Number of shutter clicks on Nikon D40?

I see cameras advertised as having 10K shutter clicks, etc. Are they just estimating or is there an internal counter that keeps track of the clicks? If so, how do I access that information?

If you set the image file numbering to continuous (IIRC) then each picture taken effectively counts the number of frames taken. Like DSC_1094.jpg would be the 1094th picture taken. If this wasn't set up right away (though it should be otherwise you get identical file numbers every time you format) then there's no way to access this info.

It also only does it to 9999 pictures (as I've found out). After 9999, it goes back to 0001 (took less than a year on my D5000).

However, I do believe that most Nikon shutters are rated to 100, 000 cycles, which should be more than enough for a digital camera (I replace mine in 5 year cycles). Having the camera professionally cleaned and adjusted will help it last longer.

It seems that on many cameras today that information is not available to the average photographer but a camera tech can find out if you want to pay for it.

I agree about setting the shot numbers on continuous. I've done that with my eos t1i and plan to keep it that way just so I can keep track because the information is not accessible otherwise.