View mechanical & electronic actuation's separately for Nikon bodies

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For those who want to view M & E actuation's separately, use this application. These tags cannot be read by most applications so people leave out this important info. It can be particularly handy for people primarily using their bodies [with mech. shutter] for video, silent shooting, time-lapses.

https://nikonrumors.com/2022/01/28/new-nikon-shutter-count-software-v3-0-released-with-z9-support-free.aspx/

If you don't trust this application, you can try ExifTool. 

[Nishit Dave]

Do electronic actuations matter? If pixel by pixel sensor readout were to matter in some way, why would only still shots matter, and not, say frames shot in 8k?

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Do electronic actuations matter? If pixel by pixel sensor readout were to matter in some way, why would only still shots matter, and not, say frames shot in 8k?

Electronic actuation in practical sense does not matter. No wear occurs in this shooting mode. So why would you want to include electronic actuation when you advertise your shutter count to others?

To be transparent with other parties concerned, you can show your electronic actuation separately and they can omit and view mechanical shutter as is. This tag is cannot be read by online sites that check your shutter count (from what I've checked).

This info would come particularly useful for someone who shoots a lot of time lapses in 'silent shooting' mode. For people shooting predominantly video, it's not that important.

[JessePinkmanYo]

Electronic actuation in practical sense does not matter. No wear occurs in this shooting mode.

Electronic actuation in practical sense DOES matter - often more than mechanical shutter ! Why ? Simply because mechanical shutter (alongwith the usual checks and cosmetics) gives a fairly reliable idea about camera usage and its estimated residual life. And to that extent it is an easily available and very useful info. Compared to this, the "electronic shutter count" is NOT easily available info, especially in respect of cameras that are likely to be used primarily for videos (read the Sony E, Canon RF or Fujifilm XF bodies). Professionals often use their cameras for high-res bursts or long duration clips that greatly heats up the sensor assembly, its contacts points, cables, etc, leading to its thermal wear and tear. This can affect the sensors light gathering capabilities, the readout mechanism, the latency and the responsiveness of the camera in general. So I can buy a camera with 500 mechanical shutter count in near mint cosmetic shape thinking I got a real "bargain" - unaware that it was used to capture thousands of burst images (using electronic shutter) or hundreds of hours of 4K footage in 4-5 months flat ! The innards will never be as healthy as they should be.

This explains why you will see many professionals selling their mirrorless cameras with very low mechanical shutter count (often below 1-2k) only to buy the same model again ! Something they never like to talk about. There's this myth doing rounds that its safer to buy a camera from video-shooters since shutter count will be low. Whereas it should be the other way round. Buying camera from a "photographer" you know what you are getting but buying from a "videographer" you might not have any inkling what you are getting into, since neither the info on "electronic shutter count" nor that on the "video hours" is available.

As if all this wasn't enough, we also have the "hybrid" electronic-front curtain shutters in many cameras, making it even more difficult to estimate actual use.

PS - Mechanical shutters are not the only part in a camera that can fail. Something like an LED bulb can furnish a good analogy for what happens with frequent switch-on/switch-off in electronics. We know that apart from hours, lifespan of LED bulbs is often rated in terms of switch cycles (number of times they can be switched on and off). You will notice that this figure is usually in tens of thousands if not in lakhs. However, by now most of us have used enough LED bulbs to realise that in practice, the number does not reach even 10k (3-4K tops), before the bulb fuses or starts flickering and going out. Mind you, bulbs are infinitely less complicated than cameras.

[Nishit Dave]

Yes, so videography can also affect sensor life, and so can just running the camera in live view mode. Such usage will not show up on the electronic shutter actuation count. However, there is no objective estimation available for remaining sensor life based on information like this.

It would make better sense to ask for dark frames shot for a long shutter duration (let's say 30 seconds or one minute) and check them minutely for hot pixels*, which may give some idea about deterioration in sensor condition.

* But wait, Sony cameras check for hot pixels on a weekly basis, and might be fixing them in 'post'. One big criticism of Sony used to be the "star eater" problem, which was due to Sony fixing hot pixels.

[chrome]

Electronic actuation in practical sense does not matter. No wear occurs in this shooting mode.

Electronic actuation in practical sense DOES matter - often more than mechanical shutter ! Why ? Simply because mechanical shutter (alongwith the usual checks and cosmetics) gives a fairly reliable idea about camera usage and its estimated residual life. And to that extent it is an easily available and very useful info. Compared to this, the "electronic shutter count" is NOT easily available info, especially in respect of cameras that are likely to be used primarily for videos (read the Sony E, Canon RF or Fujifilm XF bodies). Professionals often use their cameras for high-res bursts or long duration clips that greatly heats up the sensor assembly, its contacts points, cables, etc, leading to its thermal wear and tear. This can affect the sensors light gathering capabilities, the readout mechanism, the latency and the responsiveness of the camera in general. So I can buy a camera with 500 mechanical shutter count in near mint cosmetic shape thinking I got a real "bargain" - unaware that it was used to capture thousands of burst images (using electronic shutter) or hundreds of hours of 4K footage in 4-5 months flat ! The innards will never be as healthy as they should be.

This explains why you will see many professionals selling their mirrorless cameras with very low mechanical shutter count (often below 1-2k) only to buy the same model again ! Something they never like to talk about. There's this myth doing rounds that its safer to buy a camera from video-shooters since shutter count will be low. Whereas it should be the other way round. Buying camera from a "photographer" you know what you are getting but buying from a "videographer" you might not have any inkling what you are getting into, since neither the info on "electronic shutter count" nor that on the "video hours" is available.

As if all this wasn't enough, we also have the "hybrid" electronic-front curtain shutters in many cameras, making it even more difficult to estimate actual use.

PS - Mechanical shutters are not the only part in a camera that can fail. Something like an LED bulb can furnish a good analogy for what happens with frequent switch-on/switch-off in electronics. We know that apart from hours, lifespan of LED bulbs is often rated in terms of switch cycles (number of times they can be switched on and off). You will notice that this figure is usually in tens of thousands if not in lakhs. However, by now most of us have used enough LED bulbs to realise that in practice, the number does not reach even 10k (3-4K tops), before the bulb fuses or starts flickering and going out. Mind you, bulbs are infinitely less complicated than cameras.

I stand corrected; thanks for the insight!