YouTube channel ContinueCrushingTech recently had that chance to 'crush' something of interest to us: a Canon EOS 7D Mark II. The camera was broken and awaiting a service appointment with Canon anyway, so the channel's host decided now was the good time to push the 7D to its literal breaking point.
Specifically, he shot the camera continuously for hours, until the shutter finally gave up its mechanical ghost and displayed the Canon screen of death: Err 20.
The experiment isn't exactly complex. Using a remote trigger and a clamp, ContinueCrushingTech set the 7D Mark II to continuous mode and shot at 10fps for as long as it took to kill the camera's shutter.
Under normal use, the 7DII's shutter should last about 200,000 actuations, according to Canon. That means, under continuous use at 10fps, the camera has to shoot for 5+ continuous hours before it hits that theoretical breaking point.
So how long did it take for CCT's camera to give up and die already?
Spoilers incoming
Unfortunately, the poor little camera didn't quite live up to its manufacturer's expectations. It passed away just shy of the 200K number, after 199,591shots:
But more interesting than the number itself is getting to see a shutter fail in real time with your own eyes—seeing how it starts behaving erratically after 190K actuations, freezing more and more frequently as it approaches that fated 200K failure.
Finally, at exactly 199,591 (according to FreeShutterCounter) Err 20 emerged and the 7DII would shoot no more.
You can watch the whole thing for yourself up top. And if you like this torture test, you can find more feature tests, reviews, and other gear-related videos on the ContinueCrushingTech YouTube channel.
. dpreview.com2017-7-7 20:10
