what happens when you go over the shutter life?

[alfa147x]

I have heard that the XT's have a shutter life of 50,000 actuations. I have a XTI so i take it that my cameras life should be around that much?

what happens when it dies?
how much does it cost to get fixed?


Thanks!

so i uploaded a photo flickr ( http://www.flickr.com/photo_exif.gne?id=1339688216 )
and it says:
Shutter Count: 37214

 

[Zenmervolt]

Nothing happens. Not automatically or anything.

Shutter life is simply a listing of mean time before failure (MTBF). If you take two samples, one fails after the first actuation and the other fails after 200,000 actuations, the "shutter life" is 100,000 actuations. Imagine this on a much larger scale and you can now know how they come up with the shutter life.

On average though, the shutter should be good for around 50,000 actuations. It's replaceable. Probably $100-$200. Not terrible, but not cheap.

ZV

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

The reason shutter life matters is that if the shutter dies and you take it into Canon (provided it has been under a year and you're the original owner of the camera), if the shutter count is less than the shutter life Canon will replace the shutter for free. If the shutter count is more than the shutter life, you have to pay to get the shutter replaced.

Now, say that you bring the camera in for warranty work unrelated to the shutter, like a non-responsive shutter button or something. Now suppose that your shutter count is very close to the MTBF, say 48,000. Canon will (should) actually go ahead and replace the shutter in addition to the shutter button as part of their exhaustive checkup and 6-month repair warranty.

But if you send your camera in out of warranty, the minimum you'll pay for repair service is around $200, even if it's only for a $5 broken part. The reason is that Canon does the exhaustive checkup on each SLR camera that they get regardless of how small the problems it has seem to be.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
But if you send your camera in out of warranty, the minimum you'll pay for repair service is around $200, even if it's only for a $5 broken part. The reason is that Canon does the exhaustive checkup on each SLR camera that they get regardless of how small the problems it has seem to be.

I'm more cynical than you. I really think that the $200 minimum charge is more to prevent people from sending in their cameras for a $5 non-critical repair and flooding Canon's repair facilities with minor issues. And the exhaustive checkup is more to provide an apparent justification of their minimum fee.

ZV

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Zenmervolt

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
But if you send your camera in out of warranty, the minimum you'll pay for repair service is around $200, even if it's only for a $5 broken part. The reason is that Canon does the exhaustive checkup on each SLR camera that they get regardless of how small the problems it has seem to be.

I'm more cynical than you. I really think that the $200 minimum charge is more to prevent people from sending in their cameras for a $5 non-critical repair and flooding Canon's repair facilities with minor issues. And the exhaustive checkup is more to provide an apparent justification of their minimum fee.

ZV

Well, you have to keep in mind that they warrant the entire camera for 6 months after the repair. So they do this exhaustive checkup to make sure that nothing else will go wrong within 6 months, or else they'll have to repair whatever it is for free. Of course, if something goes wrong within 6 months and Canon finds it to be due to sand or salt water or whatever the warranty doesn't apply.

But charging $200 to keep them from being flooded IMO is a very legitimate strategy by itself. Canon repair service is excellent. I wouldn't want them to start half assing repairs if they become overwhelmed with returns. It's bad for the customer and it's bad for business.

However, I wouldn't be averse to an option to pay a lower price just for the price of the repair in question and to receive a warranty JUST for the object repaired and not for the rest of the camera.

 

[corkyg]

I have never paid any attention to shutter life. I have never had a digital camera that took more than 9,000 pictures before upgrading or trading. Always onward and upward.

But, it is an interesting discussion. Learn something everyday!

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: corkyg
I have never paid any attention to shutter life. I have never had a digital camera that took more than 9,000 pictures before upgrading or trading. Always onward and upward.

But, it is an interesting discussion. Learn something everyday!

wow either you barely click your shutter, or are are upgrading frequently!

I've had my K100D for just over a month and probably have around 4,000 clicks already...of course of that 4,000 I only kept about 140 of them. As you can tell I'm still learning

 

[alfa147x]

Well I bought the camera in January, I am not at home so I can not check the warranty that comes with it... say it?s under warranty and I have surpassed the life do I still pay $200? Also is there any 3rd party who do this?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
Well I bought the camera in January, I am not at home so I can not check the warranty that comes with it... say it?s under warranty and I have surpassed the life do I still pay $200? Also is there any 3rd party who do this?

If it is still under warranty but the shutter life has been surpassed, you must pay for a replacement shutter.

The thing that really confuses me is that you actually have a shutter count for the XTi, which was taken from the EXIF. To my knowledge, as far as the XT goes, shutter count is not something that is contained in the EXIF. Only the 1D and 1Ds series of cameras (maybe the 5D also) have shutter count embedded within the EXIF of their pictures. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the shutter count that flickr gave you is wrong, and that your actual shutter count is way way less.

