How many shots per year does a typical person use his/her digital camera?

My small 3 MP Panasonic/Lumix digital camera is now 4 years old. I was
surprised to know that I have clicked over 50,000 photos with it. My
newer Samsung digimax i5 is only 5 months old, and I already used it
over 3000 shots. I am not a commercial or professional, and not even
an enthusiast photographer. Despite of a lot opinions about the
Samsung camera as being a mediocre quality, I appear to grow to like
it with time. It is nice and ultra compact, and I carry it with me in
my pocket all the time. It is slow, but photo quality is not too bad.

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?
- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?
- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?
- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?

Just curious and would like to hear feedback from other users.
Thanks

On 13 May 2007 09:40:13 -0700, wrote:

- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

I buy my DSLR cameras from camera shops, landscape is my hobby after
hill walking, I take under 500 shots a year, although there will be
some instantly deleted ones that the exposure was all wrong.
--
Mike Reid
UK walking, food, photos "http://www.fellwalk.co.uk" -- you can email us@ this site
Spain walking, food, tourism "http://www.fell-walker.co.uk"
Beginners UK flight sim addons "http://www.lawn-mower-man.co.uk"

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

I bought My camera in a photo store, make about 4000 pictures a year.
Sometimes I make a lot of pictures to get a good one. At a sporting game
of my daugther I made almost 300 pictures, but I captured 5 (sequence)
when she was scoring, these pictures have value to me most of the
other pictures are redundant.

- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?
For DSLR, there is a maximum on how often the mirror can go up
and down. (50000 to 100000 seems to be resonable). For point and
shoots, it's often not the number of pictures which determine the lifetime,
but the use of the camera, how is it kept, stored transported and used.


- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?
I Head of a professional that het used to shoot conservatively when still
using film. For a soccer match het shot 'only' about 10-12 roles of film
(360-430 pictures). Now he said that he wasn't limited to shoot and
kept on shooting. (No numbers given but several times 360 was
was suggested).

- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?


Depends a lot on the treatment.
Dust and dirt can do a lot of harm to a camera. (Slowly but certainly).
Moisture can do a lot of harm to a camera. (Often not noticed till the
camera stops working).
Batteries do weare out after several years, sometimes that's time to
upgrade to a new camera as wel.

Although some wear and tear does happen when taking a picture,
this probably is less than the wear and tear of carrying the camera
around.
Also connections do not last forever, the usb-connection of the
camera, the card connection of the camera.

Buttons and dials can become disfunctional.

The displayscreen can become broke or difficult to see.
(Scratching).

Just curious and would like to hear feedback from other users.
Thanks


ben

wrote in message
ups.com...
....
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

I bought mine online, but I'd guess there are a mixture of people. Some
people, like my mom, have changed their habits only slightly in this new era
of free film. I'm guessing a typical number is a dozen or so per month for
these folks. Again guessing, for most computer savvy users, who can get
their images from the camera to disk unassisted, a few hundred per month.

- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?

In the 10's of thousands.

- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?

I'n not a professional. Personally I do about 500 to a 1000 per month,
slightly more when I'm travelling.

- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?

Rechargeable batteries and hot pixels aside, any moving parts are more
likely to fail than electronic components. This includes lens parts,
followed by non-membrane buttons, for example rotating controls. On DSLR's
the shutter is the achilles heel, with 50,000 being a typical number. It's
not unusual for a pro to have the shutter replaced several times on a
workhorse camera.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

wrote in message
ups.com...

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

I seem to average about 1000 shots per month, and use the camera mainly at
weekends so about 200 shots per trip i guess.

- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?

I have heard about 50k shots for a consumer camera and 150k shots for a pro
model.

- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?

A pro shooting action shots will likely use multiple shots at up to 8 shots
per second so this can stack up quickly!

- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?

The shutter is what takes the strain!

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk

wrote:

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

I think I half qualify to answer this: though I bought my Canon S3is from an
eBay stores trader (at a great price, £200), I blagged my previous camera,
a Casio EX-Z700 compact, for £150 from a shop in Tottenham Court Road when
Jessop's stock ran out. Then I went back with a friend, and blagged another
one for the same price for her. :-)

I got the Canon 14 days ago and I've taken 647 shots, which would add up to
nearly 17,000 per year if I kept it up at this rate. I expect I'll slow
down a bit when the novelty of the S3 wears off. (Other S3 owners will be
smirking at this...)

The Casio is up to 2,218 in about 3 months, so I was only using it at half
the rate of the Canon. It's a great little camera and it gives bright,
punchy shots, but it's not as versatile.

