Tip: Shutter Count Utility

MAN!!!! It's been a long time since my last post.

For me it seems yesterday but when I looked at the last post date it seems ages.

Time runs fast, sometimes, and troubled waters and other non photographic businesses have been consuming my time and energy, unfortunately, not letting me too much to write anything here on the blog or even bring some creative ideas into here as much I would like to :(

Would like to thank you all for the warm mails that have arrived to the box and to say that it's always a pleasure to help out a fellow photographer.

On today's tip I bring you another great software to found out shutter actuations from your camera. I wish Canon and other manufacturers could release this to the public so we can know when it's time to have that service center call and even when we buy some second hand stuff.

Oh well marketing business... just hope Canon will release something very strong until the end of the year or they may be doomed ;)

Anyway...

Last year I had a Tip article "Tip: How to Find Shutter Count Actuation's" that mentioned this for the Canon 1D series and how to figure them out on Photoshop, but with the update on new cameras new software have arise.

Today I bring you a software to make actuation's count easier called EOSInfo.

What is EOSInfo and to what cameras does it apply to?

EOSInfo is a AstroJargon software and the successor to the 40DShutterCount utility. It's called EOSInfo since it provides more information than just the shutter counter, and works on a wider variety of cameras than just the Canon 40D.

FAQ:

0) I have a 1D*/5D/10D/20D/30D/50D/300D/350D/400D/450D/1000D. Will the software work with it?

This works on any of the Canon DIGIC III/IV DSLRs except the 1D* series. This means it will work for the 40D, the 50D, the 450D, the 500D, and the 1000D. Thanks to all the 5DMkII users who reported success. As it turns out, you have to power-cycle the 5DMkII before the shutter count value updates itself. It will not work on the 1D*, 5D, 10D, 20D, 30D, 300D, 350D, and 400D. It's not that I have anything against the owners of those cameras, but simply that the Canon SDK does not support retrieving the shutter count for them.

1) The software reports that I've taken 1234 pictures, but the last image on my CF card is numbered 1111 (i.e., the number reported is higher than the last image number number on the CF card). Why?
If you've ever taken images while tethered to a PC with the EOS utility or other software, or with no CF card in your camera, those increment the shutter actuation counter, but not the numbering system for your card. If you've reset the image numbering on you camera or "rolled over" 9999 images, this may also occur.

2) Does using LiveView affect the shutter count reported?
Taking pictures while in LiveView increments the shutter count. Entering and exiting live view mode does not.

3) Is there a Mac version?
Yes. Note how lazy I am, I don't want to renumber my FAQs.
4) How does it work? Is it majick?
Yes.

4a) Seriously. Are you looking in the EXIF data?
No. It doesn't matter if there are any images on the camera or not, or even if there's a CF card inserted - the camera just needs to be connected.

5) I've heard that only Canon can extract this number, so you must be lying. Are you lying?
No, I'm not lying. I've heard the "Canon service center" mantra too - but there are thousands - well, hundreds - okay, at least *3* people I know of who believe this number to be a relatively accurate count of shutter actuations.

5a) Why only "relatively" accurate?
See FAQ #2.

6) I'm using Windows Vista 64-bit, and I get the error "BadImageFormatException."
Download the latest version, it fixes that issue.

7) The software reports that I've taken 1234 pictures, but the last image on my CF card is numbered 4999 (i.e., the number reported is lower than the last image on the CF card). Why?
You may have used the CF card on more than one camera, and the other camera's images were numbered higher. DSLRs typically name image files by grabbing the highest image number on the card and incrementing by one.

8) Do you mean the C:\Program Files\Canon\EOS Utility folder, or the C:\Program Files\Canon\EOS Utility\EOS Utility folder?
What? That's brilliant, Canon. I mean the first (higher) one.

Direct Downloads:

40DShutterCount MAC
EOSInfo Windows

If you have any of the mentioned camera hope you enjoy this software and send me back some feedback about it. Also if you have any software that you have built to retrieve this kind of information from any camera would be gladly welcome. 


--//-- Update 2012-05-20 --//--


There is a webpage where you can check your shutter actuation called EOSCount and it's a must for you to control your clicks.


This page only works under Internet Explorer and over Windows system because it uses an ActiveX controller to pull out the information from the camera.


Here is what the page looks like after pulling the info from my 1D MarkIV.

Enjoy