Durability of a common DSLR only around 150.000 pictures?

Greetings!

I've just ordered my first DSLR, a Canon 600D. Now I read an article referring to the durability of the mechanical parts of such a cam. Canon clarifies that one can make around 150.000 photos before the mechanical parts are beginning to fail, because of the abrasion.

Srsly, only 150.000 pictures?! That isn't as much as I expected. :/ What are your experiences with this model or other cameras?

Tannhaeuser

Please do not go by numbers alone.As per experts that number is the minimum-maximum number of actuations theoretically before the wear and tear begins to manifest.In fact the camera may exeed this by 100% percent or more and if used irresponsibly face an early demise as well.

Don't take it too seriously,and 150000 pictures is no laughing matter either for amatures,just try to tally all the photos you have ever taken and try to come up with a figure,you will be surprised,they may run into a mere few thounds.Unless you are a busy pro taking a thousand and getting only one or two for keepers.

Regards
Gajanan
--
student4ever

Tannhaeuser said:

Greetings!

I've just ordered my first DSLR, a Canon 600D. Now I read an article referring to the durability of the mechanical parts of such a cam. Canon clarifies that one can make around 150.000 photos before the mechanical parts are beginning to fail, because of the abrasion.

Srsly, only 150.000 pictures?! That isn't as much as I expected. :/ What are your experiences with this model or other cameras?

Tannhaeuser

Click to expand...

Here is real stats:
http://olegkikin.com/shutterlife/

Anecdotal info:

My second hand E-330 - the lens to body info failed. Paid for consult and techo said there is a plastic flex ribbon / board and that repair costs more than the second hand price. Later, I dropped my first camera ever in my life.

Point and shoot Oly C-750 still works but battery door latch nearly broken

Second hand Kodak V-705 point and shoot - second lens did not focus properly and now completely no pic

Nikon 775 point and shoot - sensor gives striated lines on the image

Kodak P880 - no more sound in movies

Friend's Oly E-3 DSLR - shutter life and also LCD seam failed. Repaired and worked

Same friend's Nikon D3 this time used in high useage pro work, hundreds of shots everyday - shutter life. Repaired and works.

These are not solid gold block - they are fragile electro mechanicals. Wear and tear and handling kills them.

--



Ananda
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6861540877/a-compilation-of-tips-for-beginners
http://anandasim.blogspot.com/
http://gplus.to/anandasim

'Enjoy Diversity - Live a Little or a Lot'

Tannhaeuser said:

Greetings!

I've just ordered my first DSLR, a Canon 600D. Now I read an article referring to the durability of the mechanical parts of such a cam. Canon clarifies that one can make around 150.000 photos before the mechanical parts are beginning to fail, because of the abrasion.

Srsly, only 150.000 pictures?! That isn't as much as I expected. :/ What are your experiences with this model or other cameras?

Click to expand...

Tannhaeuser, firstly, you should note that 150,000 actuations of the shutter is a Mean Time To Failure and statistically some cameras will likely fail much sooner or later with perhaps a normal "bell curve" distribution of such failures.

Secondly, given that digital cameras as for most electronic gear will be replaced within no more than about five years on the average, do you really think you will take the average of about 82 pictures a day every single day for five years in order to get up to 150,000 images? Yes, there will be some days such as weddings or other family events where you might take several thousand images in one day, but that won't be every day. Even those amateur photographers who take an enormous number of images rarely exceed about 20,000 images a year, which says that the mechanical limit barring accidental damage should be about seven years. Isn't that long enough?

Regards, GordonBGood

Most DSLRs are "only" rated to about 50,000 and not 150,000.

And that rating rating is a statistical estimate and applies only to the shutter.

--
StephenG

The 600D\T3i is rated at 100k shutter actuations. The camera is $625 on Amazon today.

That means if the camera hit that number exactly, you'd have paid $0.00625 per image. The cost of purchasing and developing film is around $0.25 per image, excluding the camera, and film cameras didn't have better shutter life.

So digital cameras are a bargain and you should stop worrying.

AnandaSim said:

Anecdotal info:

My second hand E-330 - the lens to body info failed. Paid for consult and techo said there is a plastic flex ribbon / board and that repair costs more than the second hand price. Later, I dropped my first camera ever in my life.

Point and shoot Oly C-750 still works but battery door latch nearly broken

Second hand Kodak V-705 point and shoot - second lens did not focus properly and now completely no pic

Nikon 775 point and shoot - sensor gives striated lines on the image

Kodak P880 - no more sound in movies

Friend's Oly E-3 DSLR - shutter life and also LCD seam failed. Repaired and worked

Same friend's Nikon D3 this time used in high useage pro work, hundreds of shots everyday - shutter life. Repaired and works.

