How silent is Canon P/ 7

T

tslesicki

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Hi!

This is my very first post here 🙂

I currently own Bessa L, Bessa R and a Leica M2. I need a camera that is quiet (something like the Leica) but is easy and fast to load and rewind (like the Bessas).

So, the question is: how silent is the sutter of Canon 7 or Canon P? Is there any difference between these two models?

Also, if the shutter and the film advance sound dry will the camera work properly?

I will use the camera in range of 1/125 - 1/500 speeds so I don't care about slower settings.

Best,

T.
 
I don't know the 7, but my Canon P isn't a camera I'd call "loud" - but I wouldn't call it "quiet" in comparison to my M3. It's decently loud, and has a "sharpish" sound. (I've just grabbed it from the cabinet and checked it against a few other cameras.) Subjectively, it's about the same as my Hexar RF (quieter shutter, I think, on the Hexar RF and not as "sharp" a sound, but the Hexar RF has motor noise that the P doesn't). The Canon P isn't as loud as my OM-4T or FM3a (my two quietest SLRs), but it is (again subjectively) of the same order.

Hope that helps a bit.

...Mike

P.S. If you need "fast loading" and "quiet" then the Konica Hexar (the AF one) is both, in a non-red trump suit that isn't clubs (as I'm not, it seems, allowed to name that suit on this site - I wonder how a forum for bridge players would go?).
 
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Wow, Mike, thanks for a very fast and detailed answer!

I see you have a lots of experience with various cameras. How does the Hexar AF lens perform? I already have a set of Voigtlander screwmount lenses including the 35mm f1.7 Ultron.

Also, are there any rangefinder cameras (except the Leicas) that would be an improvement for me over the Bessas?

T.
 
The Canon P and Canon 7 (and Canon VI-T) are about "in between" my M3 and Bessa R2 for noise. The stainless steel curtains are louder than cloth curtains. Use them with the bottom of the ever-ready case, and it helps dampen the sound. Shooting a concert, up close to the musicians- I would go with the M3. Anything else, no problem with the Canon.
 
The lens of the Hexar AF is about as good as it gets short of a Summicron ASPH - the price of the whole camera would be a good deal for the lens alone if it was in Leica mount. Plus it is way faster to load and almost totally silent. When I had mine sometimes even I couldn't hear the shutter release.
 
I find the P and 7 to have something of a "thunk" sound, as opposed to a Bessa's "click" and a Leica's clothy-sounding "thwap." The bessa may not be much louder than the others, but its higher pitch really can cut through noise. My wife once pointed out to me, when we were walking together and I was shooting on 5th Avenue in New York, that the Bessa shutter was very loud.

You feel the shutter close on the 7 and P, but the Leica's and Bessa's shutters are very well damped by the body, in terms of feel. The Leica is the best of all worlds, I think.

interestingly, even my earlier, cloth-shutter Canon IVSB has more in common with the P and 7 in feel and sound than it does with my M2.

All of these cameras sound and feel great, though, in my opinion. I prefer the sound and feel of the P to the 7, for whatever that's worth.
 
Well, the P I have is a nice crisp CLICK, not that loud, though. The Leica's, yes, have that thwap, a bit more noticeable than my Canon. The Bessa R has a very bad CLACK that sounds rather like my Canon AE-1, and it doesn't have all that mirror slapping to account for it. That said, I love all these cameras!
 
My experience is similar to Jim's. My Canon P (which was CLA'd a couple of years ago) is as quiet as my M2, and definitely quieter than any of the Bessas I own or have owned.

I had a Canon 7, and it was reasonably quiet too, although a little louder than the P.

The film advance on the P is smooth, but not quite as nice as the M2.

If you shoot LTM lenses, and mainly 50s, the P is a great camera; about 90% of an M3, but w/ easier loading.
 
My M bodies were at home and all I had with me was my beat up Bessa L as Bob Michaels and I attempted to eat lunch and talk cameras. A sexy lady at the adjoining table must have been turned on by my beat up Bessa because Bob's brand new Zeiss didn't seem to turn her on. She tried to tell me it was my sexy voice but I'm sure that it was the cruddy looking Bessa. A couple of nights later I was invited to her house "to meet my friends" as she put it. Maybe guys get turned on by nice shiny new cameras but it doesn't seem to do much for the ladies. It must be the noisy Bessa shutter...I have to remember to take it on our date on Thursday.
 
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My P is quite loud actually. The sound is like "KH-LAK". If I need more silence I'll take along the Oly RD or RC. With those you don't really hear the shutter (on the street) but you can feel it.
 
P was my first RF and after hearing stories of RFs' relative quiet, I was somewhat disappointed. IOW/ if you're wanting to take nature shots, get a Hexar AF. Alternately, cloth barnack-styled JP copies are quieter than the P.

And chicks love Barnacks. In fact, I'll bet they actually loved Barnack, himself. His experiences probably led to the design of heavier cameras to beat them off.
 
based on my limited samples (2 Ps and one M2), the shutter noise of the P seems to be a bit louder/more noticeable than the M2, mostly because it the noise is higher pitch than the M2. Still not too bad, and certainly much more quiet than any of the three Bessas that I have used owned (L, R2C, R4a)
 
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