Is my New 20D body actualy New?

I just received a "new" Canon 20D body from Dell but I'm not sure it is
actually new. It's very very clean, no scratches or tell tale signs that
it's been used and all the accessories and manuals etc are in sealed
packages but the box looks less then new. There is sticker residue from
where there was obviously a sticker on the box and other signs of use.

How can I tell how many times the shutter has been fired or how may pics the
camera has actually taken.

 

I wouldn't worry... its fairly common for companies with centralised
warehouses (and rely upon 3rd party shipping) to have less-than-stellar
handling of the boxes. Sometimes wholesalers will take back and
redistribute sealed packages of 'current' product if, say, a ma'n'pa
store goes under.

I'm unaware of any camera-bios metering that can be measured as to # of
shutter clicks, but again I doubt you have anything to worry about.

 

I don't know but in the mean time, you can take a picture and check the
file number. The four digital file number system should start from 1.

 

I thought about that, however, it picked up the numbering off the CF Card
last used in my 300D.

 

[ ... ]

Well ... I don't know about Cannon, but with my Nikon D70, if I
use "exiftool" (a unix based program) to look at the exif data in the
last image downloaded from the CF cards, I find the following line:

Shutter Count : 5495

and the shot just before it show up with the appropriate value of
"5494", so it seems to be counting shutter cycles.

There may or may not be a similar bit of data stored in the
Cannon's EXIF data -- but you may need some tool other than whatever
came with the camera to see it.

"exiftool" happens to be a perl program, and there is a (free)
perl interpreter for Windows boxen, so you have a chance of being able
to run it. "exiftool" is also free software, as is common in the unix
world. And it certainly shows me more information than the "Picture
Project" package shipped with the D70 does.

I would expect a certain number of shutter operations even in a
brand new camera, as it certainly was tested in the factory before it
was shipped. But if it gets into three digits, that is a different
problem.

Good Luck,
DoN.

 

It is unlikely that cameras are tested before shipping. I would expect only
some random testing during a production run.

 

I am confident that my 20D was brand new when I bought it. I looked at and
handled one (of the two on hand) in the store prior to my purchase. When I
finally made the purchase, I asked to be sold the OTHER one. They cheerfully
complied. The box was "properly" sealed, as were all the contents.

The VERY first frame was numbered IMG_0100. FWIW.


JR