R
ruben
Guest
Last days I have been experimenting and observing my OM2 to see if, and how much, I can reduce its mirror flapping noise.
Beware I am no expert at all and may be telling quite stupid things. But an old Chinese saying says "Ask what you do not know, and you will be seen stupid for five minutes. Don't ask, and you will be stupid for life". Therefore here I go.
1) On the assumption that the noise comes from the mirror banging up and down against its limits, I sticked on the upper side a Big piece of soft foam. And on the other side of the mirror I sticked another piece, this time a thin fabric.
And....surprise ! almost no change in the noise level. Minor improvement yes, but no radical one.
2) Winding, touching and firing my conclusion is that the noise is related to the mirror but it is not the mirror nor the mirror housing itself the source of the noise. My assumption is that the noise comes from the internal mechanisms moving the mirror, that produce the bangs. So no much to fiddle with the mirror itself.
3) Then, if the noise cannot be smashed in the egg, I went for containment. I wrapped the camera with a summer T-shirt, fired, and....surprise again: almost no perceptible noise ! ! !
4) This led me to a nice but Slr-users neglected device, called camera case. The case is held in our minds to protect the camera. But now we are talking about the possibility it may help in reducing noise. Surprise again, it helps.
5) And further newbie surprise, different cases from different materials reduce noise at different levels. The best reducing noise case is the old hard one. My own home made case covering more areas of the camera than the aired original hard case, is much less effective. Conclusion: different materials absorve noise at different levels.
6) The only problem with the original hard case is that it covers quite a small area of the camera. Has it been designed to cover more, and first and foremost the front almos nude plate, it could reduce much more noise.
Cheers,
Ruben
Beware I am no expert at all and may be telling quite stupid things. But an old Chinese saying says "Ask what you do not know, and you will be seen stupid for five minutes. Don't ask, and you will be stupid for life". Therefore here I go.
1) On the assumption that the noise comes from the mirror banging up and down against its limits, I sticked on the upper side a Big piece of soft foam. And on the other side of the mirror I sticked another piece, this time a thin fabric.
And....surprise ! almost no change in the noise level. Minor improvement yes, but no radical one.
2) Winding, touching and firing my conclusion is that the noise is related to the mirror but it is not the mirror nor the mirror housing itself the source of the noise. My assumption is that the noise comes from the internal mechanisms moving the mirror, that produce the bangs. So no much to fiddle with the mirror itself.
3) Then, if the noise cannot be smashed in the egg, I went for containment. I wrapped the camera with a summer T-shirt, fired, and....surprise again: almost no perceptible noise ! ! !
4) This led me to a nice but Slr-users neglected device, called camera case. The case is held in our minds to protect the camera. But now we are talking about the possibility it may help in reducing noise. Surprise again, it helps.
5) And further newbie surprise, different cases from different materials reduce noise at different levels. The best reducing noise case is the old hard one. My own home made case covering more areas of the camera than the aired original hard case, is much less effective. Conclusion: different materials absorve noise at different levels.
6) The only problem with the original hard case is that it covers quite a small area of the camera. Has it been designed to cover more, and first and foremost the front almos nude plate, it could reduce much more noise.
Cheers,
Ruben
