During the last several weeks, I have received several requests from our readers about finding the total number of shutter actuations on their DSLRs. I decided to write a short article on how you can find the total shutter actuations on both Nikon and Canon DSLRs, in case you are interested in seeing how much you have been using your camera or how close your shutter speed is to the manufacturers’ rated shutter life of 150,000 (on most entry and mid-level cameras) or 300,000 (professional cameras).
1) EXIF Data
The information on the total shutter actuations on your camera is preserved in file headers, known as “metadata” or “EXIF”. If you do not know what EXIF is and what it is used for, check out my “What is EXIF” article that I wrote a while ago. Basically, your camera writes all exposure-related information such as date, time, shutter speed, aperture, ISO and a bunch of other important information into the header of each file. Some camera manufacturers like Nikon and Canon also add unique shutter actuations data fields that are used for seeing the total number of exposures or “shutter actuations” cameras have.
2) Switch to JPEG format
If you are shooting RAW, it is best to switch to JPEG format just for getting the required information from your camera. While the camera native RAW format preserves all of the EXIF information that is coming out of the camera, third party conversion software like Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can strip out some of the proprietary EXIF data, including the number of shutter actuations. Therefore, switching to JPEG will allow you to view EXIF data straight, without having to import the image into Lightroom or Photoshop first. It doesn’t matter what size of JPEG files you choose – even JPEG BASIC works fine. Once selected, take a picture of anything you want.
3) Download EXIF viewer
In order to view the proprietary EXIF information from files, you need to use an image EXIF viewer that does not strip out anything from the file. Unfortunately, almost all current image viewers only display generic EXIF data that most people use and ignore the rest. Instead of properly reading EXIF data from files and then parsing the results, they typically just look for generic EXIF tags within the file and display them when they are available. If something is not available, it stays blank. To reduce the number of blank items to the minimum, they only provide generic information that is more or less standardized across most camera manufacturers.
Since these kinds of image EXIF viewers are not going to work to find the total shutter count, we will need to use less popular versions of EXIF data viewers, such as Phil Harvey’s “ExifTool” and Opanda’s IExif.
4) Viewing Shutter Count EXIF Data via ExifTool
Once you download the single ExifTool executable from this website, move it to the root drive of your main drive (typically C: on Windows and / on MacOS), then open up the command prompt via Start->All Programs->Acessories->Command Prompt. If you are using a Mac, fire up the shell terminal. Type “cd c:” in Windows or “cd /” in MacOS to be in the same folder where the ExifTool executable resides. Then type:
- Nikon DSLR:
exiftool source_jpeg_file.jpg | find "Shutter Count"
- Canon DSLR:
exiftool source_jpeg_file.jpg | find "Image Number"
Obviously, replace “source_jpeg_file.jpg” with the name of your actual JPEG file. The program should return something like this: “Shutter Count: 19889” or “Image Number: 19889” – the number to the right of the string is the total shutter count on the camera.
5) Viewing Shutter Count EXIF Data via Opanda IExif/Simple EXIF Viewer
If you do not want to mess with command prompts, the best alternative is to use either Opanda IExif (for Windows) or Simple EXIF Viewer (for MacOS). Just download the latest versions of the Opanda IExif or Simple Exif Viewer and install using defaults.
Once the program is installed, open it up and then click the “Open” button to browse to your file. Select the JPEG file and you will see something like this:
Opanda IExif
Now scroll down until you see either “Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera” and note the number:
Opanda IExif Shutter Count
Simple EXIF Viewer for MacOS has a different interface, but works similarly.
If you shoot with a Canon camera and your shutter count is not displayed by any of the above images, check out this website.
About Nasim Mansurov
hi Nasim,
You have a very nice site/blog , excellent for newbies to understand photography terminology, and superb bird photos ( not to say the others aren’t , the ones I saw were mostly birds). I too voted for you and it’s good to see you up in 2nd spot ! Hope you get the 1st spot !
One question about shutter count , rather two questions :
Doesn’t the camera itself have a function that shows shutter count readout on the LCD ?
I read that shutter replacement itself costs 1/2 the price of the camera , having read replacement costs like 200 or 300 Euro. That is mighty expensive , is the shutter really that expensive ? I thought the sensor would be the most expensive part of the body.
Phew , ok more questions !
I had been looking for a D90, but it is now unavailable . I chose the D90 over D5000 mainly because of the AF motor, dual control dials, prism VF , the higher battery capacity and optional grip along with better LCD cemented it further. But are AF lenses still sold , or are all new lenses AF-S , making the in-body AF motor less relevant as I won’t be buying used lenses. Are in-lens motors more likely to fail than in-body AF motors ? A motor is a machine , thus likely to fail sometime, and so I expect AF-S or Canon EF lenses won’t last as much compared to non-motorized lenses , is it correct ?
