20D overused? Too many Picture?

[MadMesh]

I was talking/shooting with a pro photographer this weekend... and he noticed that i shot A LOT of pictures... Most of the time i was just walking around with my laptop in my backpack, (with Viewer Utility and EOS Capture program running) this allows me to shoot and have the picture sent directly to the computer, not the camera CF card.

Anyways... Everytime i go out for a picnic or family event, in this case it was a wedding, I shoot like 500-600 pictures in various diff modes including continious... I figure since im using digital who cares, shoot since ur not worrying about film.

Is there such a thing as using the camera TOO much =/ Can i wear out the shutter, mirror or AF, even the CMOS sensor?

Should this be somming i should worry about? Shooting Too much ALL the time?

I figure i just got the camera, and shot about 5,000 pictures already (2 month old camera) This this "not normal" or being overused?

[bolantej]

i think the shutter is about all you will have to change, but (forgive me if 'm wrong. please someone who knows for sure chime in ;) ) that shutter will probably run for another 40,000 clicks or so. its gotta run out of gas eventually.

[lost]

That is a huge topic for debate. Canon does not list MTBF for shutter on the 20D. I have seen unofficial listings from 40k - 150k actuations. Basically the shutter will probably start acting funny at some point. When that happens you will need to send it to cannon along with about $200 to get it replaced.

[ohenry]

Another issue that you should consider beyond the hardware aspect is "are you taking the time to define a subject and compose your shot or are you just snapping the shutter in hopes of getting a few good shots out of the bunch?"

[FlyingPete]

I was talking/shooting with a pro photographer this weekend... and he noticed that i shot A LOT of pictures... Most of the time i was just walking around with my laptop in my backpack, (with Viewer Utility and EOS Capture program running) this allows me to shoot and have the picture sent directly to the computer, not the camera CF card.


Cool :D

How do you ever deal with sorting through all your images? Must create a lot!

[wilflee]

The moving parts in a 20D is minimal and relatively cheap to replace. So, just fire away.

But one wonders if what you really need is a pro-level video camera instead of still camera. The time it takes to convert, post-process, sort and pick out 500-600 shots would be enormous (assuming 1 minute per picture, you're looking at 10 hours!) Wouldn't you save a lot of time with a video camera?

What will probably wear out before the 20D shutter may be the laptop's hard drive. Although the laptop's hard drive is more shock resistant than desktop hard drives. It isn't really designed to be moving around in a back pack while writing data to the platters. Every step you take sends a shock of several Gs to the hard drive. As time goes on and the bearings wear down, the head may come in contact with the platter and you risk data loss. Some laptops (such as IBM ThinkPads) have a shock detection circuit in the hard drives to park the head when the laptop moves about. But this also prevents data from being written to the hard drive so it's not a real solution.

[TheObiJuan]

I used to do this, but now I make 'em count. It makes me be a better photographer. I put more attention into every shot and get it right the first time.
Too many digital photogs have an attitude of 'I can just fix it in PS later'.

[tim]

With the "spray and prey" approach I can just about bet you that an experienced photographer can take a better set of pictures with 1-2 rolls of film than you can with 10GB of memory. Even if you took a better shot, it might get lost among the crap. I've never found a situation where I needed 5fps, though I know there will be some (maybe sports), I can get a better shot timing it myself than holding the button down.

The other major problem with your approach is post processing: every picture I take will take me perhaps 5 seconds to rate as 1-5, then all 4s and 5s will get more time. The more you take, the more time it takes, which if you're being paid per shot destroys any profit. As an amateur it just wastes your time.

I'd suggest you get a cheap EOS film camera and take photos on that for a while. The cost of each shot will make you think about each shot much more. Or maybe get yourself a smaller memory card that lets you take a limited number of pictures, and see what happens to your photography.

And yes, the shutter wears out, though as you can see there's some debate about how long it should last. Expect 50K and be happy if it lasts longer.

[elhalman]

what have you done?
after this post who would think about buying your used gear? :)

[mdude85]

5000 shots in 2 months is not overkill... Most people think the 20D has a life of about 100,000 shots before the shutter mechanism dies. This makes for more than 3 years of ownership, no?

[Grimnar]

Every picture I take will take me perhaps 5 seconds to rate as 1-5, then all 4s and 5s will get more time.

Do you rate them before they are processed?
Where are the ratings stored? (read, reinstall)
I never use the rating system, I find it very useless, just cost me more time. I
reveal all my raw's in the explorer using either ms raw or dpmagic. And since I have the tweakui I show the thumbnails as 300px wide in explorer. That gives me a nice overview of what to process. mouse + ctrl -> open i pscs.
:D

[Jon, The Elder]

MadMesh - I shoot horse events nearly every weekend. In spite of previous comments - there IS a very good reason to "spray and pray" as it is sometimes put.
Horses in motion are moving in all three axis and the rider is also - often out of sync. 5fps eases the strain of not getting that perfect shot. I often do not get a second chance due to many, many variables.
400 to 600 shots a day is quite typical for me on any given weekend. My wife will rack up 250-400 on her 300D also.
ACDSee lefts me cull out what I need and copy them to a working directory. 30 minutes or so.

