The Truth about Checking the Number of Shutter Actuations on a Canon 7d and 5d Mark III DSLRs
After spending ½ a day researching and trying to find the shutter actuations for my Canon 7d and Canon 5d Mark iii DSLRs, I decided to write a blog post about what I learned. I searched dozens of message boards, read blogs, downloaded software, uploaded photos to websites, and played in the Mac terminal program.
Knowing the number of shutter actuations on your can be important. Each camera is rated for a certain number of shutter actuations. The Canon 7d and 5d Mark III are both rated for 150,000 actuations. It is also important to know the number of shutter actuations when buying or selling a used DSLR.
So, did I really find out how to check the number of shutter actuations / counts on my Canon 7d and Canon 5d Mark iii? Did I do it on a Mac? Yep, I sure did. Read on to find out how.
First, here are some of the truths that I found out
- Unlike Nikon, Canon does not expose the number of shutter actuations in the camera EXIF data. So, using Show Inspector (Control I) in Mac preview does no good. The File Info selection in the File Menu in Photoshop has a lot of good information, but not the shutter actuations. Uploading an image file to websites such as MyShutterCount.com also doesn’t work. The data just isn’t there.
- In order to get the shutter count on Canon DSLRs, the camera needs to be connected to your computer through the computer’s USB port. Your Canon DSLR should have come with USB to mini USB cable to connect to your computer. I started my search for software and websites that could read the shutter actuations off of the camera.
- I downloaded a Mac program called 40DShutterCount. That didn’t work for my Canon 5d Mark iii or 7d.
- There is a more recent version of this program called EOSInfo from astrojargon.net that is available for Windows only. This also didn’t work for my Canon 7d or Canon 5d Mark iii. I got a “No Camera Found” error.
- EOScount.com installs an ActiveX control on your computer. It only works with Internet Explorer on a Windows Machine. Well, this service is no longer free. They now want a $1.59 to read your camera and tell you the number of shutter actuations. I’m not sure if it will work either. It displayed the serial number for my Canon 5d Mark iii as 5. I know I bought it early, but not that early.
So how did I get the shutter counts for my Canon 5d Mark iii and 7d?
The number of shutter Actuations for my Canon 5d Mark III
I used a unix program called gPhoto2 on my Mac. Twam.info has the instructions, but the commands are executed through the Mac Terminal program. You also need to install software called Homebrew through the terminal to compile the program for the Mac. I also needed to install Apple’s XCode software through the Mac App Store. If you run into trouble, type brew doctor in Terminal to help debug the problem.
Overall, it is not that difficult to do and once you have it installed you can check the number of shutter actuations by typing a few simple commands in the Terminal.
Related Blog Posts
ShutterCount – An Easy way to Find the Number of Canon DSLR Shutter Actuations on your Mac
EOS Inspector – A Mac App to find the Number of Shutter Actuations on your Canon DSLR
Testing the Canon EOS 5D Mark III Firmware Update 1.2.1 with a 500mm f/4 and 2X Teleconverter
23 Comments
John Patterson
Did you try out <a href=http://www.jadii.com">www.jadii.com</a> They let you upload a jpg file and it tells you the shutter count and also a pretty picture of the camera/lens. Also dont need to reg or install anything.
Martin Belan
Thanks for leaving the comment John. I tried uploading a jpg file from my Canon 5D Mark iii to jadii.com. I received a lot of good information on the file but the Shutter actuations was not included. I got the following message – Uploaded on 12/25/2012 12:48 and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III had unknown shutter counts. Canon does not expose the shutter actuation count in the EXIF data.
Jimmy
Can you use gphoto2 on pc? I don't have Mac. Eos count gave me my serial number as 9???
Piotr
I use Gphoto2 under Ubuntu virtual machine on Mac. It seems to be easier than installation on Mac OS X. Please do not forget to eject device under Canon Digital Camera. Then you can use the command: gphoto2 –get-config /main/status/shuttercounter
http://www.gphoto.org
http://www.twam.info/software/read-out-canon-eos-7d-shuttercount-on-os-x#comment-9766
Martin Belan
Piotr,
Thanks for your input. That is good information to know.
i
Check out a program called APT, here at http://www.ideiki.com/astro/
Tested a few cameras out (T4i, 60D, 5Dmk III, T3i) using this program and seemed to work for determining shutter counts.
Requires downloading the free demo program.
Follow the instructions after downloading, and installing the simple program.
Tried on 6D, but did not work for some reason.
conurus
Thanks for the tip. gphoto2 reads my 5D2 and 7D fine! I run Ubuntu.
Martin Belan
Thanks for the leaving the comment. Good to hear that gphoto2 works on Ubuntu
Axel von B
Hi Martin, many thanks for that great article, it worked with my EOS 6D. All the Best!
Martin Belan
Axel,
Terrific! Glad the instructions worked for you Canon 6d.
Martin
Marshall
I used the Macintosh 40DShutterCount software with my 450D, and it did work.
The reason that 40DShutterCount software did not work, may be that it requires you to install Canon's EOSUtility on your computer. When I downloaded this software from Canon's website, it needed the original copy first, but a quick Google search revealed the simple trick that lets you install Canon's software without having an original copy.
Martin Belan
Marshall,
Thanks for the post. Some really good feedback that may help readers get shutter counts from their cannon DSLRs.
Martin
Russ
Someone mentioned a program called APT at http://www.ideiki.com/astro/ . I installed and ran the demo version and found that the 7D I just bought with an 'estimated' 50K actuations only has 38K. Anyhow, it worked for me. Thanks.
Vishal
Hey guys, I found an awesome software that gives an exact shutter count with the serial number. Similar to EOScount.com and Better…Its a FREE Software. If you like it I request you to donate the developers of this amazing software. I used it to buy a new canon 5 D Mark II bodu which the seller claimed it was 0 shutter actuation and it proved it. I also used it to check my Canon 550d and it worked like a charm… Here is the link http://www.shutteractuations.com/
Cheers,
Vishal
Carolina
Thank you for this! Really helped me figure out what worked for my 60D! Much appreciated!
Martin Belan
I’m glad the blog post helped! Thanks for leaving the comment
Agnes Lorincz
I would like to draw your attention to ShutterCount, our brand new app for OS X.
ShutterCount displays the number of shutter actuations (the shutter count) of Canon EOS digital cameras and is developed exclusively for Mac users.
For more info: http://www.direstudio.com/shuttercount
Natasha
Woohoo! http://www.direstudio.com/shuttercount worked for my 5Dmk III. Thank you Agnes Lorincz!
RayL
ShutterCount!!!! Painless, fast, easy! Reads both my 5D iii and my 7D.
snnamagh
Thanks very much for useful post and all the comments. The program APT program at http://www.ideiki.com/astro/ demo version just worked perfectly for shutter count on my Canon 7D and 50D.
Martin Belan
Thanks for the feedback!
Vanessa Enriquez
I am using Canon 5D mark III for video, so how many frames per second does it eat? Does my shutter actuation will finish early beacuse of that?
Sheree
Astro photography tool worked great for my 7D. Took a while to get it to work though. Seemed stuck in "loading settings."