My star tracker just logged its 500th hour of use and I feel like I should throw it a party

I was cleaning up my astrophotography folder and the software log popped up with a total runtime of 500.3 hours. That's over 20 full days of that little motor whirring away. It's survived three camping trips to Joshua Tree, a near-drop off a tripod, and one very confused raccoon that tried to climb it. The crazy part is I only bought it to try a single picture of the Orion Nebula two years ago. Now I'm looking at this number wondering if I need to start an oil change schedule for a piece of camera gear. Has anyone else's equipment hit a weirdly high mileage mark that made you pause?

2 comments

2 Comments

sagea889d ago

My old DSLR shutter died at around 150,000 clicks. The mirror box sounded like a bag of gravel. Gear just wears out, it's not a car you need to maintain. You got your money's worth, now start saving for its replacement.

charlie_roberts879d ago

Totally get what @sagea88 is saying. Watched my old camera do the same thing, shutter just quit one day. It's like a pair of boots that finally wear through the sole. You can't really be mad, it just means you used it hard. Time to start looking at new models, even if it stings a bit.