
Most photographers don’t, or rarely, check the shutter count of their cameras. Plus, I don’t know about you, but I can only imagine my building anxiety as the shutter count ticks higher and higher. Your camera could function normally well past its expected shutter life. At the end of the day, shutter count is an estimate and not a rule. Although that might seem annoying to some, I can understand why camera manufacturers don’t add an easily accessible shutter counter on the camera. Unlike a car that you can easily check the mileage on the odometer, there’s no such thing on a digital camera. However, it’s rumored that their top-end cameras like the Sony a9 or the Sony A7R iii have a 500,000 shutter count expectancy. Sony has not released an estimated shutter count for their camera systems.

To give you an idea of what shutter count your camera is rated for, below is a list of popular camera bodies used by photographers: In most cases, higher-end camera bodies tend to have a higher shutter count expectancy than entry-level DSLR and mirrorless cameras. The shutter count for your camera will depend on its specific model. In many cases, a camera can last you well over 5 years. Ultimately it all depends on how often you use it and how well you take care of it. That’s why I like to give an estimate of 5 years for the lifespan of a digital camera. The reality is, you probably won’t use your camera every single day for a year, but if you do, it’s unlikely you’ll be racking up hundreds of photos a day. Most people like to take their cameras to special events, on hikes, on vacations, or to capture family moments. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never met a hobbyist who takes anywhere near that number of photos a day. This means you would “technically” (according to manufacturer specs) wear out your camera in a year if you took 547 every day for a whole year. If you take 200,000 and divide it by 365 (1 year), that equals out to 547. This means that you can take 200,000 photos before your shutter wears out. To give you a solid idea of lifespan, let’s assume you get 200,000 shutter actuation out of your camera. It’s important to keep in mind that these shutter counts are rough estimations and vary between cameras.

If you go directly off of the manufacturer’s recommended shutter count, you’ll likely get a lot of years out of your camera.
SHUTTER COUNTER ONLINE HOW TO
Now that you have a broad sense of your digital camera’s lifespan let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what wears out a camera and how to extend the lifespan. With that said, unless you’re taking hundreds of photos every day for years, most hobbyists and casual shooters can expect their digital camera to last around 5 years of regular use. The only major component that can eventually wear out is the camera shutter. In general, a digital camera will not wear out over time. So is it possible for a digital camera to wear out over time? From the LCD screen to the internal components, there are many parts that need to operate properly in order to use the camera. In the modern era of photography and the rise of the digital camera, almost everything in the camera is electronic. Just like any piece of technology, it’s probably not going to last forever.