For what its worth I've shot about 14,000 since Feb. of this year.
The camera has been a real moneymaker for me.
Now if you are just doing the S&P in hopes of getting a shot that you like - slow down and learn the basics. I use this method as insurance rather than using it like casting a net.

[Loaded]

40K seems low 150K seems about right. I shoot cheerleading and candid. I shoot a lot and all in RAW I spend the time to go over my shots and PP. I spray and pray and get very good shots that way. Yes when I shot film on my N90S i was able to get the smae shots form 2 rolls of film but i dont have to worry about that anymore....Digital film is cheap!

[tim]

Do you rate them before they are processed?
Where are the ratings stored? (read, reinstall)
I never use the rating system, I find it very useless, just cost me more time. I
reveal all my raw's in the explorer using either ms raw or dpmagic. And since I have the tweakui I show the thumbnails as 300px wide in explorer. That gives me a nice overview of what to process. mouse + ctrl -> open i pscs.
:D

Sounds like you're on CS1 - CS2 is much improved. Ratings, I suspect, are stored in the sidecar xmp files created in the same directory as the pic, so they're stored with backups. I go through each picture, thumbnails large, but I usually show it in the larger preview window - takes about a second max. Hit 1-5 then hit the down arrow. Easy. Any obviously bad ones I don't have to use the main preview window. Works for me.

[photoshooter]

i own a d60 which i bought used have no idea how many pics before me but last year alone i shot 53.000 pics and im doing it again i shoot racing pics every fri night sat and sun not out of the ordernary to shoot 1000 a day have shot over 2000 a day at moto x its easy to do are all perfect not by along shot but i can have a chance at getting the shot someone needs or wants

[Grimnar]

Sounds like you're on CS1 - CS2 is much improved. Ratings, I suspect, are stored in the sidecar xmp files created in the same directory as the pic, so they're stored with backups. I go through each picture, thumbnails large, but I usually show it in the larger preview window - takes about a second max. Hit 1-5 then hit the down arrow. Easy. Any obviously bad ones I don't have to use the main preview window. Works for me.

CS2 here as well:cool:
Good for you then;)

[malla1962]

That is a huge topic for debate. Canon does not list MTBF for shutter on the 20D. I have seen unofficial listings from 40k - 150k actuations. Basically the shutter will probably start acting funny at some point. When that happens you will need to send it to cannon along with about $200 to get it replaced.hi,bob atkins recons 100,000 for the 20d and 50,000 for the rebel xt.:lol:

[MadMesh]

Thanks so much for the info guys. Just to give you a little more on my background. I was using a thinkpad, and the "spray and pray" approach was only for the action shots since there was a dance involved along with some of the family kids playing some basketball. I was shooting in RAW+JPG, so i didnt have to do post processing for ALL the pict. If the shot NEEDED raw processing, i would do it or modify things accordigly.

As for the video camera part, I have a friend thats taking care of that. What i usually do is make a photo and video DVD using Apples DVD Studio Pro, so i end up authoring these DVDs into a final photo/video product. So far so good.

Only reason for the laptop is because i was "missing photo opertunitys" by having to go back to my laptop to download (i need to get more CF cards)

Most of my shots are composed ect, Im not a total idiot , id say out of 500 picts, a good amount atleast 75% came out usable. I just wanted to make sure i wasnt "abusing" the camera...

So far so good, ive been able to make $ with this camera, including my portrait session using a 580ex and two 420EX flashes. That was my biggest money maker so far. I still want studio strobes but i borrowed these flashes from friends and family to allow me to get the job done this time around.

[defordphoto]

Your camera is a tool. The high-speed frame (HSF) is an option on that tool. Many old-timers cringe when people use the HSF approach to shooting. IMO it's stupid NOT to use HSF to get The Shot.

Granted, running around shooting every shutter actuation at 3-5-8 FPS is ridiculous, but I highly doubt anyone does that.

Being a motorsports photographer, there are MANY times when clicking 2-3 shots, it's the second shot that is better. Human eyes are simply not that fast, so I use HSF as a tool within a tool when shooting action shots.

So far, the longest I have ever held down the shutter was for about 1.5 seconds for 23 or so frames in this sequence. (http://www.ussbaracing.com/2004%20Galleries/Richland0605/WildRide/index.htm)

Shooting smartly and using the tools at hand properly is what a true photographer does. Spray and Pray? Damn right. When the action is hot and heavy a firm press on the shutter release and the 2-3-5-7-10-20 shots you get will more than likely get you what you need.

But, when using a fast camera like we are privy to these days also allows us to manually control the multi-frame sequences such as the pit stop photos in the gallery I shot at Portland International Raceway (http://www.rfmsports.com/Photo%20Galleries/2005/PIR/index.htm) last month at the ChampCar race.

In that sequence there are manual shutter presses and HSF sequences to create that part of the gallery. One of my fave shots is this one (http://www.rfmsports.com/Photo%20Galleries/2005/PIR/_l5c6440.htm) where you can see the water from the hose behind the pit wall as it leaves the hose to dilute any spilled methonal before the car leaves the pits. The next shot (http://www.rfmsports.com/Photo%20Galleries/2005/PIR/_l5c6441.htm) completes the sequence.

So, it sounds to me like you're using your 20D as it was intended. :)

[MadMesh]

Jim, your photos are great! Thanks for your 2 cents! =)