Shutter Life/Actuations/Shutter Count

I new how many pictures the two first cameras I bought used had taken. I never asked for the last one, but the bloke I bought it off had used it only as an extra camera so when I checked it was abot 1000. I think it's an important question to ask, but not the only thing you'd like to know as some cameras might last longer and some break down way earlier than expected. There's also the question about where they're used, I'm not sure I'd want to buy a used camera of myself. I have a tendency to end up in sand and dust when taking pictures at riding competitions, and cameras don't really like sand and dust :-/ I'm sure not going to let it limit the number of pictures I take! :-) I definitly second you there, if it breaks down I'll get a new used one if I haven't saved up enough money to get a new new one.

Shutter count information is encoded in the EXIF data which is included with the image data in nearly all digital cameras. EXIF data is something that most people don't realise exists and it varies in what it can tell you about a photograph depending on the camera. Simple point-and-shoot cameras very often encode little more than date and time, aperture, shutter speed, focal length, whether the flash fired and a few other settings. It is only the more expensive DSLRs which will give the shutter count. There is an excellent site here which will extract and display ALL the available EXIF information contained in a photo (including the shutter count, if available): http://regex.info/exif.cgi It can either be used to check the data for photos on your hard disk or to see information from photos in web pages. Many applications, including most photo editing softwares, read and display some of the EXIF data but many will not show all the available data. A tool that will show the shutter count (and much more) is Phil Harvey's ExifTool: http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ Unless one is buying a second-hand camera or is likely to be using a camera exceptionally often (or is using the multiple shot function frequently), one should not be too concerned about the shutter count. The shutters of cameras are designed to well outlast the use that most photographers will require of them before an upgrade is desirable. There is an interesting database in which one can check the actual life expectancy of most makes of camera. It's usefulness varies because it depends on actual data submitted by a number of camera testers and some cameras are better represented than others: http://olegkikin.com/shutterlife/