What is critical for a camera's life?

I have considered for a long time the shutter life rating as the indication of a camera's useful life. As I learn more, it seems like a small piece of the puzzle. I can think of a few other factors but like to know more from those who are familiar with the engineering of such products, and also from others who have used many cameras over decades and have a better experience.

I am obviously talking about ILCs where lens is separate and does not determine the camera's life.

Shutter mechanism:

All my current cameras have shutters rated at 200K actuations. May be, the oldest one was 100K, can't remember now. One of those cameras has reached 70K actuations, still lot of life left. The other two are at under 20K.

Many new models on the market are rated at 400K, which is a lot by my usage. Nikon Z doesn't have a mechanical shutter. Not sure how it is rated. If a ML camera is mostly used in e-shutter mode, how much of the shutter life does it deplete?

For those who shoot thousands of shots every day or week, replacing the shutter mechanism for $300 to $600 after 500K shots doesn't sound unreasonable. However, if the product is ten years old or more, can they even get a shutter replacement?

Body/shell:

The body build quality was often ignored by non-professional buyers. They did not care about cheaper plastic build. Now a days, the industrial plastic used in camera bodies is a lot better than it was 20 years ago. Also, most cameras above entry level have a magnesium type of shell. This doesn't seem to be a concern anymore.

The one weak point may be the outer plastic body. If it cracks on impact and allows moisture inside, how does that affect the inside parts? Electronics inside are the obvious concern.

Electronics:

Electronics started with the last generation film SLRs (the Nikon F4 onwards, IIRC), they were an important part of DSLR cameras and now appear to be more important than the sensor itself in ML cameras.

It is in fact a micro computer inside every camera, sometimes with two processors.

I am not familiar with what's inside a camera but I am assuming a SoC type of design with connections to external ports, battery compartment, card readers, etc. Every part appears spec'ed and optimized for the particular system.

How long is the life of these parts? How does a leak in the external plastic body affect the life of these (even if not directly exposed to rain or beach humidity)? How easily can they be replaced if broken?

Parts availability:

When I said "a camera's life", I was primarily thinking of the point until when it functions without requiring a repair besides initial warranty. I hear about people making their cameras work with patched parts, DIY repairs, etc., beyond that point. I wasn't really thinking about that because it's not my cup of tea.

Even where parts are replaceable (like shutter mechanism), their availability is a separate and important question. Manufacturers sell parts only for few years after a model sale ends.

Of course, if a camera is very useful (or liked for personal reasons) one can always look for a dysfunctional item on eBay for parts, but it is helpful only for someone who is familiar with opening the camera, replacing the parts, and putting it back intact. I am not.

My experience:

My two film SLRs still work. One is a Nikon FH3 and the other a Canon Rebel.

My oldest DSLR, a Rebel Xti, is not used anymore but it works. The internal rechargeable battery works. The batteries hold their life well. CF card works well. It gets no use these days only because of its lower resolution and quick drop in DR as ISO goes up.

My current DSLRs (8 and 5 years old) work well and produce industry leading images, even at higher ISO. Their use went down only in the last six months as I got a ML camera.

My latest ML camera racked up about 15K shots in 5 months, but 99% it using e-shutter. This is also high compared to my past usage. The increase is primarily due to continuous shooting for birds/wildlife and made easier by e-shutter.

I really did not have a difficult situation with a broken camera or going through difficult repair process. One lens broke from physical impact and could not be repaired. Nikon DSLR had a problem with a shaky shutter box or IS mechanism but Nikon fixed it under warranty and it has been fine since.

I am sure I missed other factors. What do you consider as important things for a camera's life?

Thanks.

--
See my profile (About me) for gear and my posting policy.

Satyaa said:

I have considered for a long time the shutter life rating as the indication of a camera's useful life

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Satyaa said:

I am sure I missed other factors. What do you consider as important things for a camera's life?

Thanks.

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I think the main factor is how you look after your camera ;-)

Disrespect it and it will have a short life

The best place to get some answers to your questions is at Roger Cicala's blog on the Lens Rental website. All kind of good tidbit come up in the tear down articles. The link below is to one of them. And there are lots of pictures.

Lens Rentals | Blog

So long as you avoid condensing conditions or water spray/rain (like the manual recommends), then air getting in through a crack in the housing shouldn't affect the electronics. It's not like cameras are filled with helium like hard drives, air can get in every time you change a battery or SD card

I think your post is a pretty good summary. I'll add a couple of thoughts:

1) Geography/Climate: a very humid area or constant exposure to seaside salt air can shorten the life.

2) Heat is the enemy of long electronic life. Not so much environmental heat, but long video shoots, etc. I'd actually be afraid to by a camera with exceptionally low shutter count; it might indicate a ton of video usage.

RCicala said:

I think your post is a pretty good summary. I'll add a couple of thoughts:

1) Geography/Climate: a very humid area or constant exposure to seaside salt air can shorten the life.

