Film SLR with the smoothest shutter/mirror return

I Have two of the cameras already mentioned (Nikon F80 and Leicaflex SL) to hand and I've just tried them out on a side by side test. The Nikon F80 is much smoother and quieter than the Leicaflex. Having said that, the sound of the Leicaflex shutter is like no other and is a joy to listen to. Set the shutter speed to an eighth of a second and press. Pure magic!
 
I've used nearly all of the ones listed above...as far as 'smoothest' goes, I don't think anything matches the Aria.
 
If you have one of the old prakticas from when they used a flap of fabric for a mirror "bumper" you can hold it in the palm of your hand and release the shutter with a cable release and you will not feel the mirror slap. You can however feel the shutter bang closed, and they're about as loud as a rat trap.

One of my Miranda D cameras is hardly a hair louder than an RF, but you can definitely feel it working when you hold it.
 
I always thought the Leica/Minolta R4, R5 had a nice, well-damped ker-thop and a butter-smooth advance. A cheeky answer would be a Leica M3 or a Rolleiflex as these have .ahem. no mirror slap at all. On the other end of the spectrum, I always felt like the RB 67 or the Pentax 67 had the slappiest mirrors I ever heard. ka_POW.
 
I think this really depends on whether you are considering a manual or electronic shutter. Out of my Nikon, Pentax and Minolta manual cameras, nothing beats an F or an F2, but I find any of my cameras with an electronic shutter to be smoother. The heaviest and loudest shutter is my Minolta SR7 but I still have a soft spot for the camera.
 
From my experience Pentax MX and MZ-S. The shutter sound of the former is very low-pitched and quiet, more Leica-like than SLR. The latter has a more high-pitched shutter sound, but which is very well dampened.
 
Fawley said:
nothing beats an F or an F2
Click to expand...

Really? I've had my F2 since '79 and it is a clackity racket and even some lingering ringing (like a muted tuning fork) after firing. Will probably work forever, but I wouldn't call the shutter/mirror return smooth. :)
 
digitalintrigue said:
Really? I've had my F2 since '79 and it is a clackity racket and even some lingering ringing (like a muted tuning fork) after firing. Will probably work forever, but I wouldn't call the shutter/mirror return smooth. :)
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. The F2 is nowhere near as smooth as the F80. (I've just tried both of them).
 
yeah, but the old Prakticas had no automatic mirror return. So you get the 'clunk' but not the ka-thwap of the mirror returning. Them's the technical terms . . .
 
Nothing really beats the whispery snick of my M3.

But for SLRs I'd have to say my F6 is the best, maybe the F100. For some reason both of my Nikon F bodies are pretty loud and clunky. It's probably time to send them in.
 
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