Cost per photo?

Does it make sense to determine the cost per photo when pricing a camera? It stands to reason that a pro body will yield more usable photos over its lifetime than a consumer body. Does a 1Ds Mk III at $8,000 and 300,000 shutter activations work out to be $.0267 per photo? Or should you try to figure in how many times a shutter can be replaced and still have a usable camera?

It might not be healthy to think about photography in such terms...

I for sure dont want to know the answer to that question (even worse if my wife found out cost/picture).

Tandem wrote in post #4196343
300,000 shutter activations work out to be $.0267 per photo?

You would have to be one heck of a photographer to get every click worth printing as a photo

what mebailey said

KIPAX wrote in post #4196581
You would have to be one heck of a photographer to get every click worth printing as a photo

And that's the best case senario. It only gets worse if you have to delete one or two.... Doesnt take into account all the other things you have to buy wit the body to make a picture either!

I'm not trying to figure out the cost of making a photo as much as I'm trying to figure out the worth of a camera over its lifetime.

I paid $1,000 for my 300D when it came out. I think it was good for 50,000 shutter activations. That works out to $.02 an image/photo/click or whatever you want to call it which is a lot closer the the $.0267 of the 1Ds Mk III than the initial cost of the cameras would indicate.

I've heard people talk of the 1D series as having a better build quality over the other bodies that Canon makes. What I'm asking is this a good way of quantifying that quality difference?

Tandem wrote in post #4196667
I've heard people talk of the 1D series as having a better build quality over the other bodies that Canon makes. What I'm asking is this a good way of quantifying that quality difference?

I don't think it is. Since the camera has a lot more parts than a shutter that may fail before or after the guaranteed number of shots. Also most all parts including shutter can be replaced perhaps even under warranty. I don't think the pro bodies make sense financially unless you generate a living from their output and absolutely require their rich robustness and feature sets in the course of your job. Even then you should perform a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to make sure you can actually buy these monsters and still generate a profit on your given volume. That is were the cost/shot analysis may be relevant.
On the other hand if you just simply want a pro body....

Sounds like somebody's trying to justify a new toy

If you get too hung up on such things, you'll miss the actual enjoyment out of photography, which in the end is all that really matters. If you get that enjoyment out of a $600 or a $8000 camera, it really does not matter.

At 300000 shots for $8000 for the 1D and 50000 shots for $1000 for the Rebel.

You could get 300000 shots with 6 Rebels for $6000, or 400500 shots with 8 Rebels for $8000.

300000 shots vs 400500 shots, that's 30% more shots for the same price using the cheaper camera...

Personally, I have a 40D and a 20D. Do I need both... Nope. But that's not the point of my hobby.

As a hobbist, how many years would it take you to get to 300,000 clicks? For a Pro, not so long, so it makes sense.

Would you want a camera that many years old?

5000 clicks on a 40d so far.... 100 good enough for an album...(which i dont print anyways) 1 or 2 good enough for a 30x20inch print....

although the novelty is wearing off and I get it out at much more an appropriate time now... not just when the baby smiles - which is always

If we here on POTN printed everything, rainforests would fall and my son would never know what a tree is

ps i know your not just talking about printing out either - just having some fun

Need to factor in the ratio of keepers with a more expensive camera too

I hate math, so I just look at my DSLR's as a tool for generating income and leave it at that.

Compare that to almost 50 cents a slide for good quality slide film. Not to mention that you'd never get to enjoy the number of shots you'd get if it stops working because of some other reason that the build quality addresses.