Buying a used camera - actuations

spav · 20-03-2009 11:20am #1

Can anyone tell me what the story is with a camera's shutter count - is it similar to a car's mileage?

I was saving up for a Nikon D90 (or maybe D300), but I've noticed a couple of D2X bodies on eBay for under a grand. In both cases they had (what looked to me to be) high shutter counts - 50k and above.

Is it worth a punt?

Covey · 20-03-2009 11:27am

Don't know.

A replacement shutter is only about €150 though.

DaireQuinlan · 20-03-2009 11:37am

I'd skip out on it and get a D300 instead. With the possible exception of build quality the D300 probably matches or surpasses the D2x in most respects. You can probably find a new D300 for about the same price (They're 1500 in Conns for crying out loud, so you ought to be able to get them for about 1000 online. Haven't looked in a while though so I could be off base there). Take the fact that you're getting a new body instead of a heavily used professional body, and a nikon warranty and its a no-brainer.

spav · 20-03-2009 11:47am

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

I'd skip out on it and get a D300 instead. With the possible exception of build quality the D300 probably matches or surpasses the D2x in most respects. You can probably find a new D300 for about the same price (They're 1500 in Conns for crying out loud, so you ought to be able to get them for about 1000 online. Haven't looked in a while though so I could be off base there). Take the fact that you're getting a new body instead of a heavily used professional body, and a nikon warranty and its a no-brainer.

I think a D300 body would cost in the region of €1100 brand new. Not bad, considering.

melekalikimaka · 20-03-2009 11:50am

its alot like car milage... the more clicks the less itll last

coylemj · 20-03-2009 1:08pm

A car could have 100,000 miles on it but most of these could have been done on long motorway journeys, it could have been properly serviced and otherwise well looked after. A similar car with 50,000 miles could be a wreck from being driven by a country doctor around the boreens of Donegal or Kerry.

Q. Which one do you buy

A. The one with less miles of course, the salesman will spin the same yarn for both cars - careful owner, full (fake) service history etc. etc.

Caveat Emptor.

CabanSail · 20-03-2009 1:41pm

This guide has been posted here before.

It may give you some idea.

spav · 20-03-2009 1:50pm

Apparently the D2x is good for 200k actuations, and there's one on eBay that has 70k. Now, does that mean I have over 100k til the camera dies, or is it more the case that 70k is enough for the camera to be not operating as well as it once did?

Another (possibly stupid) question while I have your ear... if I was to upgrade to a D2x from my D40, would the D40's kit 18-55 lens (as a worst-case example) work OK on it, or would I be severely limiting the camera's capabilities by using entry level glass?

CabanSail · 20-03-2009 2:02pm

The 200K is a statistic. The shutter may die at 500 or it may go to 500K but the average life is about 200K.

I have used a D2H Body that had a shutter that was on it's way out. It had been worked very hard & about one shot in 40 or 50 just would not work. Ther rest were fine.

The Kit Lens from the D40 will work fine with the D2X as they are both DX sensors.

CabanSail · 20-03-2009 2:08pm

Can I ask where the D40 Body is limiting you that a D2X will not?

DaireQuinlan · 20-03-2009 2:15pm

spav wrote: »

Apparently the D2x is good for 200k actuations, and there's one on eBay that has 70k. Now, does that mean I have over 100k til the camera dies, or is it more the case that 70k is enough for the camera to be not operating as well as it once did?

Probably :-) I dunno how those actuations are calculated but I presume they test a bunch of shutters to destruction and then decide on a figure based on (say) a 5% error or something. So 95% of the shutters tested lasted at least 200000 actuations. So it could literally stop working tomorrow, or it could last for 500 or 600 or whatever amount.

spav wrote: »

Another (possibly stupid) question while I have your ear... if I was to upgrade to a D2x from my D40, would the D40's kit 18-55 lens (as a worst-case example) work OK on it, or would I be severely limiting the camera's capabilities by using entry level glass?

I'm not too sure what this question even means. I think sometimes you guys are a little too gear obsessed. The 18-55 is a grand lens by all accounts. You might as well ask would YOU be severely limiting the camera's capabilites by using it in the first place

(note, this isn't a judgement, for the sensitive amongst you, I've no ideas as to the OPs skill level, but it makes about as much sense as the question he asked re the kit lens)

spav · 20-03-2009 5:23pm

CabanSail wrote: »

Can I ask where the D40 Body is limiting you that a D2X will not?

