How do I get the shutter count for the 7d mark ii on windows 10

[Isac]

I'm looking for the shutter count on the 7Dii but am having a problem finding something that works. I would also like to know why Canon try their best to keep this a secret. This confuses me, as other manufacturers are onboard with having this important information easily available. Why would they be hesitant to share this vital information? It's extremely puzzling to me. Cheers.

[Isac]

As the shutter count is for my own reference and I don't have a reason to "Hack" it. I don't buy used cameras so I don't need the count of a camera belonging to someone else, whether it's hacked or not. I am satisfied with the software I use to obtain my shutter count and so are my fellow photographers who are also pretty honest folk.
The reason I have decided not to support Canon any more is because of the way they treated hundreds of faithful clients when they refused to fix several of their Pixma printer models produced an error that rendered the printer useless. (U052). there was a class action in New York and Canon had to pay out. It's even mentioned in this forum with hundreds of unhappy people voicing their disapproval.
Your reference to a flat tyre has no relevance here because you can repair a flat tyre as opposed to the Canon printer which was not repairable. Anyway, thanks for your input.

[Isac]

The shutter count to me is IMPORTANT because if or when I sell my camera, because I am an honest person, if the person interested in buying the camera asks for the shutter count, I will supply that information and it will be the NON-HACKED version. Again, I say it IS good enough for me. We really need to let this rest. Thank you for you replies.

[Isac]

It's good enough for me so that's all that matters. I'm not understanding what your reply is referring to?

[stebo]

Much discussion about "does shutter count matter". 

Let the oldtimer fill you in, sometimes we are good for something:) 

I read "when it comes to video only hours matter"  Somewhat true.  Back in the film days mechanical shutters where used.  When you have mechanical moving parts hours or shutter counts do matter because the moving parts will wear down almost like clock work.  For the 7D mark ii there are no moving parts when recoding video so video recording hours do not adversely affect the useful life span of the camera.  For a still photographer on this camra the more actuations of the mirror moving out of the way of the sensor will wear those moving parts at the points of contact.  The camera can be rebuilt but I would rather buy a camera used for video knowing the mechanical moving parts of the camera are still pristine.  Sure electronic parts could fail but not likely vs mechanical parts will fail inevitably.  So I think it it is still important for now.  Give it a few years and it really won't matter when its all electronic mirrorless equipment.  Some may still think so becuease it has been a point of concern in the past, but I would never ask how many hours did you watch this television if I were to buy a used TV.

[Isac]

Thanks for the reply stebo. I don't do video, I am a photographer. I still haven't got an answer to my original question, so I would assume it's a difficult problem to solve. After all it's only 2020 so I guess someone will come up with something in time. Cheers

[Waddizzle]

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@stebo wrote:

Much discussion about "does shutter count matter". 

Let the oldtimer fill you in, sometimes we are good for something:) 

I read "when it comes to video only hours matter"  Somewhat true.  Back in the film days mechanical shutters where used.  When you have mechanical moving parts hours or shutter counts do matter because the moving parts will wear down almost like clock work.  For the 7D mark ii there are no moving parts when recoding video so video recording hours do not adversely affect the useful life span of the camera. 

For a still photographer on this camra the more actuations of the mirror moving out of the way of the sensor will wear those moving parts at the points of contact.  The camera can be rebuilt but I would rather buy a camera used for video knowing the mechanical moving parts of the camera are still pristine.  Sure electronic parts could fail but not likely vs mechanical parts will fail inevitably.  So I think it it is still important for now.  Give it a few years and it really won't matter when its all electronic mirrorless equipment.  Some may still think so becuease it has been a point of concern in the past, but I would never ask how many hours did you watch this television if I were to buy a used TV.

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If total runtime on the image sensor were not important, then why [do] professional video cameras have meters to track it?

[stebo]

Waddizzle

Good question!   I have not seen anything that limits the sensor to a certain number of hours of use, but I would probably pick the camera with 20 hours of video use over the one with 20,000 hours of use.  But that is not to say the one with 20,000 hours is more likely to be the one to fail on the next shoot.  Maybe they have it there because that is the way it has always been done, or some one might find it useful to log that information. 

If there were two 30 year old vehicles for sale and one had an AM radio that was on and used everyday and the other had never been used I still would not be able to say with certainty which would fail first.  But if one car had just had the wheel bearings and brakes done I could tell you that this car is most likely not going to need the brakes or wheel bearings done first.

You do make a good point here:  Why do we not get easy access to a shutter count when the camera is recommended for service at 200,000 actuations, but we do get an hour meter for video when there is no life expectation set on the sensor.

[ebiggs1]

"... the camera is recommended for service at 200,000 actuations..."

There is no recommended or guaranteed number of clicks.  That is an expected, estimate average before failure.  It is not how many your specific camera will get as some go 1/2 a million and more.

[Waddizzle]

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@stebo wrote:

Waddizzle

Good question!   I have not seen anything that limits the sensor to a certain number of hours of use, but I would probably pick the camera with 20 hours of video use over the one with 20,000 hours of use.  But that is not to say the one with 20,000 hours is more likely to be the one to fail on the next shoot.  Maybe they have it there because that is the way it has always been done, or some one might find it useful to log that information. 

If there were two 30 year old vehicles for sale and one had an AM radio that was on and used everyday and the other had never been used I still would not be able to say with certainty which would fail first.  But if one car had just had the wheel bearings and brakes done I could tell you that this car is most likely not going to need the brakes or wheel bearings done first.

You do make a good point here:  Why do we not get easy access to a shutter count when the camera is recommended for service at 200,000 actuations, but we do get an hour meter for video when there is no life expectation set on the sensor.

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The 200,000 shutter actuations that you speak of is not a recommendation for service.  It is called the MTBF, Mean Time Between Failures.  Every electronic compenent has a MTBF specification, including image sensors.

[ebiggs1]

"... I would rather buy a camera used for video knowing the mechanical moving parts of the camera are still pristine."

Maybe so but that is no indication the rest of the camera is "pristine".  Shutter count is just an interesting subject. It really tells you little about the camera. I will agree, if given the choice, all else being equal, I would choose the lower shutter count if I was certain it was an accurate count.  The apps and software are proven to be inaccurate at times.