We had this discussion a while back, so you may want to look up the old
thread.

The bottom line seemed to be that if you do more than 50K actuations/yr, you
might want to consider upgrading to a pro-grade body.

But for most amateurs or part-time pros, the camera will probably become
obsolete before the shutter gives out.

Walt

I would take those specs with a grain of salt. I would guess they are
saying they should last at least that many actuations. It does not mean
that on actuation 50,000 plus one or 100,000 plus one the shutter will
fail. The people who most likely would wear out shutters in a short
amount of time will be photojournalist or sport photographers who would
be using pro level equipment, not the average photo enthusiest who uses
the 350D and 20D or the like.

I am not too concerned that the shutter in my D70 is going to wear out
very quickly, however, it does point out a significant difference between
how amateurs use film and digital cameras.

100,000 actuations is over 4000 rolls of 24 exposure 35mm film.  That is a
lot of film and expense for most amateurs (even at a roll a day, that is
over eleven years worth).  Of course for a professional, film costs are
not much of an issue, so a pro does not mind "wasting" a lot of film to
get the shot he wants.

I think you can see where I am going with this.  With a digital SLR there
is no film cost, and the amateur is free to shoot away, hoping for that
one special shot.

Based on that logic, I suspect shutters on amateur DSLRs are going to wear
out a lot sooner than similar shutters on amateur 35mm SLRs.  
Manufacturers may have to take that into consideration in their designs.

Merritt

In pro level gear, I've heard of pros replacing their shutters, so it does
happen.  Whether the 350D is economical enough to have it done, I don't know.
It might make sense to replace it instead with whatever new body Canon is
selling at the time.  I agree with the other posters, that if you are getting
into the realm of running into the limit, you should be thinking about using
pro level gear (which is made to be used heavily).

As an ammeter, I've taken 600-800 pictures in a single day doing event and
vacation photography, but I don't do it day in and day out.  Looking at the
stats, I see I've taken 6,600 pictures since I bought my E-1 in December 30th,
which is a little more than 1,000 pictures average per month (note, the number
is a little bit higher since I've also taken pictures with my older camera in
the same period, but I also was doing a lot of test shots to learn the E-1).
At 1,000 pictures per month, I figure I have ~ 12 years before I reach the
150,000 actuation's that the specs call for, though it would be ~ 4 years if I
had the 350D.

Just out of curiosity, where exactly did you find the 50k number.

--
Slack

Thanks all - I guess at the end of the day it's not something I can do
anything about, so I'm probably better off to stop worrying about it, and
just deal with it when and if something happens.

Cheers,

CC

I can only speak for my 10D and it has
just over 25,000 photos in just under 2
years on it.
It's still working as good as new (so
far!).

"Cockpit Colin" <spam@nospam.com> wrote
in message
news:rjgCe.940$PL5.146650@news.xtra.co.n
z...

So?  You get it re-furbished.  Cameras are made to be repaired.

At a frame rate of 6 FPS that's over 16.6 hours of continuous
shooting.  

********************************************************

"A nice man is a man of nasty ideas."

          _Introductions to History of the Reformation_
                   Jonathan Swift
                      1667-1745
                   

Those numbers are very conservative, probably calculated by a lawyer to
limit liability.  You'll get a lot more actuation in real life.  You'll
probably replace them with the "new and improved" model before you come
anywhere close to wearing them out.

Yes, I have worn out a shutter, 2 actually, on my film cameras, but I've
been shooting professionally with them, since 1978 and it took about 20
years to do it.  And I've run thousands of rolls through them.  I don't
really know the exact amount, but if I had to guess, I'd say at least
5,000 rolls, but maybe closer to 10,000 36 exposure rolls per camera.
The cameras? Nikon FM with motor drives, and the FM wasn't even considered
a "professional" camera, but one for the advance amateur.  So, it wasn't
as "beefy" as the pro model F2, that was THE camera in '78, and they still
lasted 20 years.

Stefan