How long does your dslr last?

[Lasse]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a present... Have been wanting a good dslr for quite a while now but haven't been able to justify the cost yet... Now, to help me estimate the value of the investment compared to other useful toys on my wish list I'd like to know how long your dslr has lasted you?

My budget is around £700 for the body and I'm looking at the Canon 50D, or 7D if the price goes down quick enough. But since most probably have different models: I'm interested in all experiences, so please share!

And what about your lenses?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jaysurfer]

2 n a half yrs ago i got a Nikon D70, with 2 lenses and full set up to use for work.
It's still doing me fine and the images i take regularly get featured in magazines and for press/marketing use.

J

 

[DavidJT]

All modern cameras will need a new shutter eventually. But not until it has done hundreds of thousands of exposures. The cost of this replacement will mean a new camera is called for. However unless you take hundreds of shots a day, the average dslr will last until you drop it.

 

[Rumcajs]

I have Pentax K10D which is rated at 50,000 shutter actuations. After 2 years I did some 11,000 photos.
How long will it last? I don’t know.
My old Pentax SuperA was rated at 20,000 shutter actuations 25 years ago and I’m still using it today and only things that had to be replaced on it were light seals on back cover.
K10 is great camera and if I could I would buy new K7 even today.

Lenses, yes I have few, but that’s what you get when you suffer from LBA*.
Most of the time I use two zoom lenses DA*16-50 and DA*50-135, both with constant aperture f2.8. My favourite is still my old and trusted 50mm f1.4.

For £700 you should be able to get 50D but I wouldn’t count on Canon dropping the price of 7D before Christmas.

 

[robin wood]

I bought a canon 300d which was the first sub £1000 plastic bodied dslr when they came out 2003. With a decent sigma 50mm Macro (£250) I took all the shots for my book on the history of wooden bowls, a big coffee table style glossy picture book including the cover shot of a bowl from the Mary Rose which is almost A3, not bad for a 6.3mp camera.

I have resisted many times when new models have claimed to offer big improvements as the 300d has still been doing an excellent job. Now at around 20,000 shots working perfectly despite being dropped once from 3 feet onto a concrete floor (broken battery door cost less than £10 to fix)

I have finally given in and just upgraded to a second hand nearly new 40d (£450) The 300d is not being retired it will continue in use as a second body. I think if you are the sort to look at picture quality objectively a DSLR will still be taking excellent pics in 5 years time. Most folk however get taken in my marketing hype and continually upgrade after only a couple of years.

Lenses, the sigma took the 3 foot drop onto concrete and survived too. The only lens I had problems with was the 50mm 1.8. This is an incredible value lens at about £70 new but cheap plastic build, I got mine second hand and it fell apart after a couple of years. I am still considering buying another it took incredible pictures and at that price can afford to be disposable.

 

[lamper]

There was a good review in Amateur Photographer a couple weeks ago. PM if you want it and ill see if i can scan it.

If you can fork out the cash get the 7D. The extra feature like the high ISO (32000 i think and with good noise control). It also has full HD video needed. Built in spirit level in the viewfinder and a new ans improved auto focus system.

 

[Tony]

What are you planning on doing with the camera?

 

[ArkAngel]

As has said in the other posts unless you mistreat your camera or are very unlucky for something to break it should last you a good few years.

I have a Nikon D300 and a quick google suggest that the shutter is good for between 100,000 and 150,000 shots!

I doubt the 7D will drop into your price range for awhile yet.

Lenses?
Again how much to pay?
Prime lenses tend to have "faster" and wider apertures so enable you a good degree of control on the depth of field and will let you shoot in slightly darker conditions.

Unless you are taking it to a professional level "standard" zooms suffice a great many people. I have a 18-55 VR lens on my Nikon most of the time with a Sigma 150-500mm zoom for sports and wildlife.This in a lot of peoples setup is a 70-300mm

They are not as optically good as say the Nikon 200-400 but that is 6 times the price!
....and there is always the 'sharpening' tool in photoshop!
One final thing, i quite like the half size sensor for the cheat value of the magnification factor it has on focal lengths ie my 150-500 turns into a 200ish-750mm! very handy for wildlife.

 

[Pandabean]

My Canon EOS 400D has lasted me about 2-3 years now and it is still going well, but then I am not the type of person to use it everyday, just on trips out, so it all depends on what it is used for.

Anyone know how to tell how many shots the camera has taken?

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Lasse]

Thanks for all replies guys!

What are you planning on doing with the camera?

I'll be using it mostly in Belgium, taking casual family/party pictures and more arty ones. But a couple times a year I go hiking/travelling up north and certainly want to be able to use it there without problems as well. Next agenda items are a winter trip to Norway and a one month trip to the Faroe Islands, maybe adding Iceland when I'm in the region anyway.

Lenses will probably be in the price range up to £600, but only buying one at a time since I'm able to use some lenses from a friend when needed. Might get a fixed length wide-angle lens first since I've liked using one so far for indoors, portraits and landscapes.

 

[Rumcajs]

Anyone know how to tell how many shots the camera has taken?

Cheers,
Andy

If you have never reset the counter... and set to be sequential/continuous (vs reset with new card).

Frames are 0-999 and folders are thousands after that

101 would be 1000-1999, and
111 Would be 10,000 to 10,999, etc

At least that is the way it was with my old original 300D

 

[Prodigal Son]

Canon 20D's x 3 bought new in 2004/5 (bought to replace Canon 10D)
various lenses bought over time

Never had a single problem, wedding and portrait photography. Never let me down, never felt the need to replace them, the quality is still as good as it needs to be.

Blown 1 shot up to 2.5 metres with acceptable results.

Had to clean the sensor a couple of times though!!

Edited to add: been through about 15 batteries in that time!!

 

[Pandabean]

Thanks, I will have a closer look at the numbers next time. I am not sure if it is set to reset each time a new card is put in. I will have a look though.

If you have never reset the counter... and set to be sequential/continuous (vs reset with new card).

Frames are 0-999 and folders are thousands after that

101 would be 1000-1999, and
111 Would be 10,000 to 10,999, etc

At least that is the way it was with my old original 300D

 

[Lasse]

I suppose all proper dslr's will last long enough. But after reading a review about the 7D on Antarctica, I decided to wait until that one comes in my price range. Just to make sure I don't kill myself if I'd ever get my 50D too wet in rain or snow