Check your shutter count

A shutter count is the number of times a camera’s shutter has been fired — often called actuations. It is a useful sign of wear when you are buying or selling a body, especially one with a mechanical shutter. Electronic (silent) exposures may be counted separately on some cameras, or included in the same total.

Shutters are rated for a set number of actuations, and replacing one can cost a significant share of a used body’s value.

The count is not a normal photo caption. It lives in hidden maker notes written by the camera. Editing, exporting, emailing, or sending a picture through a messaging app usually strips that data. Use an unedited JPEG or RAW file, straight off the memory card, for a reliable reading.

Nikon and Pentax generally store a readable shutter count in the file. Many Sony and some Fujifilm, Olympus/OM System and Panasonic bodies do as well, depending on the model. Many Canon EOS R bodies, such as the EOS R5 and R6, also write it into their JPG and RAW files. Photo checks are free. If a photo has no count, try the other file type from the same camera, then an optional USB check as a last resort (A$2.99 only if we find a count). See Supported cameras and Not compatible for models we’ve tested.

No. Your photo is read on your device. It is never uploaded to our website or stored anywhere. Only the shutter count, brand, model, the photo date and a masked fingerprint of the serial number are recorded — never the photo itself or your location. You can check a body without handing the image to anyone else.

Photo checks are always free. Use the checker on this page, or open Check a shutter count. Drop in an original JPG or RAW photo, still as the camera wrote it. If the count is in the file, we show how many shutter actuations the body has fired, free of charge. That’s the same figure people often call the shutter count.

Yes. Nikon bodies generally store a readable shutter count in the photo. We’ve confirmed a D750 from a JPG, and a Z6 II from both JPG and RAW. Drop in an original file to check yours.

When the camera has written the count into the file, yes. We’ve confirmed a Sony A7 IV from both JPG and RAW. Many other Sony bodies are reported to store a count as well; those appear on the supported cameras page as expected, not yet tested by us.

Yes. Start with a JPG straight off the camera, free. Many Canon EOS R bodies, such as the EOS R5 and R6, write the shutter count into their photos. If the JPG has no count, try a RAW file from the same camera. If that has none either, you can connect the camera by USB (desktop Chrome or Edge) as a last resort. A USB check is A$2.99 only if we find a count; if we don’t, you are not charged.

For Canon RF lenses on Canon EOS R bodies, yes — from the same photo, free. We show the lens model, full serial number and lens firmware, with two counts: aperture (diaphragm) movements and autofocus movements. A lens has no shutter, so these aren’t a shutter count, and there’s no published rated life to compare them with. The counts are as recorded when the lens was last switched on, so they can lag slightly behind the photo. Selling just the lens? Any compatible Canon EOS R body will do, even a borrowed one. We don’t read lens counts for other brands yet.

Photo checks are always free. A USB check is A$2.99 only if we find a count; if we don’t, you are not charged. You also pay for two one-off things: a shareable verification certificate (A$4.99 for a camera or a lens, A$7.99 for both), only offered when we’ve read a count (a lens certificate only when we’ve read the lens counts); and unlocking a camera’s or lens’s full public history (A$4.99), only offered if we have records. Buyers view a certificate free of charge.

When we find a shutter count greater than zero, it is added to the public log with a masked serial, including free photo checks and paid USB checks. Zero readings and unread counts are not published. Looking up a specific camera’s or lens’s history is separate: you pay only if we have records. Location is not shown in the public log.

Where the maker has published a rated shutter life for that model, we show an estimate of how much of that rating remains, based on the count we read. It is a guide only, not a guarantee — shutters often last beyond the published rating, and some can fail earlier. If no rating is published, we simply show the shutter count. A few bodies, such as the Nikon Z8 and Z9, have no mechanical shutter, so a life-left figure does not apply.

We keep a record of each check: the date and time it was checked, when the photo was taken, camera make, model and firmware, the shutter count (when it is present in the file), a one-way fingerprint and the last 4 characters of the serial number, and whether a history unlock or certificate was paid. Photo checks are free. We don’t record your location or store your IP address. The full serial is kept for up to 7 days so a certificate can be issued, and after that only on a certificate you buy. The photo itself is not uploaded or stored. The make, model, shutter count and a masked serial (such as ••••••••4821) appear in the public log when the count is greater than zero. Zero readings are still shown to you, free of charge, but they are not published. The latest checks on the home page are free to browse. Pay only to unlock a camera’s full history, and only if we have records.

After a successful shutter-count check, a seller can buy a shareable verification certificate for a one-off fee of A$4.99. It records that check: the camera, the full serial number (the seller agrees to publish it when they buy the certificate), the shutter count, the date and time (with a time zone), and whether it was read from a photo or over USB. Buyers can view it free of charge at a unique link (shutterverified.com/c/ followed by the certificate ID), by scanning the QR code, or by entering the certificate ID. Certificates cannot be browsed; lookup is by ID only. A certificate is valid for 60 days from the check, and only when viewed on shutterverified.com. A newer count on the same camera may be higher. Photo checks stay free.

Where we read lens counts (Canon RF lenses on EOS R bodies, so far), you can also buy a lens certificate (A$4.99), or both together (A$7.99). A lens certificate has the same seal and layout, with its own ID and QR code, and records the lens model, full lens serial, aperture and autofocus movements, lens firmware and the date the photo was taken. Each certificate in a camera + lens order has its own ID, link and listing image.

The listing image is a flat picture, so its text can’t be edited as text. The certificate itself is the record at shutterverified.com: a buyer scans the QR code or enters the ID, and if the details don’t match, it isn’t genuine.