Wear and tear video vs still

[bricat]

I was looking at secondhand cameras and noticed some were used for video and as a result had very low shutter count. I guess the main wear and tear item will be the shutter mechanism but is there other “hidden” parts that suffer the same amount of use. Perhaps something that might need to be factored in when buying secondhand?
search yielded no results

[ameerat42]

I would not think that video mode in a DSLR would use the shutter as for stills.
It'd have to be an electronic shutter.

[farmmax]

It shouldn't wear out the mechanical shutter, because that should only operate at the beginning and end of the video clip in most DSLR's.

There are many people asking the same question. So here is a link which may help you (http://https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/13198/does-every-frame-of-video-or-live-view-on-a-dslr-count-as-a-shutter-actuation). There are more links to similar articles on the right hand side menu of that page.

[mikew09]

Being most DSLR bodies life expectancy stats are based on the shutter (i.e Canon rank life expectancy on shutter flags. Tested to 200,000 shutter cycles) - I would agree that a purchase of a body used more for video may be a better option as long as the body is in obvious good condition. There is some other considerations I suppose, less shutter button presses etc but I rarely hear of failures in that area. The Canon 50D did have some shutter button sticky issues that was easily resolved.
At the end of the day - I suppose at the end of the day, the less shutter the better regardless of usage.

[arthurking83]

Something to be mindful of is pixel degradation.
That is, hot pixels.
Hot pixels develop over time. Just like on a monitor, the sensor is just an array of electronic junctions that can fail.
If a junction fails then the pixel doesn't work.

Using video mode will surely place a higher durability load on the electrical components that control the pixels, so they may fail .. which inevitably results in more dead pixels.

My D300 has much more dead pixels now than it had when I first got it.

[mikew09]

Something to be mindful of is pixel degradation.
That is, hot pixels.
Hot pixels develop over time. Just like on a monitor, the sensor is just an array of electronic junctions that can fail.
If a junction fails then the pixel doesn't work.

Using video mode will surely place a higher durability load on the electrical components that control the pixels, so they may fail .. which inevitably results in more dead pixels.

My D300 has much more dead pixels now than it had when I first got it.

Thats a good point Arthur

[Mark L]

Yes, I think AK is onto something.
I haven't read farmmax link yet but I'd think your issue is what's happened to the sensor not the shutter (not that I'd really know)

[bricat]

Been off-site with sleeping problems. Body clock needs adjusting
Farmax that link does not work for me? AK this type of w ea r. And tear was what I was most interested to find out. There must be other parts of the camera operation during video shooting that takes a hammering. Automatic focus perhaps on the motor? Perhaps changing lenses more frequently?
Just one more thing to consider should a second hand purchase arise. Thanks

[John King]

Some cameras have the ability to perform hot pixel mapping in-camera. That is, they don't have to be sent in to a service centre.