Today’s Question: I’m considering trading in one of my Nikon mirrorless cameras (Z6II) and I know the first thing they’ll ask me about is what the shutter count is. With my Nikon DSLR cameras, I was able to take a photo and look at the EXIF data to find the shutter count information. But I can’t find a Shutter Count field for my mirrorless camera. Do mirrorless cameras not have that field? How do you find the information?
Tim’s Quick Answer: Most mirrorless (and DSLR) cameras do track the number of shutter actuations, but that information isn’t always displayed in typical photo-management software. However, there are other resources that can help you get this information.
More Detail: First off, since today’s question related to shutter actuations on a mirrorless camera, I wanted to point out that this topic is referring only to actuations of the mechanical shutter. If you use the electronic shutter rather than the mechanical shutter, then you obviously aren’t adding wear to the mechanical shutter. Most cameras are rated for the shutter to last for about 100,000 to 400,000 actuations. That’s not to say the shutter will fail right as you reach that number, but it provides a sense of the degree to which you should be concerned about a possible failure.
With many cameras you can use software provided by your camera manufacturer to find out how many times the shutter has been actuated. For example, the EOS Utility software from Canon enables you to check this information for Canon cameras. With other cameras also include an option to check the camera directly on the menu system for the camera to determine the total number of shutter actuations.
If your camera model doesn’t provide an easy way to determine the number of shutter actuations, in many cases you can use the Camera Shutter Count website to determine this information. Simply upload an original capture from your camera (not an edited image) to the website, and the number of shutter actuations will be shown. Note that small text on the website lists the camera models that are supported.
You can find the Camera Shutter Count website here:
https://www.camerashuttercount.com
