Most quiet M-body?

akptc

akptc

Shoot first, think later
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I know the sound of an M7 but am wondering if any of the earlier M-bodies are any quieter?
 
All M's make more or less the same sound, Andy. I think it has more to do with the condition of the shutter than the model. My M2 had a dry, scraping sound until the shutter was serviced. Now it's that lovely Leica "schlup/whirr" sound.
 
I thought my M7 was quiet when I got it but I think the M2 I just had serviced by Youxin Ye is quieter. Different sound though because of the M7's electro mechanical shutter! :)
 
I was going to impishly say "any M with a broken shutter", but the most-quiet M I recall using was a borrowed M4-P. Granted, my Leica shooting experience allows for only a small sample size, but I was quite impressed with that M's gentle "footfall".


- Barrett
 
I think Mark is right. Between the M3, M2, MP which I have used (long enough to have an opinion), the quitest seemed to be the M3. But I am splitting hairs to say even that. I do not know about the M7, I am very curious about its shutter noise.
 
So, if serviced, it sounds like the mechanical M shutter of the M2/3/4 has the potential to be more quiet that those of the M6 or M7?
 
Hexar RF, quieter by a bunch!

Hexar RF, quieter by a bunch!

If you're only interested in Leica bodies, then this doesn't help you, but the Konica Hexar RF is astonishingly quiet. It takes M-mount lenses.

There's a similar camera, the Hexar AF, which has a 'stealth' mode and is for all practical purposes completely silent. However, that body uses a fixed 35/2 lens.

Also, you might consider medium-format rangefinders. Leaf shutters (in the lenses) are much quieter than focal-plane shutters, flash sync at all speeds, not to mention the other benefits of medium format.

Regards,

Mark
 
Mark, I have the Hexar RF and AF and love them both but the RF sounds like a thunder compared to the M7, at least to my ears. The AF in "silent" mode is truly very, very quiet. I have not had a chance to handle any MF cameras yet, unfortunately.
 
ferider said:
I only know M2, M3, and M6. From all the bodies I had my M3 is the quietest, but only marginally.
I am not sure if this is due to the body or the service, the M3 had the most recent service by Sherry.
Luigi case or not makes a much more noticable difference.

Roland.
Click to expand...
Good point with the case, I noticed the same with the RD1 and its Luigi case. So far it seems the M3 gets the "quite" vote...
 
Btw, the reason I ask is because I plan to photograph a church event and want to make as little noise as possible.
 
M7 by far is the most quiet. My other Ms are quiet as well, but the M7 is hands down the winner.
 
akptc said:
So, if serviced, it sounds like the mechanical M shutter of the M2/3/4 has the potential to be more quiet that those of the M6 or M7?
Click to expand...


I just had a M4 recently serviced. While it was quiet to begin with, I don't know if it is any quieter now. My M7 is still the most quiet of any M camera that I have owned.
 
Can anybody say how the m8 lines up? I've heard the shutter-firing sound is a sound clip, but that doesn't really tell me how it compares to the rest.
 
Quietest 35mm camera I have owned. Konica 35 AF. Freakin' unbelievable how quiet that thing was. People with the camera pointed right at them, and paying attention, would ask, "when are you going to take the picture?" a second after the shutter had tripped. Un-be-freakin'-leivable.

My quietest curent camera - Rolleiflex w/leaf shutter.

My quietest Leica (out of M2, M3, M3DS, M4-P, M6, M6TTL, M7) -----> M7. No gear train, just magnets doing their thing.

P.S. You can also get a "blimp" which will silence the noise of a Nikon F3 w/MD12 motordrive. Good for use on movie sets.

Any digicam with an electronic "shutter" will be quieter than its mechanical counterpart.
 
M3

M3

M3>m6>m4 M3 is most quiet. IIIb sounds like a truck in comparison and a retina IIIc is whisper quiet.

yours
Frank
All the best for the Holidays
 
From my experience, service did make a difference in sound. M4-P was more hollow and clacky until it came back from a CLA. Then similar to my M4.

I should note 'hollow and clacky' for an M is still pretty nice relative to my Spotmatic.
 
kbg32 said:
M7 by far is the most quiet. My other Ms are quiet as well, but the M7 is hands down the winner.
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I have a long term project involving classical music. I tried a number of Ms at camera shows and ended up with an M6TTL, partially on the basis of shutter noise. However I've replaced that camera with two M7s which IMHO are slightly quieter as well as having other advantages.

Having said all of that, there have to be sample differences. You can't generalize on the basis of a sample of one, but my personal experience (on a sample size of two) is that the M7 is a pretty quiet camera.
 
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