hi there all sifu,i really need a help here....tomolo i am getting my second hand 350D,so what do i need to take precautions?? btw whats a shutter count?? does it have limited shutter ?? thanks and i need to know ASAP....thanks

second hand? Buy from Desmond la... He can be trusted. It is that simple...

check the shutter mirror. autofocus.

you must understand that the DSLR works based on the opening / closing of the shutter.

so yes, there is a limit. just that no one can tell you the limit because it really varies from unit to unit. generally IINM is around 50,000 to even 150,000 and some claim even more.

unfortunately for the Canon bodies, you can't check shutter count. no, you can't even see it on the EXIF data.

For entry level like 350D, the figure should be 50k or lower practically... But dun worry. People who own 350D usually dun burst... It is why 30D/40D that rated at 100k even die faster because photographer keep shooting like no brainer...

I heard some idiot using Canon 1D. His shutter kong in less than a year. Guess how he shoot? At least 10k per event!

hard to say wan, if the photographer like myself suka-suka do burst mode and each time go out snap like thousands of shots. reaching 50,000 isn't difficult.

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Added on March 21, 2008, 4:22 pm

why call him idiot?

1) Listen to the camera shutter sound. Any strange metallic noises?

2) Take pics in TV mode. Find a test subject with consistent lighting and test a few different shutter speeds, particularly at the highest (1/4000). If the shutter is failing, you'll be able to catch it at the higher speeds.

3) Test for front/back focus and infinity focus. Bring along a lens that you know doesn't have any problems in those areas. Bring a laptop to view the results instantly. Try and find a subject at least 10 ft away, cos most cameras will not have probs focusing at close distances but will falter at further distances due to depth of field.

4) Test out all the buttons and controls.

5) Take a shot of a white wall or ceiling or sky. Use f/16 or smaller. Check on your laptop for any signs of dust spots in the shots.

6) Close the camera cap and take a shot at ISO400 in AV mode. The shutter speed would probably go down to about 15 or 30 seconds. View the shot in your lappie at 100% and hunt down the dead/stuck pixels. You can also check for stuck pixels on your camera's LCD by viewing the shot on it (though stuck pixels on the camera's screen will not affect picture quality, while a stuck pixel on the sensor may)

7) Take a series of shots in continuous shooting mode, and make a mental note of the number of shots you fired. Then check and see if all the shots were recorded into the CF card. In some cases though rare, not all the shots are recorded. This is a sign of a problem with either the card mechanism or some other electronic part related to it.

8) If the cam comes with a vertical grip, try and see if there's any flex between the joints. Sometimes if there is too much free play you may lose battery contact and get an Err99 which sucks.

Best of luck.

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Added on March 21, 2008, 4:24 pm


I wouldn't call him an idiot, since he will get a new shutter under warranty

He is not taking pictures... More like want to show off sound of shutters to photographers around only...

And yeah... he shoot JPEGs only... in order to prolong the sound of shutters duration.... You see that?

He is not pro la... just some rich kid....

Like goldfries said, we are in digital age.. spam only

Good stuff, gregy!

My second hand camera was purchased because everything felt alright [do the stuff gregy recommended] and the price felt very, very alright as well. Nikon d40 @ 1,400. it's still alive & great now!

gregy,nice information u have there and all sifus too......haha..btw i try use 350D to burst before....hhaha

Wah... Now all burst (spam) kaki liao....

haha.....but is bursting bad for the camera???

Occasional burst should be good.

But if you want to burst frequenly... PLease get a 1D series...

Both of my friend 1D mark II manage to do 900+k shots before kong... but I wonder why cannot reach 1 million... mayber internal counter got limit?

1D coz abt 25k man!! sure nice to burst..........haha....but if the shutter kong adi can change?? 350D coz how much?

1D series is only around RM14k la... RM26k is the one for 1Ds series...

350D shutter + service = around RM300 if not mistaken.

While 1D series shutter more expesnive... If remmeber well is RM500. But it is still cheap compare to its shutter count.

oh,RM300 la,thenn i not so scare,after nid arnd 500 then i cry oh

Very detailed gregy.

But I fear even a brand new body would fail one of the test.

Yeah, but when it's new you can send it for warranty claim. You can't do that with a used unit So if the original owner didn't do his homework then you either knock the price down, or look elsewhere loh

Trust me, I've sold a few of my own SLRs and DSLRs before (all Canon), and almost always will end up with a meticulous buyer like that. So just think about it, if you choose to ignore those little problems now, next time if you choose to sell the cam for whatever reason, be prepared to let it go cheaply or get it fixed at your own cost.

Oh, there's one more thing I forgot to add to TS. Test out an external flash unit (preferably with E-TTL capability). Canon's hotshoe tends to have contact issues over time, so it's best to test it out as well. If the hotshoe is shot, you'll find the following symptoms:

1) Your flash (550EX and higher) will display TTL instead of E-TTL. Not good.

2) The flash head will refuse to zoom as you're zooming the lens.

3) When you take a shot, the flash will fire at full capacity regardless of subject and settings. Jia lat

4) If none of the above, then check if the flash when mounted has free play or not. If it has substantial free play, that means the owner used the flash a lot, mounting and dismounting many times. Symptoms 1-3 may occur shortly.

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Added on March 22, 2008, 6:34 am


I changed my shutter at RM600, and that is after discount

Ya, the 1-series shutter costs more but it is built to at least 250,000 actuations (300,000 on the MkIII series), while 40D is about 150,000 IINM. Older prosumer cams and entry level cams even up to the current 450D are not rated, but should be good for at least 60,000 or more.

1D=RM18k, 1DII=RM17k, 1DIIN=RM16k, 1DIII=RM14k. 1Ds=32k, 1DsII=30k, 1DsIII=26k. The future looks good

gregy,urs is 350D?? how long did u use before change??

Mine's a 1D-MkIIN, used it over a year and a half, about 300k+ actuations Actually I could still use it, cos there was just a small problem and that was at 1/8000s shutter speed. Anything below that and it was fine. Canon's staff told me upon checking that this was a sign that the shutter was "kau chung" meaning time's up.

I changed it as a precaution as I wouldn't want a failed shutter in the middle of an assignment. Anyway for only RM600 I think I've milked the original shutter kau-kau oledi hee hee!

Prior to this I had 2 20Ds, one of which had a shutter related problem, and which prompted me to sell and switch to the 1-series. My old 10D never gave me any shutter problems, but the 20D seems quite prone. Canon rectified the issue with the 40D onwards, so hopefully anything beyond will also be just as reliable.

I can't say much about the 350D, but I've got a few friends using those in the past who've complained about shutter problems. One even had the reflex mirror dropping off! So buy with caution