Camera Shutter Count

It is interesting how you can learn new things every day in digital forensics.  I have just learned about a new value in image metadata that makes perfect sense to look at, but I've failed to recognize up to this point.  In high end cameras, it makes sense to record the shutter speed to keep track of the lifespan of the camera, so if you plan to buy a used camera, you would have a good idea how long the camera will provide an efficient shutter speed.   It turns out that shutters have a life expectancy that manufacturers can store directly into an image for retrieval.  This information can be used in digital forensics to find out the sequence of images that were taken or analyze out of sequence images in case if a suspect manipulated Exif data.

I found sample images from NIKON D5000 camera to confirm this information:
http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d5000/sample.htm
If you want to verify this, you should download the full version of the images and run exifTool to reveal the shutter count.

C:\temp>"exiftool(-k).exe" pic_004b.jpg |findstr Count
Self Timer Shot Count           : 1
Shutter Count                   : 2430

Information from Various Sources

Canon DSLR users may want to check out the utility program called EOSInfo (a Windows only program). Please note the following on the EOSInfo website.

The shutter count information is available *only* on Canon DIGIC III/IV DSLRs *except* the 1D* series. This means that EOSInfo will display the shutter counter for the 40D, the 50D, the 450D, 500D, and the 1000D. It will also show the shutter counter for the 5DMkII, but the camera must be power-cycled before the value is updated. The shutter counter will not be displayed (or will be displayed as “0?) 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. UPDATE (08/06/2009): Apparently, Canon has removed the facility for checking the shutter count on the 500D …

It helps to assess the longevity of a camera.  For example, Canon EOS 5D Mark III‘s shutter durability is 150,000 cycles and you are planning to buy a used 5D3 with 50000 total shutter counts on it. Means the camera still has 100,000 cycles left before it starts to loose its shutter’s efficiency. Very useful when you are planing to buy or sell an used camera or simply, you just wanna know!  Some cameras like Nikon & Pentax DSLRs store this data inside their exif file, which is easy to find out. But canon DSLRs store this data differently.In that case you need to use a simple and easy software called EOS info by AstroJargon.  Connect your camera to your computer, switch it on and required info will be displayed instantly. Currently it supports  only the Canon DSLRs with DIGIC III/IV DSLRs *except* the 1D* series. Means it will work on EOS 40D, EOS 50D, EOS 450D, EOS 1000D and EOS 5D mark II.

Camera Shutter Life Expectancy Database
http://www.olegkikin.com/shutterlife/