It's not is the simple answer - well not yet it isn't. However, owing to a few "user-malfunctions" (i.e. occasions where I've dropped my camera

) my D40 has become a little temperamental. Rather than spending money having it repaired, I'd rather upgrade the body to something that'll see me few the next 4 or 5 years, and if I'm doing that I'd want the best camera that €800-900 could get me.

DaireQuinlan wrote:

I'm not too sure what this question even means. I think sometimes you guys are a little too gear obsessed. The 18-55 is a grand lens by all accounts. You might as well ask would YOU be severely limiting the camera's capabilites by using it in the first place (note, this isn't a judgement, for the sensitive amongst you, I've no ideas as to the OPs skill level, but it makes about as much sense as the question he asked re the kit lens)

No, you're right, I'm the worst bit of any camera set up

What I meant by that is that the 18-55 is a super lens, but I was wondering if it would work as well with a much more powerful camera - I was unsure if it would be a bit like buying a sports car and fitting skinny wheels from a small hatchback, basically.

It's less of a case of gear obsession, and more a case of not being particularly clever

Crispin · 20-03-2009 5:38pm

if you can afford d90 or d300 new then definitely do that!

spav · 20-03-2009 5:45pm

Crispin wrote: »

if you can afford d90 or d300 new then definitely do that!

You can get a D90 and 18-105 kit lens for a little under €1k. That's what I've been saving for, but I assumed that the D2x would be a superior camera, even if I got a second hand one. Maybe that's not the case - I hear the D90 is a better camera than the D200, for example.

It's like a lot of things - the more you research, the more complicated things become.

Ricky91t · 20-03-2009 6:06pm

Seen D2x's and D2h's on Buyandsell for under €1k

I think you'd be better off getting one of those,Cheaper,Already has the portrait grip which you'd pay atleast €100 for from nikon,And it is a professional body with build quaility that will definetly match the D300's

Crispin · 20-03-2009 6:14pm

spav wrote: »

You can get a D90 and 18-105 kit lens for a little under €1k. That's what I've been saving for, but I assumed that the D2x would be a superior camera, even if I got a second hand one. Maybe that's not the case - I hear the D90 is a better camera than the D200, for example.

It's like a lot of things - the more you research, the more complicated things become.

Very true! If I had that kind of money I would be buying new D90 or preferably d300 (although quality of both is supposed to be amazing. Technology in the digital market it moving so fast that the newer cameras are lightyears ahead in some respects. Good luck with the mine field

spav · 20-03-2009 7:18pm

Crispin wrote: »

Very true! If I had that kind of money I would be buying new D90 or preferably d300 (although quality of both is supposed to be amazing. Technology in the digital market it moving so fast that the newer cameras are lightyears ahead in some respects. Good luck with the mine field

Thanks

The D300 is just a bit out of my price range, otherwise that would be a good solution.

Mycroft H · 20-03-2009 9:21pm

Ricky91t wrote: »

Seen D2x's and D2h's on Buyandsell for under €1k

I think you'd be better off getting one of those,Cheaper,Already has the portrait grip which you'd pay atleast €100 for from nikon,And it is a professional body with build quaility that will definetly match the D300's

I've borrowed a d2x off a friend. Really nice camera, takes good pictures and built like a tank

spav · 03-04-2009 12:01pm

Ended up getting a used D2x off eBay for just over €900, just waiting for it to arrive now. The build quality swung it for me over a new D90 in the end, and although the technology is old in DSLR terms it's perfectly capable of taking images way beyond the level I need so it should last me years.

And now for the cliff-shaped learning curve....

Ricky91t · 03-04-2009 12:06pm

spav wrote: »

Ended up getting a used D2x off eBay for just over €900, just waiting for it to arrive now. The build quality swung it for me over a new D90 in the end, and although the technology is old in DSLR terms it's perfectly capable of taking images way beyond the level I need so it should last me years.

And now for the cliff-shaped learning curve....

Look forward to the sample pics

Buying a used camera - actuations

Comments