to use a posh word for average.

So your shutter might fail on exposure 1 out of the box or just keep going for years. It all evens out.
 
TCR4x4 said:
Do you not wear shoes incase the sole rubs through,
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Mind you I had a shop assistant tell me that I shouldn't have expected my £85 North Face walking shoes to last more than a few months if I wore them regularly.....:suspect::lol:
 
Reminds me of my neighbour.
He bought a VW Golf about 3 years ago. It's the first car that he's ever owned from new and it's his pride and joy.

Trouble is that he doesn't want to drive it because he's frightened that putting too many miles on it will devalue it. Every time they go out they take his wife's old banger - if his wife is out I've even known him walk the 2 miles to the supermarket rather than take the car. Apparently short trips aren't good for it and somebody might ding it in the carpark.

Seriously, I'm not exaggerating at all. This car lives in the garage, comes out on a Sunday (every Sunday) to be washed and hoovered, then goes back into the garage :cuckoo:

There's no point having these things if you're not going to use them and enjoy them. Just get out there with the camera and start taking pics - otherwise you've just bought yourself a very expensive paperweight. :lol:
 
shutter can go at any time.. I have to canon 1dmkIVs and both have had new shutters (well one currently having it now..got it in jan this yr)

its gonna go when its gonna go and the shutter count could be anything...... just use it :)
 
SarahLee said:
Reminds me of my neighbour.
He bought a VW Golf about 3 years ago. It's the first car that he's ever owned from new and it's his pride and joy.

Trouble is that he doesn't want to drive it because he's frightened that putting too many miles on it will devalue it. Every time they go out they take his wife's old banger - if his wife is out I've even known him walk the 2 miles to the supermarket rather than take the car. Apparently short trips aren't good for it and somebody might ding it in the carpark.

Seriously, I'm not exaggerating at all. This car lives in the garage, comes out on a Sunday (every Sunday) to be washed and hoovered, then goes back into the garage :cuckoo:

There's no point having these things if you're not going to use them and enjoy them. Just get out there with the camera and start taking pics - otherwise you've just bought yourself a very expensive paperweight. :lol:
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My MIL is the same. She bought a brand new Corsa in 2001. Its done 1500 miles.. Yes fifteen hundred in 10 years!!

This is the same woman that drinks gone off milk or eats mouldy bread because its a waste to throw it away. :bonk:
 
TCR4x4 said:
My MIL is the same. She bought a brand new Corsa in 2001. Its done 1500 miles.. Yes fifteen hundred in 10 years!!

This is the same woman that drinks gone off milk or eats mouldy bread because its a waste to throw it away. :bonk:
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The thing is, if she's anything like my neighbour and his (not quite as) elderly low mileage Honda, she probably thinks it's still worth near what she paid for it.

David certainly got a shock when a car dealer friend of mine valued his car at about £500 over one that had done 70k more miles, he was thinking, having paid £18k and hardly used it would be worth at least £12k, not £3k....
 
yep I agree with tothers just use it - thats what its for

actuations wise these things are only estimates anyway - the 20D was alledgedly good for 100,000 - mines done about 50,000 thou more than that and is still going and my 300D was suposedly good for 25,000 (or was it 50 ???) but anyway its done nearly 100 thou and is now pretty much dead - in that there are dead pixels in the LCD, the AF modules on its way out, the onboard flash is kaput etc - the shutter's still fine though.

I've just bought a second user 450D to replace it (alledgedly with about 8 thou on it, but i'm not too woried if that's genuine or not)

the only time i'd worry about actuations is in pricing top end second hand gear - i'd still buy a pro spec rig like the 1D or 1DS series with high actuations, but i'd expect that to be reflected in the price
 
TCR4x4 said:
My MIL is the same. She bought a brand new Corsa in 2001. Its done 1500 miles.. Yes fifteen hundred in 10 years!!

