quiet/silent shutter, Leica vs Leaf ??

[meanstreetshooter]

My choice...

My choice...

for not attracting attention would be my Mamiya C330 (ca. 1972). Although my M's are quiet, the C330 is really quiet. I like to use it at solemn ceremonies. I used it at a Korean War Memorial Dedication (6-27-10) and bystanders did'nt even glance my way. The added plus is that the camera blended into my torso. The only real noise came from winding the film.

 

[mugent]

As someone has has had an M6 and a GF670 side by side, there is no comparison, the M6 is quiet, but the GF670 is near silent.

The M6 is probably one of the quieter focal plane shutters I've used though.

MT

 

[gekopaca]

The problem is :
Currently most of the actual digital RF are too loud for me :-(
X-100 seems to be quiet but it isn't a camera with interchangeable lens :-(

 

[dogbunny]

Is there anything quieter than a Hexar AF in silent mode? ---that's a real question.

 

[ferider]

Is there anything quieter than a Hexar AF in silent mode? ---that's a real question.

The Oly XA ? But I agree, for what it offers, the Hexar AF is as good as it gets.

 

[HLing]

my M2 is certainly quieter than any SLR I have heard. my canonet (which is gone now...) and mamiya 6 are certainly quieter than any M leica I've heard. 😉

I've had some limited time with a Canonet and found the murmur of the slower speed especially mesmorizing..such a beautiful sound and sensation! The faster speed is indeed quiet and barely felt. If I ever got to own a canonet, I'd be very sad to have it gone....

 

[PatrickT]

The Oly XA ? But I agree, for what it offers, the Hexar AF is as good as it gets.

Nope, the Hexar is quieter for sure. I haven't come across a film camera quieter than the Hexar...it's really amazing.

Now, when you start talking about digital point and shoot cameras with their electronic shutters...that's a different story 🙂

 

[jsrockit]

We Leica owners prefer to ignore this sort of question. 😀

Why? The X1 has a super quiet leaf shutter! 😱

 

[Roger Hicks]

The quietest leaf shutters I've encountered, mosty especially the Ilford Advocate but also most Press shutters, are vastly quieter than any Leica FP shutter and a lot quieter than most non-Press Compurs, Copàls, electronic leaf shutters, etc. I'd back Compounds as quieter than any electronic shutter I've encountered, but there are other shutters that are quieter still.

Cheers,

R.

 

[ChrisN]

Why? The X1 has a super quiet leaf shutter! 😱

The X1 is not a real Leica. 😛

 

[dmc]

I'm with Chris. Sorry.

 

[Kherberos]

The electronic leaf shutter of my Mamiya 6 is so quiet that when I first had the camera I was not so sure that I actually fired it properly.

The Canonet (I have a QL17) leaf shutter, as someone noted here, is also very quiet.

But I feel that quiet is not only related with "volume". Actually, I find that my 1947 Leica IIIc is a very silent camera. It makes noise, much more that a leaf shutter, but in such a way I feel is very discreet, not really noticeable, even inside a church.

 

[peterm1]

In my experience old leaf shutter cameras like the classic Voigtlander Prominent are much more quiet than Leica cloth shutters, which in turn are much more quiet than SLRs. But in the latter case at least part of the noise is the sound of the reflex mirror clattering up then down.

In the case of the mechanical leaf shutters its a kind of "soft" sound like a swoosh, rather than the clunk of cloth chutter. I have not really taken much notice of the modern leaf shutters so cannot comment. By the way the M shutter mechanism is quieter than the Leica LTM shutter mechanism by a fair margin as well. I was surprised at how loud those are when I first aquired a Leica 111a.

Incidentally, someone I think it might have been Ivor Matanle, a British writier on all things to do with classic cameras once described the sound of a Hasselblad as being something like (if my memory is correct) a "gentle upper class wheeze like that of an old gentleman." This thought always tickeld my fancy!

 

[peripatetic]

Is there anything quieter than a Hexar AF in silent mode? ---that's a real question.

I've never heard anything as quiet as the X100. But then I've never heard the Hexar either - or maybe I have and just didn't know it! 😱