[Gooshin]

i know electronics can(could) last a long time, but everything in life degrades in one way or another.

do digital sensors degrade in their light capturing ability? can(do) they burn out?

just curious.

[stevebrot]

The sensors undoubtedly have an expected service life. How that is defined (calendar vs. duty cycles) is hard to guess, but you can be sure that the sensor will fail somewhere near the projected horizon.

Your question brings up the larger issue of how many years of satisfied usage we can expect from our expensive toys. From past experience with computers, cell phones, televisions, and i-pods it is apparent that all consumer electronics are designed to fail in 3-5 years without an option of reasonable repair. I suspect that this reasoning extends even to the non-modular professional-level cameras.

Steve

[bigben91682]

I think the accepted "odometer" for dSLRs is the shutter actuations, most cameras are rated for a certain number of clicks, 100k, 200k etc depending on the level of camera you get.

I'll bet a pixel failure rate for sensors will increase with service, however I would also be the shutter will die long before that happens.

[arpaagent]

I just hope that Pentax keeps the tradition alive of maintaining the K mount for many years to come. Not sure what I'd do with all my lenses if they stopped making compatible cameras. Nothing to worry about for now I suppose. And plus, all those K mount mechanical film bodies will work for many more years no doubt. I'll have to keep one or two just in case!

[reeftool]

I wonder about the life expectancy of our digital cameras. I would hope they last a long time but the trend in all electronics is to make things to be replaced every 5 years or so. I doubt my K10D will last as long as my SP1000 which still works but if it does I will post pictures of my 90th birthday party on the forum in october 2040.