Can't read the shutter count of 5D Mark IV

[escnor]

My girlfriend wants to sell her camera, and people want to know the shutter count. I tried several software solutions on both Mac and PC and the software always recognizes the camera and display the correct model name but it always fails to show the shutter count.

I also tried an online services where you upload a picture and it tries to get the info there, but the 5D doesn't seem to add this info to the picture.

Note: It is not the original USB cable, it one from my Seagate external harddrive with USB 3.0

[Tronhard]

Canon's later model cameras are very difficult to get a shutter count from.  Your best bet if you want an authoritative number is to get Canon do do the count with their in-house software.  There will be a charge, but it's the gold standard for getting a count.
Note that a shutter count is only part of the story.  I videographer may have really used a camera a lot, but have a low shutter count because they open the shutter for long periods but not often.  There is a value for open shutter I believe and Canon would likely be able to give that too.

[jrhoffman75]

If you are on a Mac computer Shutter Count by Dire Studio can give you the info. They also have an iOS version. 

[ata]

I use it and I highly recommend it. Canon R6 Mark 2 support has been added with the latest update.

[ebiggs1]

"Your best bet if you want an authoritative number is to get Canon do do the count with their in-house software.  ... it's the gold standard for getting a count."

Yes it is and the only one that is considered to be accurate. I still struggle whether shutter count is a asset or a meaningless number. I have seen the on-line an app utilities give drastically different counts. Add to that shutter count doesn't really tell you how much the shutter has been used. Since video has become so prevalent to so many people shutter count is almost a nothing thing.

I would think people wanting to buy a 5D Mk IV would be somewhat more informed and realize shutter count isn't as important as it once may have been.

[rs-eos]

I think it can be helpful, especially if it's hovering near the MTBF value.

Could be helpful as a tie-breaker when looking at two or more units.  If all else is fairly equal, a lower shutter count would be preferable.   Perhaps a higher shutter count would warrant a lower price?

[ebiggs1]

I guess I agree with you at least a little bit. But you see the problem is let's say one camera looks like mint and another looks like it been out in the world some. Now the mint one is showing less than a fourth the shutter count than the worldly camera. But what you don't know from shutter count is the mint one was used 8 hours a day for months perhaps years shooting video..Which one do you choose? I don't know History of the camera is far better than shutter count, IMHO.

[rs-eos]

That is a great point.  I don't know how one could measure "total operational time".   Video work does throw a wrench in this. 

[jrhoffman75]

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@rs-eos wrote:

That is a great point.  I don't know how one could measure "total operational time".   Video work does throw a wrench in this. 

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Shutter Count by Dire Studio will report both:

[amfoto1]

The used equipment website MPB.com lists the shutter count for most of the cameras they sell, including for the 5D Mark IV. You might want to email them to find out what they use to get that info from the cameras listed on their site. Maybe they can help.

I agree with other responses... Shutter count or "clicks" only tell you limited info about a camera. It's like mileage on a car... 100,000 miles of long distance highway driving is quite different from 100,000 miles of stop and start short-distance driving around town. The highway miles will likely put far less wear on the engine, but probably a lot more on the tires. A camera that's only used to take 1000 five minute videos will only have 1000 clicks on the shutter, but over 83 hours (5000 minutes) of time on the components. In contrast, a camera that's used only for still photos at an average speed of 1/200 would need to take 60 million shots to rack up that much time on the components!

Still, besides the general appearance, all we have for sake of comparison are "clicks".

I wonder what we're going to do when cameras no longer have mechanical shutters... only have electronic shutters. We're heading in that direction!

***********

Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2), EOS M5, some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
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