ShutterCount Mobile 3.5 : File Mode

Version 3.5 of ShutterCount Mobile (including the Pro edition) brings File Mode to the iOS app.

File Mode is designed to be used with cameras that store the shutter counter in image files, that is almost all Nikon and Pentax models.

While on the Mac it is pretty easy to bring images into the app, it’s a bit tricky on iOS: you have to import them into Photos first. Basically you have two options to do it.

The first is to connect the camera (or a card reader) directly to your iPhone or iPad, and let iOS to import the image into Photos. On this year’s USB-C equipped iPads its straightforward, but on devices with a Lightning connector you’ll need Apple’s Lightning to USB Camera Adapter.

The second option is to import the image into Photos on your desktop computer and let it sync through your iCloud Photo Library to the phone.

Either RAW (NEF/PEF/DNG) or JPG format photos will do it, but I recommend small size JPGs, as the app only needs the metadata from the image, not the pixels.

Other options, such as sending the image through iMessage or via email might strip the metadata portion, in which case the app will tell you that shutter count information is missing from the file.

Once the image is in Photos, open ShutterCount and tap Connect. Tap Open Photo… and the app will let you select the image from your photo library.

If the image is present locally on your device, which is usually the case, especially if you just imported it, the reading will be done immediately.

But if for some reason the photo is in the cloud (because you imported it into the desktop Photos, or if iOS migrated it to the cloud due to low available space on your device), it needs to be downloaded.

For JPGs, Photos will handle the downloading. But for RAW files, Photos will only download the preview JPG, and strip all the metadata we need. In this case ShutterCount will download the complete file for you.

Once the download completed, the app will do the reading.

ShutterCount 3.5 is a free update for existing owners. New users can purchase it in the App Store. Also available is a Pro edition containing all optional extras, such as the Plus Pack with graphing and forecasting features.

File Mode on iOS requires iOS 12 or later and supports the exact same cameras it does on a Mac. For the complete list, please refer to our Tech Specs page.