These are not solid gold block - they are fragile electro mechanicals. Wear and tear and handling kills them.

Click to expand...

I like the anecdotal info, it would be worth a thread to itself. The only failure I've had with the 4 digital cameras I've had was also with a C750 - it forgets its settings when changing batteries, evidently a common fault after a few years of use.

50,000 shots - that's
135 shots a day every day for a year
Or 30 shots a day for the next 5

Do you honestly expect to use a camera for that long that intensively?

It's like saying, "I need an oil change every 10,000 miles?" or an engine tear down every 100,000 miles?

And film cameras were probably worse. Their shutters wore out as well, probably earlier, but no one cared because you'd never shot that many photo. I doubt that I took over 4000 images with my OM-1.

Anyone who shoots over a 100,000 photos is going to be ready to step up to the latest and greatest in a few years. Someone who "only" shoots a few thousand a year isn't going to wear it out.

It's simply a non-issue.

It depends on what you're shooting. This focus-stacked macro panorama was created from 3400 individual frames shot over several hours: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=39c28546-4202-4821-8b2d-4567cfceae6a It's very easy to exceed 150,000 shutter activations on a dslr in a very short time.

p.s. The same image could have been made from 6 contact prints from a 16X20 view camera with a 3 meter long bellows, but getting the seams to flawlessly blend would be difficult

--
http://www.efrench.members.winisp.net/

efrench said:

It depends on what you're shooting. This focus-stacked macro panorama was created from 3400 individual frames shot over several hours: http://photosynth.net/view.aspx?cid=39c28546-4202-4821-8b2d-4567cfceae6a It's very easy to exceed 150,000 shutter activations on a dslr in a very short time.

p.s. The same image could have been made from 6 contact prints from a 16X20 view camera with a 3 meter long bellows, but getting the seams to flawlessly blend would be difficult

Click to expand...

6 sheets of 16x20 film is about $100 + processing and drum scanning. I think you still came out ahead considering that would be 3.4% of the life of a $625 camera, or $21 and change.

Brad99 said:

I like the anecdotal info, it would be worth a thread to itself. The only failure I've had with the 4 digital cameras I've had was also with a C750 - it forgets its settings when changing batteries, evidently a common fault after a few years of use.

Click to expand...

Yes. Mine did that, it was also running out 4 alkalines at 10-20 shots a set and NiCd no good, NiMh no good. Then the long life NiMh rechargeables came out and for some reason, the camera retains settings now and the NiMh last a long time between charges - my son has the cam now.

Said to be the little storage capacitor / rechargeable internal battery. Some fellow showed extensive set of photos of the opened camera and where to desolder and replace with an electronic part.

--



Ananda
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/6861540877/a-compilation-of-tips-for-beginners
http://anandasim.blogspot.com/
http://gplus.to/anandasim

'Enjoy Diversity - Live a Little or a Lot'

tko said:

And film cameras were probably worse. Their shutters wore out as well, probably earlier, but no one cared because you'd never shot that many photo. I doubt that I took over 4000 images with my OM-1.

Anyone who shoots over a 100,000 photos is going to be ready to step up to the latest and greatest in a few years. Someone who "only" shoots a few thousand a year isn't going to wear it out.

It's simply a non-issue.

Click to expand...

True. I used OM-1s for years, wearing out two bodies. Nice little cameras, and years ago I hoped Oly would come out with AF lenses, but...they didn't so I moved to another brand. I have no idea how many rolls of film I put through those OMs but nothing compared to what I've run up on the Pentax cameras I've used since.

Convert 150,000 to 36 exposure rolls of film and you get 4,166. Multiply that by the $12 or so a roll of transparency film costs today...processed. That's nearly $50K.

--
Charlie Self
http://www.charlieselfonline.com

OK so Tannhaeuser didn't think that through

but consider the following: -

most modern Li-ion type batteries are nominally good for about 1000 recharge cycles. Assuming you only use about 80% of a charge (i.e. you don't wait until it stops altogether) and most modern SLRs will take 400-800 shots per fresh recharge (to discharge) (made up approximate mean 500 - factoring in a lot of playing with AF and live view as per typical users)

thus (500 * 0.8) * 1000 = 400,000

So one battery should last the lifetime of the almost 3 shutter units.

yet the world and his dog sells us new batteries at enormous prices partly because our old ones fail - and most consumers will only buy OM products.

now there's a scam hiding in there somewhere

Jeeeesus ... math isn't my thing, I confirm. That's why I (as a graphics designer) think in pictures. I'm keeping my mouth shut.