Shutter count anxiety

I was reading the DPreview on the 5DIII. When I read that the 5DIII was only rated for 150,000 actuations I became concerned. The 5DIII is going to be my next camera body, and 150k didn't seem like very many actuations, for a $3500 camera. As I gave the issue some though I broke it down to a 10 year spam. 150k clicks in 10 years = 15,000 clicks a year, 1,250 clicks a month, 41 clicks a day. Not too shabby. I understand that being a mechanical device the shutter could fail at any time, or last much longer than 150k actuations. I also realized that in 5 years, some new photographic technological camera body advance will arrive thats makes the current camera technology seem like a 71 VW bug in a world of 2012 BMW 750i's. Thinking of all that has lessened my shutter count anxiety. For the professionals and serious photography hobbyists reading this, when do replace or upgrade your camera body? When the newest "thing" hits the shelves, or do you go by age, actuations or body condition? -Rick

I voted other as the shutter count has no bearing whatever on when I choose to change my camera. I consider changing camera only when my exisiting camera doesn't deliver the results I am looking for, or a new camera comes along that has a feature that I could make use of and that my existing camera doesn't have.

meh, shutters can be changed for a few hundred dollars. As long as the camera has the features that I want, that's why/how I would choose it.

I picked other.

My camera changes are usually just simple upgrades, and not to the latest and greatest. I started with a 35mm Minolta SRT back in the mid 70's. Upgraded that to an XD-5 in the late 80's. Owned several P&S digitals, then bought a T1i, but not until the T2i was already out. After a year I decided to go up to a 60D, also far from being the latest and greatest. I don't have any plans to move from the 60D until it dies or otherwise suffers something fatal. It suits me to a "T".

Other, mostly it's been when the old camera broke, so I HAD to get a "new" one.

Alan

i voted other there will mostly be a new camera out every 1-3 years so to keep up with the new in thing would cost a fortune you buy the camera for your needs ,as said a shutter can be changed ,the new 6d will be hitting the shelf soon ff,wi-fi,gps.

I upgrade when I can sell my current body for more than I will pay for the upgrade. In about nine months I went from a 350D to a 5D "classic" and a 7D, so it does work.

I do like shiny new toys all the time, but sometimes I just cant afford it. I picked other.

I picked condition. When my camera is in no condition to take photographs that please me, it's time for a change. i.e. if it's broken.

When my current camera explodes, and when my wife says I can, I'll buy a new camera.

I voted "other". I do "just want a new camera" to replace my 40D, but not just because it's new... but because it (5DIII) has a better focus system, is full frame, and is much better at high ISO.

Think of it as a $3,800, 300,000 click camera that you are planning on a clean and check at mid life.

Other. Shutter count is irrelevant. And shutter replacement is cheap. I don't value cameras enough to spend almost two 85Ls on the latest FF, so i go with older FF choices.

That 150,000 clicks is the same as the 5DII and 7D. A few years ago, that was the rating of the 1D series shutters and the "lesser"models were around 50,000 to 75,000. More recent 1D series have been rated at 300,000.... the 1DX is the first to be rated to 400K.

150,000 is actually a lot and should be fine unless you go crazy with it.

If you are a heavy user, get two and spread the usage around. My two 7Ds are three years old now and between them have close to 150,000 clicks... but each has only half that. But a big part of that is using the high frame rate for action shooting. My 5DII is even older and has less than 20,000 clicks on it, but I use it for much more sedate shooting purposes and rarely even use the 4.5 fps option at all. At the rate I'm going, if the shutter life rating is correct, I should still be using it in 2028 or 2029. I expect I'll be replacing the 7Ds much sooner.

Besides, shutter life is just an estimate. Check out the data someone has collected here on 5DII. Out of about 600 cameras reported, 87% met or exceeded the 150,000 click rating and 78% did double that or more. I discount the ones that were essentially "dead out of the box" (took under 6500 clicks so were probably repaired or replaced under warranty) and those reported to have done over 1,000,000 clicks (hard to believe). Still, the overall reliability looks quite strong.

And even if you take 150,000 shots a year and the shutter dies, spend $300 to replace it. If you are taking 150,000 shots a year or two, you are already spending lots of money on other things... memory cards, hard disk storage space, computer time, replacement batteries and chargers, worn out lenses... i.e. the general costs of shooting. If you are taking 150,000 shots every year or two, hopefully you are making some money off them that will help pay for the repairs.

I voted "other". I only upgrade when the new model meets some need I'm encountering. For example, one of the primary reasons I bought my 7Ds and 5DII was high ISO performance compared to earlier models I'd been using. The 7Ds gave me about an extra stop and the 5DII is good for about two, compared with what I was using before. There were plenty of other considerations, durability and "survivabliltiy" thanks to build quality was among them, and the shutter rating is part of that... but far from the top of my list of things to worry about. OTOH, what some might consider little things can make or break a camera choice... For example I never bought the 5D classic because of it's reputation as a dust magnet. I often have to shoot in dusty situations and already was cleaning my 30Ds' sensors far more often than I liked. The self-cleaning sensors of the 50D proved to be very effective and useful when I used those, so the 5DII was a great choice. The way I use my cameras, I'm not rushing out to get the 5DIII, but imagine I will some day. Or maybe I'll try the 6D.

I chose just want a new camera, but other could have fit also. I think shutter count really isn't that important. The ability of the camera to meet your needs is the most important in my opinion.