Determining shutter activations.

I came across some directions on the web addressing the determination of the true number of times the shutter on the Panasonic G1 has been activated. I say ‘true’ as many users reset the camera’s otherwise sequential numbering of frames from time to time, thus losing track. I do not do this, but it’s interesting to see how many times the shutter has really been fired, especially if you go with the rule of thumb which has it that point-and-shoot digitals last 20,000 exposures, pro-sumer cameras like the G1 maybe 50,000 and pro-gear (Canon 1DS, the big Nikons, etc.) 200,000.

The instructions I found were wrong. Here are are the correct ones:

1. Set camera to single shot mode.
2. Switch camera off.
3. While depressing the ‘Display’ and ‘Film Mode’ buttons, switch the camera on.
4. Hold those two buttons down for 5 seconds.
5. Now press the ‘Menu/Set’ (center of the arrow quad on the back) and the left arrow button on the back simultaneously and, while holding them depressed, press the ‘Film Mode’ button twice.
6. You will see the following display on the LCD screen:

G1 activation display.

VER denotes the software version the camera is running – 1.50 in my case.
NO. is some sort of internal Panasonic ID number. It bears no resemblance to the body’s serial number on the baseplate label.
PWRCNT: indicates the number of times the camera has been switched on.
SHTCNT: indicates the lifetime actuations of the shutter.
STBCNT: is the number of times the flash has fired.

To return the camera to normal operation press the ‘Menu/Set’ (center of the arrow quad on the back) and the left arrow button on the back simultaneously and, while holding them depressed, press the ‘Film Mode’ button twice.

The highest frame count I note from my G1 downloads into Lightroom3 is ‘90388’ which, adjusting for Panny’s strange numbering scheme, means I have released the shutter 9388 times. By contrast the body reports 9407, above, suggesting 19 frames were exposed before I bought the (new) body. Stated differently, my G1 has used up maybe 20% of its useful life. At 50-60% sale beckons – there is useful remaining life and resale value, but the probability of failure has risen significantly.

This is a useful test if you are buying a G1 and want to independently confirm the number of shutter actuations as part of determining likely remaining useful life. You can bet that in today’s world labor costs make repair prohibitive. When the camera fails, it’s recycled.

Generically, machine failure curves look like this – things fail when new and old, reaching peak reliability in middle age:

Machine failure curve.

Warranty them for early use if the economics solve, and sell them in late middle age.

This may work on other G series Panasonic bodies. I have no idea; try this at your own risk.