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Why won’t camera shops tell you the number of actuations ???
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I have been scouting around looking at upgrading my camera but my budget will only allow me to buy a 2nd hand model so naturally enough when I see something I may be interested in I ask them how many shutter actuations the camera has. I am always told “I don’t know” and when I point out that this figure seems to be relatively easy to obtain by downloading a piece of software |I am told that this is unreliable and only Nikon can tell you the true figure.
Is this true ? Everyone thats selling a camera on ebay seems to be able to tell you the number of actuations and I bet they are not all sending their cameras off to Nikon. Or is this a way for camera shops to continue to sell second hand models that have maybe passed the expected number of actuations ?
Nikon and canons (not all) can be checked. I’ve heard nothing about pentax, sony and olympus.
About ebay – you should always ask. If they lie you have the right to return camera. Some people give only approximated number.
Ask the guy in the shop if you could take a picture using your own CF card… take the card home and extract the data.
Its a Nikon I am interested in but the one I have is a D50 which takes an SD card and the camera I am looking at is a D200 which takes a CF card which I don’t have. But its the sheer “I don’t know” that bugs me. And this is from what would be regarded as a reputable shop. Berminghams.
You can check the state of the rubber grip just below the front wheel under the on-off switch… that starts peeling off first if it sees a lot of use. And the grip on the back where your thumb is, that becomes shiny and smooth after about 30K. If it has all the little covers for the flash pc port and the shutter release socket, and the rubber grips are not too worn, and have a look at the sensor and mirror to check for scratch, dirt or damage… you are half way there. The shutter is said to endure 100K actuations, and if it’s around that number, it shows on the body.
Mine is above 40K, and there are scratches, worn grips and missing covers here and there… but the camera is working as it should. Cameras without scratches are for collectors.There is always one advertised here, and they are usually in good condition. Phil Pound is selling one here for example: https://www.photographyireland.net/viewtopic.php?t=25240
markst33 wrote:
Its a Nikon I am interested in but the one I have is a D50 which takes an SD card and the camera I am looking at is a D200 which takes a CF card which I don’t have. But its the sheer “I don’t know” that bugs me. And this is from what would be regarded as a reputable shop. Berminghams.
Yoy can get a cheap cf on ebay. It is worth to spend few quids to ensure that camera has not too many actuations on the counter.
Berminghams had many d200’s. Those are remainings and there must be a reason why it wasn’t sold for couple of months. I’ve been watching those cameras too, but finally decided to get a new one.
Check number of actuations, don’t mind small scratches, but be careful with any signs of impact.The amount of actuations is stored in the Exif information, the software, Nikon or otherwie, shouldn’t make a difference. I have a hard time believing that ‘only Nikon can tell you the true figure’, If you have a laptop take it with you and download the test photos to it, it’s a reasonable way to test the camera as the lcd screen on the back is no use for testing anyway. One of the programs to read the actuation count is called Opanda Iexif v2.3 and can be found here.
http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/index.html
I wouldnt buy a used car without knowing the mileage, and I certainly wouldn’t buy a used slr without knowing the actuations. The ‘I don’t know’ answer is unacceptable, and any salesman who gives you that answer should be told so.
Bought my 2nd Hand D200 from a pro in England who saw me enquiring about the camera on a few photography forums. I asked him how many actuations it had and he said about 9000 so did the deal with him for €589 including Battery grip, 2 batteries, manuals, cables etc. When I checked the actuations when I got the camera 5 days later it had 8723 on it. So I was mightily happy. Have been using it for about 3 months now and its a great camera and no problems.
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