Shutter count is the total number of photos your camera's mechanical shutter has fired. It is the single most important metric for evaluating a used camera body — think of it as the odometer reading of a camera.
Check Your Shutter Count →Inside every interchangeable-lens camera is a mechanical focal-plane shutter — a set of thin metal or fabric curtains positioned just in front of the image sensor. When you press the shutter button:
This open-close cycle is one actuation. The camera's internal microcontroller increments a hardware counter each time this happens. That counter is the shutter count.
Modern cameras offer multiple shutter modes:
This means a camera used heavily for video or silent shooting may have far more actual exposures than the shutter count suggests.
The mechanical shutter is a consumable wear part. The curtains and their spring mechanisms degrade with use. Manufacturers rate each shutter to a median number of actuations before there is a 50% probability of failure — this is the rated shutter life.
| Typical Camera Class | Rated Shutter Life |
|---|---|
| Entry-level (crop sensor) | 100,000 – 150,000 |
| Mid-range (crop / full-frame) | 150,000 – 200,000 |
| Advanced full-frame | 200,000 – 300,000 |
| Professional / flagship | 400,000 – 500,000+ |
The rating is a statistical median — half of tested shutters failed before reaching it, half exceeded it. Many cameras continue to operate well past their rated count. However, above the rated count, the probability of curtain failure rises significantly. A shutter replacement typically costs €100–300 at an authorised service centre.
The shutter counter is stored in two places:
The camera's main circuit board maintains a hardware counter that increments at the moment of each mechanical shutter actuation. This counter cannot be reset by any software — it can only be reset by a service centre after physically replacing the shutter mechanism.
Each time a RAW file is written to the memory card, the camera embeds the current shutter count in the file's EXIF metadata inside a manufacturer-specific block called the MakerNote. Different brands use different offsets and encodings:
ShutterCount reads this embedded value directly from the RAW file in your browser — without uploading anything.
The easiest way to check shutter count is with shuttercount.app — free, private, and works entirely in your browser:
No account, no upload, no software installation required.
No. Video uses continuous electronic sensor readout and does not actuate the mechanical curtain. The counter only increments for mechanical and EFCS still shots.
The in-camera hardware counter can only be reset after a physical shutter replacement at an authorised service centre. EXIF-editing software can overwrite the value embedded in individual files, but that does not change the hardware counter. Always verify from a freshly shot original RAW file — not from a file provided by the seller.
Most cameras do not embed the shutter count in JPEG files. You generally need a RAW file. If your camera supports RAW, switch to RAW mode, take one photo, and use that file. If the camera is JPEG-only (e.g., some entry-level compacts), some models still expose the counter in the EXIF — try dropping a JPEG into ShutterCount to see.
They mean exactly the same thing. "Shutter count", "shutter actuations", "shutter releases", and "shutter cycles" are all synonymous terms for the total number of times the mechanical shutter has fired.
Not necessarily. A high-shutter-count camera from a careful owner who maintained it well may be more reliable than a low-count body that was dropped or stored improperly. Shutter count is one data point — combine it with physical inspection and, where possible, the camera's service history.
See model-specific guides with exact rated lifespans and buying advice: