Is the FM3 shutter as tinny-sounding as an FE?

[literiter]

This got me running around clicking shutters.
My FE definitely has a tinny springy clank. F2 sounds tighter and F3 tighter yet, then my F4 which is nice and smooth and quiet.
If ya really want quiet try a nice Retina iia or better yet a old Rolleiflex Automat.

 

[Keith]

Geez Frank you'v got us all going now ... I've just been comparing the sound of my FM3A to my D700.

The FM is louder and far sharper ... quite a metalic sound compared to the more muffled tone of the digital!

 

[rbsinto]

Fine enough, but one of the reasons I moved to RFs was the noisy escapement of mirror box + shutter (and, for me, anyway, the whole menu-submenu thing, which is why dSLRs got scratched from my list rather quickly).

The noisy-shutter thing was/is a hangdog for mechanical-shuttered CV bodies as well, since they utilize two shutters for the sake of reducing light leaks (the non-electronic Copals used weren't designed with no-mirror RFs in mind). The RFs utilizing AE (Contax G series, Hasselblad/Fuji XPan, Bessa A-series, and my beloved Hexar RFs) use the single-shutter Copal, which is generally more quiet; the Nikon FM3a probably uses the same shutter as these, but you still have all the mirror-box hardware along for the ride. If the camera back is of relatively thin construction, it's probably not dampening the noise the way the back on an F-series camera might.


- Barrett

Again, so what?????
I shoot on the streets with both old, manual focus SLR's and rangefinders, depending on my mood, and have been equally as stealthy with the former as the latter.
Yes, I'll concede that in certain instances, I turn off the motor and shoot & advance by hand to lower the noise coming from the cameras, but I've never, ever taken a motorized shot of a crowd for example, and caused a stampede of humans because of the mirror slap.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I don't find it a big issue, unless you're shooting very close to someone and you need not to be detected because you'll need to shoot again without being allowed to be a photographer there... That has never been my case... Never in my life.

I've used my Hassy inside a church (during the mass) and inside a chamber music recital, with no problems... Sometimes I've even seen people react nicely to the big and loud camera in those situations... They respect serious shooting, I guess... Of course, one thing is shooting once and waiting for a while attending then the event with the camera down, and a different one pretending your camera must be up and shooting all the time...

Last week I was surprised with my Bessa R4M... There was a German girl sitting near some candles inside a church during sunday's mass, and she was sending a message with her cell phone... I shot at 1-2 meters and she didn't notice me, and it was in complete silence...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[former member]

My Nephew let me know that the Shutter sound of my F2 used during a piano recital was distracting. He was okay with it, but i asked him if he could hear it. Next time I will take the Leica M3 or Nikon SP, which on previous occasions did not bother anyone.

On the FM/FE series: I use an FE2 with the older Honeycomb Titanium Foil shutter blades in a CF-20 case. It seems quiter to me ears compared with the typical copal shutter. The fitted case dampens the shutter sound. The same is true of any camera, a fitted case tends to muffle things.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I guess it all depends a lot on the moment and the work... I would feel comfortable using my Hassy during a dance movement of a Bach's Brandenburg concert, but would never do it during a Chopin's nocturne... Not even with my FE2... RFs only!

Cheers,

Juan

 

[semilog]

I never liked my FA at all. The finder was cramped compared to the F[E/M]2, the matrix metering did not do better than my eye plus the FE2, the metering display was worse than the FE2, and the flash metering was not in practice superior to the FE2. All this and it was bulkier than the FE2. And it was not noticably quieter than the FE2.

 

[Juan Valdenebro]

I never liked my FA at all. The finder was cramped compared to the F[E/M]2, the matrix metering did not do better than my eye plus the FE2, the metering display was worse than the FE2, and the flash metering was not in practice superior to the FE2. All this and it was bulkier than the FE2. And it was not noticably quieter than the FE2.

I'm glad I didn't buy one some time ago...

Cheers,

Juan

 

[rbsinto]

I never liked my FA at all. The finder was cramped compared to the F[E/M]2, the matrix metering did not do better than my eye plus the FE2, the metering display was worse than the FE2, and the flash metering was not in practice superior to the FE2. All this and it was bulkier than the FE2. And it was not noticably quieter than the FE2.

Interesting.
My first two cameras were an FE and an FE-2, and the FE-2 was swapped for an FA about ten years ago, and I couldn't be happier.
Excellent metering system, and all the features I want /need in a manual focus film body.
In my opinion, had the FA been built to the Industrial-strength standards used for the Pro-series cameras, it could easily been the Nikon pro camera of its time rather than the incredibly disappointing F3.

 

[semilog]

This just serves as a reminder that the feel of a camera is an incredibly personal thing.

 

[kshapero]

I heard that a case like a Luigi case makes the shutter noise softer. true?

 

[Keith]

I heard that a case like a Luigi case makes the shutter noise softer. true?

Makes your bank balance a little softer for sure! 😛

Seriously ... not much IMO Akiva.

 

[rover]

I heard that a case like a Luigi case makes the shutter noise softer. true?

Sure it does, even dampens the sound of a Leica shutter.

But no shutter is ever silent.

 

[jsrockit]

What does it matter whether the shutter sounds like flapping butterfly wings or rhino farts in a steel culvert pipe?
For me It's only the images that count in the final analysis. There couldn't possibly be a louder camera than either my motorized F or motorized F2, and I do just fine with either of them.

If you truly feel this way, then that's great. However, for many of us, we like our tools to feel good in our hands and feel good in use. Perhaps we are sensitive, but I'd rather have a comfortable camera.

 

[wotalegend]

The title of this thread is a bit like "When did you stop beating your wife?"

 

[rbsinto]

If you truly feel this way, then that's great. However, for many of us, we like our tools to feel good in our hands and feel good in use. Perhaps we are sensitive, but I'd rather have a comfortable camera.

I didn't say my cameras weren't comfortable (considering that they were all made between 1957 and 1985, before ergonomics were considered important by camera designers).
What I did say was it was immaterial to me whether the shutter noise was in the Key of C or E flat.
Besides, what can you do about it anyway? Drop a Leica shutter in your Nikon, or whatever? Not likely.
There is no perfect camera (despite what the Leicavolk would have us believe) so the best anyone can do is pick the one with the most features they need or like, and just learn to live with those things they don't.

 

[Steve M.]

There's only 3 ways to get away from the mirror noise on a Nikon in my experience. Buy an N80 - quietest shutter you can find on an SLR. Buy a N6006 - the motor drive noise will cover up any shutter/mirror sounds (which is fine w/ me as I love the way these things sound). Or buy an F4s - the mirror is more of a satisfying "Ka Thunk ". And trust me, with that beast in your hands you won't feel any vibrations unless there's an earthquake nearby.

 

[besk]

There's only 3 ways to get away from the mirror noise on a Nikon in my experience. Buy an N80 - quietest shutter you can find on an SLR. Buy a N6006 - the motor drive noise will cover up any shutter/mirror sounds (which is fine w/ me as I love the way these things sound). Or buy an F4s - the mirror is more of a satisfying "Ka Thunk ". And trust me, with that beast in your hands you won't feel any vibrations unless there's an earthquake nearby.

I just purchased a N70 and am very surprised and pleased with the shutter sound compared to a Leica IIIf and my MF Nikons. The camera even has slow rewind to reduce noise on rewinding.

 

[Philip Whiteman]

The R-series Leicas go off with a nice, muffled kind of thwock! sound. These day, R3s and R4s are pretty cheap second-hand – they can be had for not much more than the price of an FE (always assuming you can afford the price of an R lens, of course).