How long does dSLR/SLR last?

[alsatian]

I read Canon's announcement of the 30D. One of the lines says, "New and improved shutter will last for 100,000 cycles". That gets me to thinking, what is the longevity of a dSLR? I know that SLRs are supposed to last years or even tens of years, as my grandfather's SLR is very old and it's still working, but what about dSLRs?

Do you have any idea?

[coldrain]

Your grandfathers SLR did not make so many photos. You have that natural 24 or 36 photo limit on them... the big difference with a DSLR, that makes you make a lot more photos with the digital one.
So, in years the DSLR will probably need service sooner. And what is not on it can not break, so the old SLR without electronics is less likely to get a defect...

[Hobbit]

Well I was shooting in 1990 with trophy Leica of my grandad made in 1939.
It was absolutely fine. The quality of build feels to be higher than modern SLRs whichever you take - Nikon,Canon, top or bottom models. Well Leica is rangefinder - not SLR but the bottom line is that today we have cheaper cameras with worse built quality - which still work.
I have to admit that my C-750 bought in 2003 (while making perfect pics) seems to be outdated compared to my XT bought in 2005. So take into account technology advance. In 10 years my Canon will probably be outdated - because of technology advance. So there is de facto no need in dSLR lasting more than 10 years..
On the other hand you can buy some .... Leica, Rollei or something else expensive which possibly will serve you longer. The price difference between Epson for instance and XT is ~ 1500$ with XT richer in features. Rollei I guess costs around 10000$ and even more.
Also - take into account branding - companies need to sell more products if they do it for lesser price :)

[cdifoto]

No digital camera that still functions is useless. Marketing just makes you think it is. Your XT won't be obsolete in 10 years. As long as it still works it'll be just as useful as it is today.

[aparmley]

I think he meant he wasn't aware that the shutter has a lifecyle. Yes. . . Anything that moves will eventually wear out - the deal is the camera isn't useless. Send it to a repair shop and they'll replace the shutter and your good to go! for a lot cheaper than it would have costed to make 100,000 actuations with a film camera. . . good god could you imagine the cost of doing that. . . [imaging quietly to myself] . . . thats over $20,000 in film expense alone - assuming 24 exposures and a median cost of $5.00 per roll. That is not considering how much it would take to develope all of those rolls either. . .

[Rhys]

I believe the Nikon F3 titanium roll-up shutter had an estimated life of 300,000 activations. Earlier cameras that had silk shutters didn't really have a limit other than the life of the rubber backing on the silk which degraded over time rather than through flexing.

I have 2 secondhand FMs - both of which I have used extensively. I cannot imagine I've put more than a couple of thousand shots through each though.

With digital, I have a total of about 10,000 photos taken in the past 5 years. I seem to average 2,000 photos a year. That means that 100,000 activations should take me 50 years. I'm happy! Of course, if I was earning money with my 100,000 cycle shutter then I'd have enough spare to afford to buy another!

[24Peter]

I've got 25,000 shutter activations (i.e., photos ;) ) on my XT in less than 10 months. At that pace I'll be near the service limit within ~ 20 months. :eek: Of course, if I was a really good photographer, I'd probably need to take less pictures. But hey - I'm learning.:o

[aparmley]

I've got 25,000 shutter activations (i.e., photos ;) ) on my XT in less than 10 months. At that pace I'll be near the service limit within ~ 20 months. :eek: Of course, if I was a really good photographer, I'd probably need to take less pictures. But hey - I'm learning.:o

You and me both I have like close to 8,000 give or take a 1k, in about 9 months. You're learning faster and better than I though. . . 25k damn. is that XT smoking at the end of the day?

[cdifoto]

I don't keep track of my count but I think my silver xt has about 8 thousand actuations at most. Most of which are from Path Valley Speedway and shooting for the local paper. My black one is used very sparingly for some reason and most certanly has less than 600 shots on it.

[canison]

Heh, i think i've got you beat, i've done about 14,000 shots in 5 months!

All on a 20D. Anyone know how many actuations the shutter on a 20D is rated to? The new 30D is 100,000 so i'm hoping it's close to that.

[cdifoto]

Heh, i think i've got you beat, i've done about 14,000 shots in 5 months!

All on a 20D. Anyone know how many actuations the shutter on a 20D is rated to? The new 30D is 100,000 so i'm hoping it's close to that.

I've got some bad news for you. The 20D is rated to only 14,001 frames! :eek:



Just KIDDING! :D

[ReValveiT]

Some say 100,000 some say 150,000 for the 20D. There is no clear answer, but lets not forget that a 1ds may fail at three and a 300D may fail at 900,000 actuations.

Don't let these things worry you.

[24Peter]

BTW & FWIW, I think it's only around $200 to get a Canon shutter fixed if it fails/expires out of warranty. (I remember reading that on another forum by someone who got his replaced.) Not necessarily cheap, but may be worth it to keep an otherwise OK camera going.

[aparmley]

BTW & FWIW, I think it's only around $200 to get a Canon shutter fixed if it fails/expires out of warranty. (I remember reading that on another forum by someone who got his replaced.) Not necessarily cheap, but may be worth it to keep an otherwise OK camera going.

Geez! He'll say anything when hes trapped at an airport! :D J/K Are you home yet Peter! Day job have you on the go or just a little away time?