Shutter noise?

Well, let's just say even in street shooting , there are times when people will hear the sound of an SLR, where they wouldn't notice a rangefinder. Also, the low noise of a rangefinder is an advantage if you people-shoot indoors.

One other factor is the appearance of a rangefinder. Most people aren't familiar with them, and their small size and appearance make people think you're not a "serious" shooter--just some geek with a point and shoot. A big SLR with a big lens screams "professional" to a lot of people, and can elicit strong reactions-and not always positive ones...
 
Hmm. My quietest camera is an Olympus 35DC - it seems much quieter than the IIIc. The Bronica SQ-A is comically loud, with the Nikon FG somewhere in the middle.

The IIIc hasn't been disruptive yet but the FG has. It lets me get one shot but after that, people are more likely to keep eye contact, etc.
 
You'd be surprised at how easy it is to spook wlidlife that appears to be used to the presence of humans. I've seen people walk up to within a few feet of pelicans, herons, and egrets with little or no response from the birds. Even pointing a large camera at them didn't seem to faze them - until the click of the shutter.
 
I don't care all that much about loudness. I do care about the "quality" of the sound a camera makes. I care about it because it tells me that the designers took everything into account. For example, BMW has people to "tune" the exhaust note of their cars. Does it make the car faster? No, but it does contribute to the overall experience/quality of driving a BMW.

I just got a Fuji GW690III. I'd read about how bad the shutter sound is, before buying one. Then I got mine and tried it out. Yeah, bad. Really bad. Sounds like a Jew's Harp, or a piece of plastic breaking: sprooiing!. Love everything about the camera but the shutter sound. I think this used to be a $1500 camera. At that price, couldn't they spend a little engineering time to make it sound decent when fired?

Pictures: +1
Enjoyment of camera: -1.

I'll keep it anyway :)
 
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Having used a 5D, 5Dii, Bessa R2A and M6 (in that order, with some others throw in but 6-24 months of regular use with the aforementioned) I think the shutter issue is overrated. Yes, the M6 is pretty quiet. But at any time I'm concerned about a shutter noise (e.g., a wedding or a play or something where everyone is quiet) the Leica is still too loud and I figure the difference between the M6 and the R2A is not even going to matter.

Me: *click* (advance film later, slowly while under arm to dampen the sounds)
Audience: Shhhhhh!
Me: But it was a Leica!
Audience: SHHHHHHHHHHH!
 
ped said:
Can someone tell me why a louder shutter (and, lets face it, none of them are THAT loud) is a bad thing?
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Here are three of my shooting situations where a loud shutter is a bad thing for me:
1. Theatre
2. Clandestine candids
3. Sound recording/broadcasting studio
 
ped said:
OK now the vibration issue is something I didn't think about :)
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It´s even been made into a parlor trick, when it comes to the Hasselblad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkKcbyh2CrA
Not that Hasselblads have particularly silent shutters - just that the central shutter in lenses distribute the vibrations from the shutter mechanism so evenly that they are virtually eliminated. :)
 
One of the reasons humans are the dominant specie on the planet is because we are very adept at identifying a threat. People are vain too, and want to look good in a picture. The sound of a camera pointed at someone engages people's threat instincts. The louder and more obviously mechanical the sound the more this is true.

I want to be able to take photos without irritating people and making them uncomfortable, if possible. A nikkormat sounds threatening, even to me when I'm using it. A canon 7 sounds quite polite, it is audible but not threatening somehow. I have the feeling I'm 'being sneaky' with a leaf shutter which I don't like. F100 sounds very correct and businesslike, not quiet, but not sneaky or threatening.

2c.
 
ped said:
I can't believe it actually puts people off a camera. Can someone tell me why a louder shutter (and, lets face it, none of them are THAT loud) is a bad thing? Presumably people know you are taking a picture if you point a camera at them, and even if they hear the shutter - by that time you have taken the picture? I actually like being able to hear it's satisfying click.
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Hmmm ..... satisfying click doesn't quite describe a Hasselblad or a P67!

:D
 
People probably worry more than they need to, but equally, there are times when a quieter camera really does attract less attention -- and the point about the differing obtrusiveness of different sounds is, I am sure, very important. So the answer (as ever) is 'it depends', and it is equally foolish to say either "It never matters" or "It's always enormously important."

But then, where would the internet be without pointless extremism?

Cheers,

R.
 
swoop said:
Nikon's and the original M8 have the loudest shutters ever.
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If you honestly think the M8 shutter is loud then you should compare it to the R8 from which it was taken - the R8 shutter sounds like a shotgun going off in comparison to the M8 when used in quiet surroundings.

Personally I feel that automatic wind-on (or auto cocking of shutter on a digital camera) is far more of a distraction in such circumstances, if I'm using a Contax G1/2 I have to had a fake gruff cough after pressing the shutter release. :)
 
Luckily on the R-D1 I can wind it on whenever I like in secret!

Thanks for the replies, I am beginning to understand where you are coming from.

ped
 
It does make a difference..
  • The piercing crack of a Zenit 12- people hit the deck, wonder where the sniper is.
  • The muffled tick of a Contax T- got it, the safe's open, go go go!
Neither sound like what you'd think of as a "camera noise"- compared to my Nikon SLRs (for example). The extreme cases above affect not only how people react to the camera, but how I use it. I don't think the noise makes me like or dislike a camera, though, it's just an interesting fact to file away.

It sounds geeky, but the sound of the shutter is one of the things that I'm always curious about when unpacking a new camera.
 
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My brother married. There was a professional photographer. He had a Canon I don’t know what, a big Canon. Oh my, how I wished, he shot with Leica (or anything, being more quietly).
 
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