Maybe "enthusiastic amateur" would best describe my photography. While I
specifically go out on "shoots", I've still got lots to learn.

--
Garry Knight

http://www.flickr.com/photos/garryknight/
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/garryknight/
(No relation to the well-known photographer of the same name :-)

wrote:
My small 3 MP Panasonic/Lumix digital camera is now 4 years old. I was
surprised to know that I have clicked over 50,000 photos with it. My
newer Samsung digimax i5 is only 5 months old, and I already used it
over 3000 shots. I am not a commercial or professional, and not even
an enthusiast photographer. Despite of a lot opinions about the
Samsung camera as being a mediocre quality, I appear to grow to like
it with time. It is nice and ultra compact, and I carry it with me in
my pocket all the time. It is slow, but photo quality is not too bad.

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

It varies, but I take 600-700 shots/year. MUCH more than I took with
film due to the cost factor.

- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?

A lot more than I will ever need to worry about.

- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?

It would depend on the professional's market segment. A busy wedding
photographer might take thousands of shots a month, while a news
photographer in a small town might take less than I do.

- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?


The photographer. Grin.
Seriously, the mechanical aspects, such as battery door, followed by the
zoom mechanism, from reports in this newsgroup.


Just curious and would like to hear feedback from other users.
Thanks

Ron Hunter wrote:
wrote:
My small 3 MP Panasonic/Lumix digital camera is now 4 years old. I was
surprised to know that I have clicked over 50,000 photos with it. My
newer Samsung digimax i5 is only 5 months old, and I already used it
over 3000 shots. I am not a commercial or professional, and not even
an enthusiast photographer. Despite of a lot opinions about the
Samsung camera as being a mediocre quality, I appear to grow to like
it with time. It is nice and ultra compact, and I carry it with me in
my pocket all the time. It is slow, but photo quality is not too bad.

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

It varies, but I take 600-700 shots/year. MUCH more than I took with
film due to the cost factor.

I seem to be shooting about 3500 a year (since 2000 when I went
digital). It definitely varies; I tend to shoot big clumps, at events
or on trips or whatever. This is definitely more than I was shooting on
film in the years before that, and price is probably some of the reason
for me as well -- though especially my two DSLRs have pushed the expense
up; not as far as film for this many pictures would have been, though.

- How do camera manufacturers design their cameras to last? How many
shots would the industry be considered to be acceptable, without
loosing their quality?

A lot more than I will ever need to worry about.

The shutter activations spec is the lifespan design limit on most DSLRs.
The pro models are up in the 100,000+ range. Consumer models are
often around 50,000. These are design numbers, not all cameras achieve
them, and they don't appear to be programmed to stop working when the
count reaches those numbers.

- If as an amateur, I shot that many pictures, what about professional
photographers? How many shots did they typically take monthly or
yearly?

It would depend on the professional's market segment. A busy wedding
photographer might take thousands of shots a month, while a news
photographer in a small town might take less than I do.

A wedding photo team, at the top end, apparently shoots over 10,000
photos for one wedding (maybe 5 days of coverage). That's multiple
people and multiple camera bodies, and most weddings don't go for that
level of coverage (and aren't that big an event to begin with).

- What part of a digital camera which likely to go haywire first?
autofocusing system, metering system, built-in flash, mechanical
components (buttons, springs, etc)?


The photographer. Grin.

Score one for you :-). That piece of most cameras is crazy as a loon.

Seriously, the mechanical aspects, such as battery door, followed by the
zoom mechanism, from reports in this newsgroup.

On Mon, 14 May 2007 03:45:06 -0500, Ron Hunter wrote:

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?

It varies, but I take 600-700 shots/year. MUCH more than I took with
film due to the cost factor.

How many of those do you think would be outdoor shots vs. indoor
shots using flash?

ASAAR wrote:
On Mon, 14 May 2007 03:45:06 -0500, Ron Hunter wrote:

My questions are as follows:
- How often are other people, who bought a digital camera at a
supermarket or photo store uses his/her cameras?
It varies, but I take 600-700 shots/year. MUCH more than I took with
film due to the cost factor.

How many of those do you think would be outdoor shots vs. indoor
shots using flash?

About equal. I take mostly indoor shots at family gatherings, balanced
by outdoor shots while on vacations. I plan to visit Palo Duro canyon
at the end of this month, and will probably take a few hundred shots
there, to balance the shots I will take this week at a family gathering
for a nephew's graduation.
You can check my webshots.com 'homepage' to see how that works out.
Search for rphunter42.