This is the same woman that drinks gone off milk or eats mouldy bread because its a waste to throw it away. :bonk:
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Flash In The Pan said:
The thing is, if she's anything like my neighbour and his (not quite as) elderly low mileage Honda, she probably thinks it's still worth near what she paid for it.

David certainly got a shock when a car dealer friend of mine valued his car at about £500 over one that had done 70k more miles, he was thinking, having paid £18k and hardly used it would be worth at least £12k, not £3k....
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:eek: :bonk: There are more of them out there? I thought M was on his own !!!
BTW I took great pleasure in telling him just how much difference keeping the mileage down will actually make to the value of his car :lol:
 
Gaz Jones said:
Ever since reading up about how many actuations cameras are usually good for, I find myself getting scared to use my mine. I'm on 8k shots through it at the moment, and I feel I'm not using it as much as I should for fear of it breaking.

Last night for instance, I was going to try my hand at some time lapse. After realising I'd need a good couple of hundred shots to get anything worth doing, I decided against it.

Am I just being stupid? Should I just use it as I like and if it breaks, it breaks? Or do others feel the same as me?
Click to expand...
you made me think of a lot of motorcyclist who dont use ther bikes in case they put lots of mileage on the clock,
just use it
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The thing is, if she's anything like my neighbour and his (not quite as) elderly low mileage Honda, she probably thinks it's still worth near what she paid for it.

David certainly got a shock when a car dealer friend of mine valued his car at about £500 over one that had done 70k more miles, he was thinking, having paid £18k and hardly used it would be worth at least £12k, not £3k....
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I wouldnt be suprised if she thought it was only worth a grand or so less than she paid now. What makes it worse, is its had to have 4 new tyres at each MOT as they have always perished! Absolute crazyness. She refuses too sell the damn thing as "she might need it". She refuses to drive it and either walks or gets the bus.
 
My mate has been shooting on a 1d for around 9 years and its still on its first shutter. I'm guessing its done at least 10 times more actuations than its rated number over the years :lol:

Seriously though, I wouldn't even give it another thought. Just get out there and start taking lots and lots of photos!
 
Agreed. Just use the camera as much as you want to, and replace the shutter if you have to. There's a good chance you'll want to replace the camera before it fails anyway.

Must say though, I've had my 30D for about three years and it probably hasn't taken more than 4000 - 5000 shots. I've just found that the DSLR doesn't appeal to me nearly as much as I thought it would, and I prefer my F2. Nothing to do with film V digital, I just like the old SLR a lot more. I'll probably give the 30D and lenses to my daughter one of these days, and it should last her for a while!
 
both my shutter replacements where done under warranty and my canons are 2 yr warranties :) only takes a couple of days
 
this is all very well talking about 3-5 year old DSLR shutter expectancy

what about my 25yo Canon AE-1....:D
 
Yardbent said:
this is all very well talking about 3-5 year old DSLR shutter expectancy

what about my 25yo Canon AE-1....:D
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The thing is though, John your AE-1 has probably had fewer shutter actuations in 25 years than most dslrs see in a month....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Have you really run a 36 exp. film through it every month? I think my Zenit EM, which I've had since 1979 has had at the most 20 rolls through it :lol:
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of course not...............:razz:

just trying to regain some credibility.....:lol::lol::lol:

and i have a Nikon EM + 50mm/1.8 E + winder which has done...........................................0 since purchased
 
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I doubt if many (any?) of the film SLRs racked up the huge shutter counts that DSLRs do, but it would be interesting to get a sense of how many shots/year some of the professionals were taking back in the glory days of the SLRs, and how their reliability was rated. Does anyone have any info on this?
 
Gaz Jones said:
Ever since reading up about how many actuations cameras are usually good for, I find myself getting scared to use my mine. I'm on 8k shots through it at the moment, and I feel I'm not using it as much as I should for fear of it breaking.

Last night for instance, I was going to try my hand at some time lapse. After realising I'd need a good couple of hundred shots to get anything worth doing, I decided against it.