Does it feel like you've taken a ton of pictures with the camera? With the shutter count you have you'd need to have taken on average of about 1,000 shots a WEEK.

 

[OdiN]

What happens?

The camera immediately shuts down, and if you try to turn it back on, you get a blue screen with some strange error message

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: magomago
wow either you barely click your shutter, or are are upgrading frequently!

I guess it is the latter. First Oly P&S in 1997. Second in 1998. Third in 1999. 4th in 2000. First DSLR (D60) in 2002; Second DSLR (20D)in 2004. Third DSLR (5D) in 2005. It was stolen in 2007. 4th DSLR (5D) in 2007. I reset the image count in the second 5D to start where the stolen one left off.

And, for Fuzzy . . . the 5D EXIF does not give the shutter count

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: alfa147x
Well I bought the camera in January, I am not at home so I can not check the warranty that comes with it... say it?s under warranty and I have surpassed the life do I still pay $200? Also is there any 3rd party who do this?

If it is still under warranty but the shutter life has been surpassed, you must pay for a replacement shutter.

The thing that really confuses me is that you actually have a shutter count for the XTi, which was taken from the EXIF. To my knowledge, as far as the XT goes, shutter count is not something that is contained in the EXIF. Only the 1D and 1Ds series of cameras (maybe the 5D also) have shutter count embedded within the EXIF of their pictures. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the shutter count that flickr gave you is wrong, and that your actual shutter count is way way less.

Does it feel like you've taken a ton of pictures with the camera? With the shutter count you have you'd need to have taken on average of about 1,000 shots a WEEK.

Don't take me wrong i'm not questioning your experience or knowledge
but I don't get were you got the 1000 shots a week.

I did go a few weeks while i was on vacation with 300 - 500 photos a day but that was probably only about 20 - 35 days...

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: alfa147x
Well I bought the camera in January, I am not at home so I can not check the warranty that comes with it... say it?s under warranty and I have surpassed the life do I still pay $200? Also is there any 3rd party who do this?

If it is still under warranty but the shutter life has been surpassed, you must pay for a replacement shutter.

The thing that really confuses me is that you actually have a shutter count for the XTi, which was taken from the EXIF. To my knowledge, as far as the XT goes, shutter count is not something that is contained in the EXIF. Only the 1D and 1Ds series of cameras (maybe the 5D also) have shutter count embedded within the EXIF of their pictures. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the shutter count that flickr gave you is wrong, and that your actual shutter count is way way less.

Does it feel like you've taken a ton of pictures with the camera? With the shutter count you have you'd need to have taken on average of about 1,000 shots a WEEK.

Don't take me wrong i'm not questioning your experience or knowledge
but I don't get were you got the 1000 shots a week.

I did go a few weeks while i was on vacation with 300 - 500 photos a day but that was probably only about 20 - 35 days...

Well, the flickr thing says 37214 shutter actuations.
You said you got the camera in January, so it's about 9 months.
37214 / 9 = 4135 shots / month = ~1000 shots a week

 

[alfa147x]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: alfa147x

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: alfa147x
Well I bought the camera in January, I am not at home so I can not check the warranty that comes with it... say it?s under warranty and I have surpassed the life do I still pay $200? Also is there any 3rd party who do this?

If it is still under warranty but the shutter life has been surpassed, you must pay for a replacement shutter.

The thing that really confuses me is that you actually have a shutter count for the XTi, which was taken from the EXIF. To my knowledge, as far as the XT goes, shutter count is not something that is contained in the EXIF. Only the 1D and 1Ds series of cameras (maybe the 5D also) have shutter count embedded within the EXIF of their pictures. So I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the shutter count that flickr gave you is wrong, and that your actual shutter count is way way less.

Does it feel like you've taken a ton of pictures with the camera? With the shutter count you have you'd need to have taken on average of about 1,000 shots a WEEK.

Don't take me wrong i'm not questioning your experience or knowledge
but I don't get were you got the 1000 shots a week.

I did go a few weeks while i was on vacation with 300 - 500 photos a day but that was probably only about 20 - 35 days...

Well, the flickr thing says 37214 shutter actuations.
You said you got the camera in January, so it's about 9 months.
37214 / 9 = 4135 shots / month = ~1000 shots a week

True, dang well that is a good thing that it is wrong ... i would like to find the REAL # so i can prepare before going to a big shot
Thanks!

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: alfa147x
True, dang well that is a good thing that it is wrong ... i would like to find the REAL # so i can prepare before going to a big shot
Thanks!

The only way to find this number is to send it into Canon, unfortunately. The only times I've ever been able to get the shutter count on my XT is when I send it in to get fixed.