Pentax and Ricoh shutter count checker

Pentax K-series, 645 and Q bodies, and Ricoh GR cameras store an encrypted shutter count in every PEF and JPEG. The reader decodes it in your browser.

What the Pentax number counts

• Every shutter actuation, including frames that were not saved.
• Not live view and not video recording.
• It may be reset when the camera is serviced.

The count is encrypted with the date and time stored in Pentax’s maker notes, so a file whose maker-note date or time was changed by editing software can decode to a wrong number. Use an unedited original.

Verified Pentax, Ricoh and Samsung GX models (44)

Show the list (model names as the camera writes them)

PENTAX *ist DL, PENTAX *ist DL2, PENTAX *ist DS2, PENTAX 645D, PENTAX 645Z, PENTAX K-01, PENTAX K-1, PENTAX K-1 Mark II, PENTAX K-3, PENTAX K-3 II, PENTAX K-3 Mark III, PENTAX K-5, PENTAX K-5 II, PENTAX K-5 II s, PENTAX K-7, PENTAX K-30, PENTAX K-50, PENTAX K-70, PENTAX K-500, PENTAX K-m, PENTAX K-r, PENTAX K-S1, PENTAX K-S2, PENTAX K-x, PENTAX K10D, PENTAX K20D, PENTAX K100D, PENTAX K100D Super, PENTAX K110D, PENTAX K200D, PENTAX K2000, PENTAX KF, PENTAX KP, PENTAX Q, PENTAX Q-S1, PENTAX Q7, PENTAX Q10, RICOH GR III, RICOH GR IIIx, RICOH GR IV, Samsung GX-1L, Samsung GX-1S, SAMSUNG GX10, SAMSUNG GX20

Samsung GX-1L, GX-1S, GX10 and GX20 were made by Pentax and store the same count.

Where Pentax stores the count

Pentax writes a 4-byte count into its maker notes as tag 0x005d, encrypted with the date and time also stored there. ExifTool decrypts it. The tag has been used by Pentax DSLRs since the *ist DS with firmware 2.0; the original *ist D and *ist DS before that update do not have it.

ExifTool’s notes also record that a new camera does not always start at 0: first shots of new K10D bodies read between 81 and 246, which points to test frames at the factory, while one new K-5 started at 1. A low three-digit count on a “new” body is not a red flag by itself.

Real readings from our test files

These public-domain PEFs were read by the tool on this page and by desktop ExifTool 13.59. Both gave the same numbers.

Check it on a computer instead

With ExifTool installed: exiftool -ShutterCount IMGP0001.PEF.

How we verified Pentax and Ricoh

46 sample files from 44 Pentax, Ricoh GR and Samsung GX models (JPEG and PEF) were read in the browser engine and with native ExifTool 13.59; every number matched. Pentax and Ricoh compacts (Optio, WG and others) are left out, and DNG is not verified yet.

Other brands

• Camera shutter count checker
• Nikon shutter count checker
• Sony shutter count checker
• Fujifilm shutter count (image counter)
• Canon shutter count: which models show it in a photo

Related tools

• View image metadata online lists GPS, camera, XMP and C2PA data in a photo.
• Remove metadata from product images cleans listing photos before you post them.
• Remove EXIF and GPS from a JPEG, PNG or WebP.

The reader runs ExifTool 13.59 by Phil Harvey (same terms as Perl: Artistic License or GPL) on zeroperl 1.0.10 (Apache-2.0), a WebAssembly build of Perl. Notices.