My choices are to either by a used D90 (again not easy to find, I found one but with no warranty ) , buy a lower segment body like D5000 or D3000 (D3100 not launched yet) , or wait 1 year for the D95/D7000 (D90 successor) which rumors say is an awesome camera – magnesium body , 6-8fps , 16MP but with better high ISO performance than D90, 100% VF and dual card slots , and a hefty price ( hence the 1 year, for the price to reduce to something I can afford )!
What do you suggest I do ? How is the D3100′s low light performance compared to D5000′s ?
Sorry if ask too much, but
Eh, my post is missing some text !
Sorry for asking so many questions in one go …google doesn’t have all the answers, or maybe not easily found answers.
Thank you Rahul!
In terms of shutter count, the camera only shows what is left on the memory stick or will show a number next to a file name, which is only the last 4 digits. Once you go over 9999 images, the sequence starts over… And yes, shutter replacement is expensive because they have to open the camera up and it is not easy to do.
In terms of focus motors, there is no such thing that they fail more often than cameras without them, so don’t worry about that.
As for your D90 purchase – if you have not done it already, wait for a few weeks and see if Nikon announces an update or not. Even if you can’t buy one now, the price on the used D90 cameras will drop by at least 50-100 USD.
In terms of D3100 vs D5000 – don’t know yet, need to perform some tests.
hi Nasim,
Thanks for your replies. It’s surprising that manufacturers don’t display full camera information within the camera display itself.
About AF motors, I think you misunderstood me. I mean to say if, is the in-lens AF motor as all Canon EF lenses and Nikkor AF-S have, more likely to fail than the in-body AF motors that only semi-pro and pro level Nikons have ?
So I guess you haven’t spent much time with the D3100. I was hoping to get a good idea of the D3100 low light shots, to guess if the D95/D7000 might indeed be worth waiting for in terms of low light performance , considering the increase in pixel count over the D90.
Thanks again, I’ll be on the lookout for a D90, new or used for some time anyhow.
Rahul,
I don’t believe anybody tracks how many AF motors in cameras die vs in-lens motors. I have many lenses with AF motors and never had a single one fail…maybe others do not get as lucky.
I’m hoping to get the D3100 this week.
Hi Nasim,
I did read someplace about in body motors outlasting in-lens motors, but not much else and no stats or numbers. I certainly hope they last, good lenses aren’t cheap !
Hope to have your D3100 review soon , am most interested in how it does at in low light/high ISO conditions( and D7000 vs D90 on the lines of D90 vs D300s comparison too if/when you get your hands on the D7000) !
Rahul, lenses have a 5 year warranty versus 1 year camera warranty, so I would not be too concerned. Normally, cameras die faster than lenses, not the other way around…
Hopefully to get the D3100 tomorrow morning.
Is it expected that the first photograph from a Nikon DSLR will have an exif with shutter count as 1?
Amit, technically, yes, it should. However, the count might be a little higher due to manufacturer’s QA process.
Hi I have a Nikon D700 it is showing the following data:
Total Number of Shutter Releases for Camera = 23
does this mean thats the total number of actuations it is a new camera please help :-)
Taz, yes, that means that the camera has had 23 actuations. This is normal – most likely the result of some tests during the camera QA process.
This doesnt seem to work for my Canon 50D:
$ exiftool /Users/Kevin/Desktop/exmast.jpg | find “Image Number”
find: Image Number: No such file or directory
$ exiftool /Users/Kevin/Desktop/exmast.JPG | grep “Image Number”
Have they changed the name of the variable from “Image Number”? I tried just scrolling through the whole list that exiftools spits out when you remove the find/grep after the | and I still wasnt able to see anything about total actuations…
I have the same problem as Kevin Martini: cannot find the variable named “Image Number” when I analyze data with exiftool from a photo taken with Canon 40D.
I want to buy this camera from a guy that lives 300km away, and I have to find out the real number of shutter actuations, so I asked him to send me some photos that were actually taken today with the camera so I can run them through exiftool. He did, but I feel a bit stupid now, since I cannot find the number at all :(
Please advise if you have any additional info on this.
Tnx!
I heard there are cancount.exe that can do canon shutter count, does it still exist? or it is just a rumor?
thanks a lot for your information but the thing is i download the program (Opanda IExif) its work perfect but it doesn’t show total number of shutter i dont know how to find out ,its very important for me bec im gonna buy a camera from my friend if you can help me for that ill be appreciate thanks parham
There are plenty of websites out there that allow you to simply upload a jpeg right out of the camera to check the shutter count.
So what website is that can you give me that website ?
http://www.nikonshuttercount.com provides the ability to upload a jpeg and determine the shutter count quickly and easily. Try it yourself. It works for nearly all of Nikon’s DSLRs.
Actually, it appears that Flickr shows the shutter counts too. Upload a photo to Flickr, click on the ACTIONS button, and then select VIEW EXIF INFO. ‘Shutter Count’ is one of the data points shown
Kevin seems to have it right for the Mac, and linux systems:
exiftool ‘filename.jpg’ | grep “attribute value”
Nikon JPG files on my pro D3, D3S and D4 bodies *do not* include shutter actuations. You need to stick with RAW.