2) Heat is the enemy of long electronic life. Not so much environmental heat, but long video shoots, etc. I'd actually be afraid to by a camera with exceptionally low shutter count; it might indicate a ton of video usage.

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Very good points. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Your second comment reminds of a heat related damage that I forgot to mention earlier. This is lens related though, and very different from the internal heat issue you pointed out.

When I left my film camera zoom in Hyderabad (India) in a cupboard for few years, the rubber grip on it melted. It was a house with no AC, especially upstairs where that cupboard was. The peak summer temperatures in that city get to 44C.

I don't remember how many years it was there because I wasn't using it at all after moving to digital. The rubber grip became squishy and never got back into shape. Every time I held it, felt like play dough was sticking to my hands.

--
See my profile (About me) for gear and my posting policy.

"...constant exposure to seaside salt air"

I recall several complaints here on dpreview about the Sony NEX7 failing a few weeks after weekend visits to sea shore environments. It is a marvelously small and light weight camera but I don't expect Sony will ever build anything like it again. I kind of treated mine like a china doll, keeping it covered and using it sparingly in any environment that was potentially dusty.

OpticsEngineer said:

"...constant exposure to seaside salt air"

I recall several complaints here on dpreview about the Sony NEX7 failing a few weeks after weekend visits to sea shore environments. It is a marvelously small and light weight camera but I don't expect Sony will ever build anything like it again. I kind of treated mine like a china doll, keeping it covered and using it sparingly in any environment that was potentially dusty.

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I had one falling from a breast pocket into soft snow. As the camera was relatively warm, it melted the snow a bit within seconds. Apparently the plastic surrounding both EVF and LCD screen wasn’t tight enough and meltwater got in. The screen immediately died, in the EVF you could initially see water sloshing, but it dried out and kept working.

We do have a problem with some Sigma DP_M cameras caused by finger grease creeping into the control wheel (which has the shutter button in the centre). Contact cleaner seems to help.

This is after seven years of regular use.

Don

By far the biggest determination factor how long lenses, cameras last imo.

If its wear on parts, probably where your fingers touch like buttons and the scroll wheels.

robert1955 said:

OpticsEngineer said:

"...constant exposure to seaside salt air"

I recall several complaints here on dpreview about the Sony NEX7 failing a few weeks after weekend visits to sea shore environments. It is a marvelously small and light weight camera but I don't expect Sony will ever build anything like it again. I kind of treated mine like a china doll, keeping it covered and using it sparingly in any environment that was potentially dusty.

Click to expand...

I had one falling from a breast pocket into soft snow. As the camera was relatively warm, it melted the snow a bit within seconds. Apparently the plastic surrounding both EVF and LCD screen wasn’t tight enough and meltwater got in. The screen immediately died, in the EVF you could initially see water sloshing, but it dried out and kept working.

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A superb example that pure water is not particularly damaging; snow is pretty pure. The salt is the killer, and it's not just cameras. I had a vacation home near the beach. Even stainless steel locks and door hardware had to be replaced every few years. An AC unit was old at 5 years, just rusted away.

Years ago I had a IIIc modified at HauserTorwerk in Wetzlar, Such services are long gone, In more recent times Leitz unloaded all Leicaflex and R spares to a trusted independent repair shop .

If such a a well regarded maker of long lived and solid equipment chose to become more like a fashion house than a continuously reliable producer, there is little hope for others.

Factory and skilled craftsman support is essential when machines age. One cannot expect factories and their suppliers to keep stocks when not enough customers turn up to buy,, nor can repairers stay in business and train apprentices without customers.

So if people just buy new devices rather than maintain their failed eqipment, the entire tree of support will wither, not just the bra'nch which sprouted yiour device.

Of course, if one has to mobilize more skills and resources to put right than to build something new that can perform the same or better services (if really needed), it is a totally irrational waste to repair.

The key to product longevity is solidity and repair-friendly design , plus customers spending more time and effort on using what they have rather than pusuing the new.

Both approaches would kill off most of the industry and move technology development and employment into other sectors.

p.

Humidity/condensation and dust are the enemy of electronics. Humidity/condensation on circuit boards/electronic circuits plus dust equals acid which eats/etches electronic circuits.

Keep equipment in a dry box or other moisture controlled environment with reusable/dryable silica gel. Twenty years in tropical North Queensland, Australia and my equipment is as good as new.

D Cox said:

We do have a problem with some Sigma DP_M cameras caused by finger grease creeping into the control wheel (which has the shutter button in the centre). Contact cleaner seems to help.

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I experienced this with a Sigma DP2 Merrill, a Sigma dp2 Quattro and a Sigma fp. There may be hope for improvement, as Sigma changed the rear control wheel when launching the fp L model and offers a button replacement program for older Sigma fp units.

Hence, I opted for upgrading to the newer control wheel and cross my fingers they've finally solved this issue. I tend to use Manual mode, so I'm a heavy user of the control wheels. I may well have caused similar issues with other brands, it's just that I'm addicted to Sigma ;-)