Life of a Camera/Memory Card

laurielynn22

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I own a Nikon D300 and I am wondering if its reached its life! Can anyone tell me what is the average life of a digital camera? And is there a life time for memory cards?
I've noticed that my clarity is not as sharp and it seems like my camera is having a hard time focusing when I am in landscape mode. Help!!
 

Olcoot

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My wife and I just upgraded to D300s from D200's that have over 119,000 and 96,000 shutter actuations respectively and both are still going strong, sharp, crisp and AF is just as is was when new. We have been using the same 8 GB cards in them since they were new with never an issue as well. Have you ever manually cleaned the sensor and focusing screen or had it cleaned? They do get dirty if you change lens often especially outside.
 

KmH

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I own a Nikon D300 and I am wondering if its reached its life! Can anyone tell me what is the average life of a digital camera? And is there a life time for memory cards?
I've noticed that my clarity is not as sharp and it seems like my camera is having a hard time focusing when I am in landscape mode. Help!!
Huh? The D300 doesn't have a 'landscape mode'. Do you mean a D3000?

What lens(s) do you use, and what condition are they in? The lens also has an effect on clarity and the ability to auto focus.

From Nikon USA's web site:

Rugged and Durable
The strength and precision of magnesium-alloy construction with advanced dust and moisture countermeasures is teamed with a shutter mechanism tested to beyond 150,000 cycles for real-world reliability.

The shutter in a D300 has a life expectancy of about 150,000 actuations. When it does fail, just send the camera in and have them install a new shutter (about $300). Then you'll be good to go for another 150,000 shutter clicks or so.

The CF cards your D300 uses are rated for 1,000,000 write cycles. CompactFlash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The currently used NAND[17] flash has an endurance of 1,000,000 writes[17] per location (less reliable than magnetic media) before hard failure and is prone to frequent soft errors on read.[18] The CompactFlash card includes error checking and correction (ECC) and wear leveling circuitry that is transparent to the data user...
When was the last time your camera was professionally cleaned? I get mine cleaned every 2 years.

The AF module is in the bottom of the camera. The mirror is 505 transparent ansd there is a smaller mirrior behind the main mirror that reflects light down to the AF module.

The smaller secondary mirror may need to be cleaned, or the window to the AF module may need to be cleaned.
 

Garbz

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Cameras don't get less sharp with time. Their focusing sensors can attract dust just as their actual sensors do. Send it in for a service, may cost around $100.
 

thomas30

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It totally depends how you use it. If it is in single hand and you use it modestly then the life of lens and battery is around 5 years. And memory card can go one or two years more.
 

thatfornoobs

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Honestly, thanks for posting this thread. This is a topic I never really thought about.
 

RockstarPhotography

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It totally depends how you use it. If it is in single hand and you use it modestly then the life of lens and battery is around 5 years. And memory card can go one or two years more.

5 years for the life of a lens huh? I guess I better throw away all my old glass.
 

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