For some reason I keep seeing very low shutter count HC lenses out there in the marketplace, often between 300-500 only. This seems a little suss to me so wondering what others' thoughts are about this? Who buys a lens like this and uses it so little?
How do you tell how many actuations a lens has done, and can it be faked, like on a tachometer?
The lens actuations can be read while mounted on any H body by going into the System Status menu on the camera grip and pressing the enter button until you get to the Usage Info screen which will tell you body count, digital mag count, and lens count (of the lens mounted).
I wouldn't be overly suspicious, but caution is wise. However, I wouldn't have a clue how to reset that counter myself. I don't know if even Hasselbald Service could do that unless the CPU was replaced or something like that.
I think low counts can be attributed to a number of factors ...
Shooters that use multiple lenses so the count is spread over more lenses relative to the body count;
Certain focal lengths that get used less. Like I use my 100 far more than my 210 ... the 100/2.2 was my first lens many years ago, has remained my favorite, and has a 6200 shutter count (I just had it CLAed and part of the AF mechanism replaced because it seemed to be getting slower) ... compared to the more recently purchased 210 with only 204 shots on it, and I purchased that lens used!
Different style of shooting with MFD where one doesn't hose of the shots like with 35mm DSLRs, especially more studied work like Landscapes.
Lastly but most likely, lenses use by week-end warriors coupled with periodic system swaps compared to professionals, who tend to stay pat with a system, upgrade the body, and shoot the same lens system more every week and do so for years.
But I'd still inspect and try any HC lens before committing.
Hope this helps,
-Marc