Did you buy a Leica only to find that the shutter was not as quiet as the hype?

I've learned to not care about shutter sounds anymore... I actually like the feel of a Nikon F ... feeling the whole camera shake in your hands... awesome.
 
To me, noise is the wrong word to use about a camera. Every camera makes a unique sound. When compared to the Pentax 6x7, Leicas are very quiet. Compared to my Twin Lens Rollei, not so much. Everything is relative.

Recently, I had my portrait taken by my Nikon D3 and my Nikkor 300 2.0 IF-ED AIS. I was surprised that I could barely hear it. While I was at some distance, I was still surprised, as by all accounts the Nikon D3 pounding at 9FPS is not quiet by any means.

Where you are when you take a picture, the ambient level of the surrounding area and your hearing also influence how loud you think your camera is. Being a drummer, I suffer from some hearing loss in one of my ears.

One thing people have to realize is that the camera sounds louder to the user because it is pressed against your face. The other thing (personally) is that the effect of my big mitts around the M3 dampens the sound even further.

The Leica M7 and the motor drive make the quietest motor-driven combo I have ever used.

I'm not sure about the shutter not being as quiet as the hype but the sounds my Leicas make are sweet to me.
 
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quiet cameras

quiet cameras

I see this thread is still going and I have to add some more 2 cents.

I was in a meeting today and there was a guy taking pics with some new Canon DSLR and it was distractingly loud for my meeting. I cannot see how anyone can say that DSLRs are quieter than a Leica. Garbage. My M6 is about 6 times quieter than what I heard today.

The softest little "click" is better than a muffled clunk.
 
It all depends on what lens you have mounted on the camera. Some lens have more/less damping material within...brass/glass...than others; and how the parts are arranged.

My M2 [two] and M6 sound different with/without lens mounted and with different lenses mounted...also with/without case.

And, it also depends on what age group you are in...aging causes hearing loses in higher frequencies first.
 
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having a quiet shutter can have a psychological effect - it may make you feel more comfortable shooting on the street, for example.
 
jsrockit said:
I've learned to not care about shutter sounds anymore... I actually like the feel of a Nikon F ... feeling the whole camera shake in your hands... awesome.
Click to expand...

Different strokes for different folks. I loved everything about my FM2N, except for the heavy clunk from the shutter when fired. Sounded like a hammer being dropped.
 
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A Leica it ain't, but my quietest camera is a tiny little shirt-pocketable Olympus XA, which is nearly inaudible even to me when I shoot, and once hyperfocal distance is set, can even easily be used one-handed at waist level, including advancing the film after a shot. Sometimes I'm not even positive myself that it triggered. That's what I carry when I really want to be "unobtrusive". Takes sharp negatives, too.
 
picker77 said:
A Leica it ain't, but my quietest camera is a tiny little shirt-pocketable Olympus XA, which is nearly inaudible even to me when I shoot, and once hyperfocal distance is set, can even easily be used one-handed at waist level, including advancing the film after a shot. Sometimes I'm not even positive myself that it triggered. That's what I carry when I really want to be "unobtrusive". Takes sharp negatives, too.
Click to expand...

I'll second that and if we were/are talking about "noticeable" instead of "noisy", then the XA and XA2 or XA3 win hands down.

Regards, David
 
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