I need a simple way to determine the number of shutter actuations on a Canon 1D Mark II using a PC.

I need a simple way to determine the number of shutter actuations on a Canon

1D Mark II using a PC. Lots of posts about using a MAC but that is not an

option for me. I have Opanda and it tells the shutter actuations for a Nikon

D2X with ease. What is the easiest way to determine the number of shutter

actuations on a Canon 1D Mark II using a PC? Please do not tell me to get a

MAC as that is not what this question deals with.

CanCount is the only way I've heard of and used:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-7893-8309

It costs a small fee, but works very well. Or you could send a RAW image from your camera to someone who owns CanCount and get him/her to run it through their software.

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You could use a hex editor if you know where to look in the raw file for the shutter actuation information. There are pages on the web that tell you where in the file to look. I don't have a 1-series EOS camera, and those are the only cameras that are generally reported to store this information, so I can't test this myself, but you could try the procedure documented on <a href="http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-196.html">this page</a> (which even gives you a link to a free hex editor).

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<p>

I tried it out on some raw files from my EOS 20D, and initially it seemed to work fine. The hexadecimal numbers at address 95D (see the above web page) were sequential on a series of sequential raw files. But then I checked the total number of raw files from my 20D that I still have on my hard drive, and it was slightly more than the number I was getting from the raw files (I would have expected it to be less, because I've deleted a lot of raw files). Still, this procedure is not supposed to work on a 20D, so perhaps you will have more success with your 1D.

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<p>

If anyone with a 1-series camera has personally checked whether this procedure really works, perhaps they'll chime in on this thread.

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If you have Photoshop CS2 (and I think this will work in CS), you can open a RAW file and look at the Exif Metadata. File/File Info...(Shift-Ctrl-Alt-i). You can see the image number (shutter actuations) under the aux:Imagenumber tag. See below:<p>

<img src="http://dtrayers.home.comcast.net/photos/ps_cs2_screen.gif"><p>

BTW, if you notice the file number is the same as the image number... this is because I use Breezesys Downloader Pro to download and automatically rename the file name to the actuation count of the camera. This eliminates having to worry about the file number when the image counter is reset or mess with folder numbers.

I am currently at work and have RAW & JPEG file. Would someone be willing to check it for me? I have someone asking about the acctuations and I need to give them an immediate answer.

The file is totally clean as it has been through McAfee on my system and then again at my corporate e-mail.

Any help is appreciated.

Jimmy

Dave, have you tried this method with a file from a 1D? I just tried it on my 20D, and that metadata field was there, but it was not the total number of actuations. The raw file was called IMG_0055.CR2, and the aux:ImageNumber value was 55 (but my camera has several thousand actuations). So on a 20D, it seems to just reflect the file name.

Jimmy, if you send me your raw file, I'll take a look at it using both Dave's CS2 method and the hex editor method mentioned above.

The free open-source

<a href="http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/">ExifTool</a>

utility can read this from an image file. Here's an example from a terminal window on my

Mac but there's also a version for Windows:

<p><tt>

Mikes-24-iMac:~/pictures/Lightroom/2007/2007-03-05 mike$ exiftool OJ1N2923.CR2 |

grep "Shutter Count"<br />

Shutter Count : 4645</tt>

<p>IIRC, the shutter count in the image file is only supported on the Canon 1-series

cameras.

Gerry,

No, it's 1D only. To be accurate, I've only tried it with a 1DmkII, but I understand it works with the 1DmkII-N, 1Ds and 1DsmkII. I don't know about the orginal 1D. I know it doesn't work with the 5D, 20D, 10D and DRebel.

-Dave

I appreciate all the help, especially the help from Gerry and Mike. The free open-source ExifTool utility Mike mentions works great on a PC! Once again, thanks to all who provided help, especially Gerry and Mike. What a great forum.

Jimmy