Am I just being stupid? Should I just use it as I like and if it breaks, it breaks? Or do others feel the same as me?
Click to expand...

I've just worked out that I take about 1100 images a month, mainly sport. I don't know if this is a lot or a little, or just average:shrug:. I can't say it's something I worry about though..... I'm more interested in learning and getting good shots. If the shutter goes, it goes.
 
Gaz Jones said:
Am I just being stupid? Should I just use it as I like and if it breaks, it breaks? Or do others feel the same as me?
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Sorry but you did ask - yes you're just being stupid;) No point in buying a camera if you're not going to use it - nothing last forever anyway and just think of all the great shots you might get trying to wear it out!!

Simon
 
Haha, it seems like I am just being stupid then! I did think I was, I think I just needed a kick up the bum to just get on and use it!

After hearing how many shots you guys have taken it sounds like I've got nothing to worry about! The most I'd do would probably be 2000 per month (maybe slightly more if I do a lot of time lapse), so that'd be 24,000 per year. 2 years, and you guys are right, I'll be wanting a new camera anyway.

Cheers for the kick up the backside all :p
 
Consider yourself kicked then:)
Post an image today!
 
markmullen said:
I sell rare Porsches for a living and always tell my customers that not driving their cars to keep the mileage down is like not having sex with your girlfriend for the sake of her next boyfriend.
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PMSL!!!!!

I've never considered shutter actuations tbh, my old 400D must have taken 25K shots over 3-4 years, my 7D has done a few thousand since January.

If either of them break, they break and I'll have to deal with it when it happens but to not use them in case they break is a little silly ;) :bonk: :lol:
 
Yeah, don't meet trouble half-way. Use your camera and when it breaks then worry about it or worry about your new upgrade.
 
SarahLee said:
Reminds me of my neighbour.
He bought a VW Golf about 3 years ago. It's the first car that he's ever owned from new and it's his pride and joy.

Trouble is that he doesn't want to drive it because he's frightened that putting too many miles on it will devalue it. Every time they go out they take his wife's old banger - if his wife is out I've even known him walk the 2 miles to the supermarket rather than take the car. Apparently short trips aren't good for it and somebody might ding it in the carpark.
Click to expand...

Repeated short journeys with no longer journeys ARE bad for it, e.g. the exhaust will never get hot enough to blow out all the condensation, just warm enough to encourage rust.

Mileage makes little difference to the value of a car, as others have noted. With most modern cars, as long as they are serviced regularly they will go on for a very long time.

I do agree with him about dings in the carpark though, you see some appalling driving and thoughtless people that take no care when opening their doors, which is why I always park as far from the entrance as possible.
 
onomatopoeia said:
I do agree with him about dings in the carpark though, you see some appalling driving and thoughtless people that take no care when opening their doors, which is why I always park as far from the entrance as possible.
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Nobody seems to park next to my car:shrug: but its, jacked up, dented, scratched and usually covered in mudn:lol:
 
onomatopoeia said:
Repeated short journeys with no longer journeys ARE bad for it, e.g. the exhaust will never get hot enough to blow out all the condensation, just warm enough to encourage rust.
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:lol: Yes. But that's not quite the same as "I must NEVER take my car out on a short journey because it's bad for it" which seems to be his take on it.

onomatopoeia said:
I do agree with him about dings in the carpark though, you see some appalling driving and thoughtless people that take no care when opening their doors, which is why I always park as far from the entrance as possible.
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Yes agree again, but you do actually take your car to the supermarket rather than leave it at home out of fear of it getting dinged.
 
My old 50d had 11k actuations in the year and a half I owned it.. Not afraid of taking it out!
Now I have a 5dII I find myself thinking that I shoudlnt take it out incase something happens to it.. Not a good attitude..

Make sure its fully covered on your insurance for all risks, dont worry about actuations and just use it!

Sam
 
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