How I can check number of frames shot on the 5D?

forsooth

Hi folks, I upgraded to a Canon 5D Mk II from the 5D and now I'm getting ready to put the 5D up for sale. It's in perfect condition, no dings or scratches. I upgraded because most of the time I'm shooting in really dark, poorly lit venues and the 5D Mk II gives me a bigger ISO range and allows me to get some shots I wouldn't normally get.

I'm getting ready to put it up on ebay or on Digital Grin and I need to know how many shots I have fired on it. How do I find this out? It has an extended warranty on it and this will be included in the sale. It's too good to keep as a back-up and I need other stuff anyway. Any suggestions on how I can check number of frames shot on the 5D would be useful and any tips on selling are welcome too.

Thanks in advance.

forsooth :scratch

ziggy53

I don't believe there is an easy way to know the total actuations for a Canon 5D (original model) because I think only specific 1D/1Ds models store that information as part of the image metadata.

I do believe that genuine Canon service centers can read that information directly from the camera with a special software.

You can get reasonably close if the image-file numbering has not rolled over and you put a brand new memory card (that has never been in a camera) into the 5D and set the camera for auto-numbering and then take a shot. You should be able to figure out the count from the file name.

If you use a card which has ever been in a camera, the 5d will pick up the count from the old card, even if there are no images on the card, so it needs to be a new card (or a card that has been re-formatted properly in a computer, and then in the camera. A new card is just much simpler.)

If the file counter has rolled over, then the resulting file name will be off by the number of rotations the counter has rolled over.

The best count will still be from Canon since that shows total actuations, not just images recorded.

forsooth

Thanks ziggy, I'll give it a a try with a new card. I don't want to have to send it to Canon so I'll give it a go with your suggestion. I thought I had read somewhere when someone was selling their 5D on Digital Grin that they had the exact number of actuations. I'll do a search and also check my manual. They camera had barely been used before I upgraded.

Thanks for the advice.

forsooth

The Mack

forsooth wrote:

Thanks ziggy, I'll give it a a try with a new card. I don't want to have to send it to Canon so I'll give it a go with your suggestion. I thought I had read somewhere when someone was selling their 5D on Digital Grin that they had the exact number of actuations. I'll do a search and also check my manual. They camera had barely been used before I upgraded.

Thanks for the advice.

forsooth

try this,

http://regex.info/exif.cgi

might work

Scott_Quier

I don't know if this will work on the 5DMI, but it does on the 40D/50D/5DII with no issues.

ziggy53

The Mack wrote:

try this,

http://regex.info/exif.cgi

might work

I tried that on a 5D MKII file and, while exhaustive and pretty complete, I did not find anything to indicate shutter actuations. ("Image Number" read "0".)

I tried it on a 1D MKII file and the "Image Number" may indeed be accurate. (I would have to check to be sure but it seems right.)

Thanks for the link.

The Mack

ziggy53 wrote:

I tried that on a 5D MKII file and, while exhaustive and pretty complete, I did not find anything to indicate shutter actuations. ("Image Number" read "0".)

I tried it on a 1D MKII file and the "Image Number" may indeed be accurate. (I would have to check to be sure but it seems right.)

Thanks for the link.

Oh ok, sorry.

ziggy53

Scott_Quier wrote:

I don't know if this will work on the 5DMI, but it does on the 40D/50D/5DII with no issues.

In the FAQ for that software, on the page that you linked, it does mention that:

"... It will not work on the 1D*, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 300D, 350D, and 400D. It's not that I have anything against the owners of those cameras, but simply that the Canon SDK does not support retrieving the shutter count for them."

I think that the OP has the original 5D.

Scott_Quier

ziggy53 wrote:

In the FAQ for that software, on the page that you linked, it does mention that:

"... It will not work on the 1D*, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 300D, 350D, and 400D. It's not that I have anything against the owners of those cameras, but simply that the Canon SDK does not support retrieving the shutter count for them."

I think that the OP has the original 5D.

Ooops, missed that little detail - helps if I would read the full menu (RTFM).

TexPhotog

What about IrfanView... I don't have Canon gear, but it shows the shutter info for my Nikon cameras...

www.irfanview.com

forsooth

Thanks for the replies folks! I tried The Macks trick but as ziggy pointed out it doesn't work with the 5D.
All I got was an error message. I'll try the other suggestions and see how it goes.

Thanks all!

forsooth

forsooth

Hey TexPhotog, I tried Irfanview but it's for Windows only, I'm a Mac kinda guy!

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

forsooth

forsooth

Here's a link that I found. I'll try it and report back if it works or not.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=30569558

forsooth

forsooth

Tried it on the 5D and an XTi and it gives you all the information EXCEPT the shutter actuations!

Useful to know but still doesn't get me what I need.

Back to the drawing board

forsooth

TexPhotog

forsooth wrote:

Hey TexPhotog, I tried Irfanview but it's for Windows only, I'm a Mac kinda guy!

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

forsooth

I'm a Mac guy too... just can't afford them right now, lol...

If you want to post just a blank generic shot full size shot here I can look up the EXIF info with Irfanview when I get home... see if I can find what you need...

michswiss

I know this was about a Canon, but I'm curious about the same thing for Nikon bodies. Also, why do they make it so difficult to get this info? It would seem simple enough to have the actual number of actuations on an Info page, say where firmware versions are listed.

ziggy53

michswiss wrote:

I know this was about a Canon, but I'm curious about the same thing for Nikon bodies. Also, why do they make it so difficult to get this info? It would seem simple enough to have the actual number of actuations on an Info page, say where firmware versions are listed.

Nikon cameras do embed the actuations from more of their bodies into the EXIF. Many EXIF viewers will show Nikon camera actuations, sometimes displayed as an "Image Count" or "Shutter Count" or similar.

The primary problem with actuation count information is that too many people put too much emphasis upon the actuation count, believing it to be a hard number in terms of a camera's durability. It is not.

The mirror box and the shutter box are the 2 most mechanical parts of any SLR or dSLR. Each has a design life measured in terms of cycles of actuation, or "actuations" for short. The number is derived from a number of different methods including forced cycling in empirical testing. The shutter or mirror actuation lifetime is a "bell curve", with the average failures predominantly occurring at the top of the curve.

A particular camera will not necessarily fail at that same point as the statistical average, so the lifetime of a particular camera is not known. A camera owner needs to realize that preserving their shutter count will not necessarily avoid the eventual failure of that camera. Relying on shutter count information to predict failure is not terribly accurate for a single sample situation.

For purchasing purposes the shutter count is but one indicator of potential camera health and, unless the shutter count is extremely high "and" the camera has been subjected to other notable extremes or abuses, the particular camera may still have considerable service life.

At the worst, and with a very old camera, the "possibility" of shutter or mirror failure may be factored into the purchase decision (and probably should be factored in as any particular camera may fail at any particular time.) For consumer cameras costs may run from $250USD through $400 or so. For professional equipment a combined shutter and mirror box may run $450-$650 or so.