A good way to determine the value of your camera might be to deteremine the number of times you can press the shutter release and expect something to happen. Fixing a damaged shutter requires major surgery to your camera and can be quite expensive. United Camera charges $257 to repair the shutter on a Canon EOS 1D Mark III camera, not an insignificant amount and a possible warning that other things may be on the verge of breaking down. On a camera that costs several thousand dollars, as the Canon does, this may be well worth the investment. But what if you own a cheaper camera?
Pentax brags that their K10D is extremely durable, especially in the shutter department. However, on a camera that sells on Amazon for $733 you would pay $126 for shutter repair. So the question is; how long are you likely to be able to use your camera before requiring shutter repairs? The website olegkikin.com attempts to answer this question with many of today's most popular cameras. As one would expect the professional model Canon leads the pack with a shutter life expectancy exceeding 1.4 million shutter snaps. This is what we might expect from a camera that could take several thousand images a week. By comparison, the low end Canon EOS 30D has a life expectancy of about 50,000 snaps. So when Pentax brags that their K10D will survive 150,000 snaps and this website bears that out, it's worth paying attention.
I do not own any Pentax products, nor do I think shutter actuations is the only factor to consider when purchasing a camera, but I do think shutter life is an indication of the camera's overall design and durability. As for me, I'm about halfway to a new shutter and I want a new camera before that happens.
Note: If you don't see your camera listed on the main page try looking at the "site map." Hundreds more are listed there.
Image credit: The above illustration was made by Billy Wilson. Clicking directly on the image will take you to his flickr page.
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