Today’s words are Actuations and Shutter Count. These two refer to the same thing: the number of times your camera’s shutter mechanism has worked to take a photo. Simply put, it’s how many shots you’ve taken with your camera.

When I first started looking for a camera to purchase, I entertained the idea of getting pre-loved gear. Thing is, I had no idea what to watch out for so I asked friends to help me out. I didn’t want to be scammed into buying a camera that wasn’t worth the money! One of the first things I was told is that, you need to ask the seller the number of actuations the camera already has, specially if they didn’t post it. Ahh, I said. But deep inside, I didn’t know what actuations were and why they were important.

So why is it important to know your camera’s actuations? It gives you an idea of your camera’s Shutter Life, or how many more photos can you capture before your shutter bombs out. I researched about this just now, and read an interesting discussion over at The Digital Photography School on whether reaching the maximum actuations means the end of your camera or not.  I found the comments more interesting than the article itself. :)

Is it what that means? Will reaching your maximum number of actuations signal the death of your well loved camera? A Nikon D90 has been tested up to 100,000 clicks. What this simply means is that the Shutter mechanism has been tested to keep working even up to taking a hundred thousand photos. Once it reaches a hundred thousand, will your camera refuse to turn on and take more photos? Not necessarily. We have to understand that the camera is a mechanical device and its components can be quite fragile. That’s why we have to take care of it right? Now a hundred thousand clicks is just a number, that may mean that the camera has been tested up to that point. It may actually take more or less than that number before the shutter mechanism completely gives. The scary part is if it fails before the number of clicks it was tested for.

It’s very important to note though, that the death of your shutter mechanism does not have to mean the end of your camera. You can still have the shutter replaced at a trusted camera repair shop. It costs anywhere between 200-300 USD. A fairly recent thread at the Digital Photographer Philippines forum discussed D80 owners who have had their shutter mechanism replaced/repaired. Another important thing to remember, that cameras have been tested to take soooo many shots, upto 100k for the D90 and it will take years for me to reach that. By then, it will probably be time to upgrade :)

So there’s really no need to worry. Just take all the photos you want to take. As a newbie photographer, it rarely happens that the first take is the best shot. Sometimes it takes a few tries before you warm up, specially to find the settings that work for you given your current location and lighting conditions. So I probably won’t be checking on my shutter count all too often. And all this talk about actuations will surely not change the way I shoot, or prevent me from letting my nephew try taking photos using my camera. Increasing your shutter count is just like mileage on a car, the more you rack up, the more fun you’ve had. :)

Anyway, I ended up buying a brand new camera, and I didn’t even bother checking the shutter count after purchase because I trusted the store not to have given me a refurb or second hand body. I realize now, that perhaps I should have. Not so I would know how much time I will have left with my camera, but so I would know if it really was brand new or not. :)

Useful links:

Do you have more useful links on the subject? Tell me about it in the Comments box and I’ll add them up here. :)

*Shutter mechanism photo courtesy of Dpreview.com