What should the shutter count be on a brand-new camera

[RohanClaassen]

What should the shutter count be on a brand-new camera?

[jrhoffman75]

How are you determining what the shutter count is?

if you are basing it on the file number it is likely you didn’t format your card in camera. 

[dpsaiz]

I would say that new cameras have a few shutter actuations as part of the quality control before they are shipped. My wife's new Hyundai Accent had 18 miles on the car. 

Unless your new camera has a few hundred actuations out of the box I wouldn't be concerned. My Canon refurbished EOS R had a few actuations. I don't recall how much but it would surprise me if it were zero. 

[Tronhard]

On all of my new cameras the file number, which normally (but not necessarily) corresponds to the shutter count, is 000-0000.  However, as my colleague John wrote, for that to be seen you need to start with a completely formatted card in the camera.  If you just put a card in with an existing image, then the file number of the next shot will be that +1.
EDIT: Thanks to Ernie for triggering a clarification.  The actual shutter count is not necessarily the file number, the latter being linked to what is on the card, whereas the shutter count is bases on actual shutter activations.  So, the question would be what is the OP referring to?

You can reset the count back to the 000-0000 by doing the following.
Go to the Format features item in the wrench menu.
Do a LOW LEVEL format of the card you wish to use (it's format with the delete bin icon ticked)  when done, remember to turn off that tick!
Then do a manual file number reset, leaving the default counting at continuous.
Your next image shot should read 000-0001.

[ebiggs1]

"What should the shutter count be on a brand-new camera?"

I have never really checked 🤔 and I have had several new cameras. But I suspect it to be a very low number. However some info you got above isn't exactly correct. The shutter count on a camera is embedded in the camera's firmware and cannot be reset without hack software. Not illegal but certainly unethical. 

[Tronhard]

I agree with Ernie.  My suggestion was purely for the scenario where the displayed file number (often used as the shutter count, but is not really) has adopted the  number from a card inserted with an existing file.  In that case the process  I outlined should reset the displayed file number, but I would not expect it to change the number of shutter actuations as that is, as Ernie said, buried deep in the camera's firmware.

[Waddizzle]

For what model camera?

What should the shutter count be?  I would expect it to be some low number.  But, do not be surprised if the number is over 100.  Some models can grab lots of frames per second and testing that functionality can run up the mechanical shutter count.

As for reading the actual shutter count goes, it was pretty simple with DSLRs.  Send the body to Canon for an accurate read.  Some third party apps seemed to work, but most did not because the apps were written for older camera bodies.

How do count shutter counts when you use an electronic shutter?  I dunno.

Do I think knowing shutter count is useful?  No, I do not.  It is a highly misleading metric.

[ebiggs1]

Spot on! 🙂