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I shoot about 400-500 pictures every day. Many of them are in burst mode. Will this wear out the shutter? I bought a Rebel 1200 D and five months the shutter gave error 30 and had to be repaired. Is it because of too much shooting in burst mode and flash?

Philip Kendall
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Sam Walker
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  • You probably reached the limit of the shutter, but if your camera is still under warranty, you should talk to Canon. – MirekE Jun 07 '16 at 15:51
  • Not sure about its statistics validity, but might be an interesting look nevertheless: https://www.olegkikin.com/shutterlife/canon_eos_1200d.htm – PlasmaHH Jun 08 '16 at 07:55
  • Sam: we don't include "thanks" and things like that in questions here. Upvoting and accepting answers (the tick box next to the answer you found most useful) is the way to go instead. – Philip Kendall Jun 09 '16 at 10:10
  • @PlasmaHH a statistical sampling of only 12 bodies is pretty insignificant. Particularly when those most likely to find the page and enter their data are those who have experienced a shutter failure. – Michael C Jun 09 '16 at 15:04

2 Answers2

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It doesn't really matter whether shutter activations are in burst mode or not. What matters is that they happen. 500 shots per day for 150 days is 75,000 shutter activations! Canon no longer provides shutter ratings for the Rebel series but back when they did the oldest Rebels and later lower priced models had ratings of 50,000 activations while the later higher priced Rebels had 100,000 cycle shutter ratings. Your shutter failed almost exactly halfway between 50K and 100K. It sounds like you just wore it out.

It's just like miles on a car: they cause wear and tear whether it takes six years or six decades to put a million miles on one. Most cars won't last a million miles. Most 1200D Rebel shutters probably won't last much more than 75,000 shutter cycles either.

If you bought the camera new I'd be interested to know if the shutter replacement was covered by Canon under warranty.

Michael C
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  • What happens when it reaches the limit (Ex : 75000). Can you simply replace the shutter or the camera is of no use anymore ? – Shyju Jun 07 '16 at 15:11
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    Nothing necessarily happens. A shutter rating is an estimate of the expected service life. Some will fail before they reach that number, others will last longer. Whether to replace the shutter or not is usually based on the cost/benefit analysis. If an older used Rebel is only worth around $200 and it's going to cost $250 to replace, what would you do? On the other hand, if it's a used 1D X in otherwise excellent shape it is probably worth $400 or so to replace the shutter. – Michael C Jun 07 '16 at 15:16
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    Actually no - FEW should wear out earlier. It is like car wear and tear - if the car falls apart after 20.000km, it is not wear and tear, it is a defect. – TomTom Jun 07 '16 at 15:29
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    75,000shutter cycles on Rebel is hardly the equivalent of 20K km on an automobile. More like 500K km on a Yugo. – Michael C Jun 07 '16 at 15:37
  • In short, the stated value is their guess at the length of the straightest part of the "bathtub curve". –  Jun 07 '16 at 16:06
  • I had a film EOS stop working and it would have cost a hundred-and-something to replace the shutter module. So yes, that's a thing. And still possible on 20-year-old bodies. – JDługosz Jun 07 '16 at 17:52
  • @jdv: Nikon says this rating is an MTBF value: https://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/16492/~/how-many-pictures-has-my-camera-taken%3F-how-many-will-it-take%3F – bwDraco Jun 07 '16 at 18:02
  • MTBF is just a fancy way of saying estimate of expected service life. Roughly half will last longer which means the other half won't last that long. It doesn't mean any who don't last that long are defective. – Michael C Jun 07 '16 at 20:16
  • @Shyju - it is an estimate of how long the shutter will last. It might fail before then or after then. I have a 1Dmk2n, and had the shutter replaced at 188k actuations (I was concerned at the age of it and it was a convenient time to get it done). However it has now failed (light band on the middle of shots - worse at high shutter speeds), after maybe 30k max actuations on the replacement shutter. Canon no longer supply spare parts for the 1dmk2n so this effectively renders the camera scrap. – Kickstart Jun 08 '16 at 16:14
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From what I've read online, Err 30 is almost always a shutter failure, consistent with Canon's documentation for this specific error ("a malfunction with the shutter has been detected"). You should be able to get the camera fixed under warranty; if not, replacing the shutter would cost about $200 to $300—not worth it for a 1200D.

While newer Canon EOS Rebel models have no official shutter rating, similar entry-level Nikon DSLRs like the D3000 series have shutters rated for 100,000+ actuations. More advanced bodies are typically rated for at least 200,000 or 300,000 cycles (my Pentax K-3 II is rated for 200,000 cycles). Bear in mind that this is an MTBF value; the shutter can fail much earlier or later than this.

400-500 shots a day is extremely heavy use for an entry-level DSLR and I'd strongly recommend that you upgrade to a more advanced camera body. These kind of low-end DSLRs are typically only designed with the expectation that the user would only shoot a few dozen to a hundred or so pictures a day. I'd probably recommend the Canon EOS 7D Mark II (rated for 200K cycles) considering your usage profile; sadly, the more affordable 80D is rated to only 100K cycles.

bwDraco
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    Looking at current prices, going with cheaper cameras and wearing them out isn't an unreasonable option. The EOS 7D is currently about three times the price of 1200D. Going furrther, even though it is disproportionate to the market value of the 1200D, the shutter can be repaired many times for the price of a replacement. There might be other reasons for upgrading, but cost per click wouldn't break even for several years. –  Jun 08 '16 at 02:45
  • The EOS 7D of 2009 vintage is no longer in production. I think you mean the EOS 7D Mark II introduced about 18 months ago. Having used both rather extensively I can tell you they are in no way close to being the same camera. 5 years is a LONG time in the camera industry. – Michael C Jun 08 '16 at 06:48
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    What you say about "cost per click" is somewhat true, but the shutter is not the only piece of the 7D Mark II that is far more durable than the 1200D. And there are photos one can capture with the 7D Mark II that are much harder, if not impossible, to reliably capture with the 1200D. This is particularly the case when tracking moving subjects under flickering stadium lighting. – Michael C Jun 08 '16 at 06:52
  • Thanks a lot fellows. My question has been answered pretty exhaustively. – Sam Walker Jun 09 '16 at 03:55
  • Also consider a camera with an electronic shutter. Though you may find it wears out in other ways, depends on what you are doing with it. – vclaw Jun 10 '16 at 11:12