Shutter count checker
See how many shots a camera has taken from one of its photos. Works for Nikon, Pentax, most Sony Alpha and recent Fujifilm X bodies, entirely in your browser.
Drop an original photo from your camera
JPEG or RAW (NEF, ARW, PEF, DNG, RAF) straight from the memory card. Read on this device, never uploaded.
You can also paste a copied image. Heads-up: some phone photo pickers remove location before a browser ever sees the file. If a photo you know is geotagged shows no GPS here, pick it through the Files app instead.
Use the original file
Take a fresh photo, copy it from the card to your computer or phone without opening it in an editor, and drop it here. Editors, phones’ share sheets and social networks strip the maker notes where the count lives.
Which cameras record a shutter count
| Brand | From a photo? | Where it is stored |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon | Read from photos | ShutterCount (maker note tag 0x00A7) |
| Sony | Read from photos, model-dependent | ShutterCount inside the enciphered maker-note block 0x9050 |
| Canon | Not stored in photos | not written to files on most EOS models |
| Fujifilm | Read from photos, model-dependent | ImageCount (maker note tag 0x1438) |
| Pentax and Ricoh | Read from photos | ShutterCount (maker note tag 0x005D, date/time encoded) |
| Phones (iPhone, Pixel, Galaxy) | Not applicable | Phone cameras have no mechanical shutter to count. |
Where the number comes from
Besides the standard EXIF fields, cameras write a private block called the maker notes. Its layout is different for every manufacturer and is not officially documented. The tag positions used here come from Phil Harvey’s ExifTool, the reference tool that has mapped maker notes for over two decades. Nikon stores the count as a plain number; Pentax encodes it using the photo’s own date and time; Sony scrambles a whole block with a simple substitution cipher; Fujifilm stores a 15-bit image counter.
Because maker notes are private, anything that re-saves the photo usually throws them away: phone share sheets, editors, messaging apps, and of course metadata removers. If a seller sends you a photo through WhatsApp, the count is gone. Ask for the original file, or better, a fresh photo taken in front of you and copied straight from the card.
Reading the number when buying used
- Compare with the rated life on the manufacturer’s spec sheet, where one is published. Ratings are averages from testing, not guarantees.
- Mirrorless bodies with electronic shutters may not count silent-mode frames, so the true number of photos can be higher.
- Check the serial number shown with the result against the one printed under the camera, so you know the photo came from that body.
- A new shutter resets the count. A low number on an old camera is fine if there is a service receipt.
The checker shows other details from the same file too. For the full picture, open the photo in the EXIF viewer, and remember that photos you share keep your camera’s serial number unless you remove the metadata.
Questions people ask
What is a shutter count?
The number of times a camera’s shutter has fired. Mechanical shutters are rated for a finite number of cycles, so the count is the camera equivalent of a car’s mileage, and buyers of used cameras check it first.
How do I check my camera’s shutter count?
Take a new photo, copy the original JPEG or RAW file from the card without editing it, and drop it into the checker. If your camera writes a count into its maker notes (Nikon, Pentax, most Sony Alpha and recent Fujifilm X bodies) it is shown instantly, in your browser.
Why can’t it read my Canon’s shutter count?
Most Canon EOS cameras simply don’t store the count in image files. It can only be read over USB from the camera itself, or by a Canon service centre.
Is my photo uploaded?
No. The checker reads the first few megabytes of the file with JavaScript on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.
What is a good shutter count for a used camera?
Compare it to the manufacturer’s rated durability for that model, where published. A count well under the rating with no shutter faults is generally fine; shutters often outlast their rating, and some fail early. A shutter can also be replaced.
Can the shutter count be reset or faked?
Service centres can reset it when they replace a shutter, and a few tools can alter the number in files. If the count looks unusually low for an old body, ask for the service history and check that the body serial number in the file matches the camera.