Actuation's count

canuck257

Senior Member
My new D5300 is en route by Canada Post and expected to arrive early next week. It is coming from a reputable dealer so all should be as advertised however, to be sure it is new and un-handled I would like to be able to check the number of actuation's as a first step after unpacking. Is this a straight forward process? Is it detailed in the instruction manual and do you think it is a good first step? I have no previous experience of this dealer or of DSLR's so I don't want to do anything that will negatively affect the warranty.
 

Bourbon Neat

Senior Member
At the following link, you can download the exiftool or the executable version. The executable version is simple, place a shortcut on your desktop, drag and drop any image file into the shortcut and a command prompt window will open with complete metadata information listed. You will have to scroll through to find the shutter count, actuation or whatever the term may be.

ExifTool by Phil Harvey
 

canuck257

Senior Member
If you don't trust the dealer... why did you buy it? ;)

When you enter a new field lacking knowledge or experience of suppliers for obtaining equipment choice of dealer is a matter of faith. I am just protecting my interests and hopefully underlining the dealers reputation. Trust is not the issue here, being careful is.
 

canuck257

Senior Member
At the following link, you can download the exiftool or the executable version. The executable version is simple, place a shortcut on your desktop, drag and drop any image file into the shortcut and a command prompt window will open with complete metadata information listed. You will have to scroll through to find the shutter count, actuation or whatever the term may be.

ExifTool by Phil Harvey

Thank you. As a lover of Makers Mark I must compliment you on your screen name.
 

canuck257

Senior Member
And lacking the same knowledge and experience, how many actuations on a new camera would you expect to see? ;)

A very good question. I would hope for, but not expect zero. Ideally single digits but that may be too ambitious. What should I expect to see on a new camera straight from the box?
 

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
probably less than 20... won't be 1... it takes at least 1 to test... if you bought it from a dealer while standing there... you might see as many as 60... while he was demo'ing the camera to you...

If you get it, and unpack it, and it's all in its original wrappings... unless there were other indications that the camera has been re-packaged... torn internal wrappings... I wouldn't be too worried...

It's not difficult to vet a camera dealer... if they've been in business a few years... they didn't get there by selling used cameras as "new"... If you bought the camera at 50% of the prevailing prices... you might wanna ask a few more questions...
 

Nikkon

Senior Member
I use photome to read the exif info. Its a bit more user friendly as the command line tool. However i checked the exif tool mentioned above and it gives some more info.
 

canuck257

Senior Member
probably less than 20... won't be 1... it takes at least 1 to test... if you bought it from a dealer while standing there... you might see as many as 60... while he was demo'ing the camera to you...

If you get it, and unpack it, and it's all in its original wrappings... unless there were other indications that the camera has been re-packaged... torn internal wrappings... I wouldn't be too worried...

It's not difficult to vet a camera dealer... if they've been in business a few years... they didn't get there by selling used cameras as "new"... If you bought the camera at 50% of the prevailing prices... you might wanna ask a few more questions...

Thank you, sound advice in your second and third paragraphs which I will take notice of. The dealer has been around for many years which is why I went there. That and great service and good prices. I guess I'm suffering from "newbie nerves" plus I'm impatient to get started with the new "toy".
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
My new D5300 is en route by Canada Post and expected to arrive early next week. It is coming from a reputable dealer so all should be as advertised however, to be sure it is new and un-handled I would like to be able to check the number of actuation's as a first step after unpacking. Is this a straight forward process? Is it detailed in the instruction manual and do you think it is a good first step? I have no previous experience of this dealer or of DSLR's so I don't want to do anything that will negatively affect the warranty.

Well worth checking with any dealer,they can all make mistakes.
 

Jonas Grumby

Senior Member
I checked my D2X w/ Photo Shop and Camera Shutter Count and got exactly the same number for the last photo taken.

However, I just bought a new D5300 and the second picture I ever took with it comes up as #4, and the 5th comes up as #14. I have taken a total of 22 frames with it and the last one comes up as #56 according to both Photo Shop and that web site. Why would there be such a growing discrepancy between the numbers?

Thanks
 

cbg

Senior Member
I checked my D2X w/ Photo Shop and Camera Shutter Count and got exactly the same number for the last photo taken.

However, I just bought a new D5300 and the second picture I ever took with it comes up as #4, and the 5th comes up as #14. I have taken a total of 22 frames with it and the last one comes up as #56 according to both Photo Shop and that web site. Why would there be such a growing discrepancy between the numbers?

Thanks
Did you delete any images in the camera before checking the image count. Images deleted in the camera are still counted even though you don't download them to your computer
 

Jonas Grumby

Senior Member
Thanks. I have deleted a few frames from the SD card but that doesn't seem to explain it.

DSC_0008.NEF is number 21
DSC_0009.NEF is number 25
DSC_0010.NEF is number 28
DSC_0011.NEF is number 43

So, there's an example of 4 consecutive images that are not consecutive in the shutter actuation count.
 

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Thanks. I have deleted a few frames from the SD card but that doesn't seem to explain it.

DSC_0008.NEF is number 21
DSC_0009.NEF is number 25
DSC_0010.NEF is number 28
DSC_0011.NEF is number 43

So, there's an example of 4 consecutive images that are not consecutive in the shutter actuation count.

Are you shooting in Live View (using the display), or just looking through the viewfinder? As I understand it, switching bs d forth from Live View also triggers the shutter, so could expln the count.
 
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