Those quiet M shutters

[Sjixxxy]

Was waiting for some film to dry today, seen my mic leaning up against my wall, and thought about the quietness of the Leica shutter. So, I set it up and recorded a few dry fires with all my cameras that have focal plane shutters and mixed them into an MP3.

http://www.kpraslowicz.com/technique/focal-plane-shoutoff/

So there we go, some reference audio to give to anyone who asks "How quiet is it really?" so they can get a rough idea.

 

[Mudman]

That Speed graphic at 1/15th of a second sounds like a rip saw. I've been shooting with my leica for a week now, and the difference in the sound of the shutter is amazing when compared to my Pentax Spotmatic F. The difference isn't as large with my Pentax K10d, but the leica is the leader of the pack. It'll be interesting to compare it to the Fed2 that I should be getting soon.

 

[former member]

I've got some quiet SLR's, the mirror is well-damped. I've replaced the foam mirror cushion on a couple of Nikon F's with cork/rubber gasket material, and it quiets them down a bit more.

The Titanium Shutters of the Nikon F, F2, and F3 are louder than the cloth curtains of the Leica M's. The titanium Shutter of a Nikon SP is louder than the Cloth curtain of the older Nikon SP.

 

[dave lackey]

I've got some quiet SLR's, the mirror is well-damped. I've replaced the foam mirror cushion on a couple of Nikon F's with cork/rubber gasket material, and it quiets them down a bit more.

The Titanium Shutters of the Nikon F, F2, and F3 are louder than the cloth curtains of the Leica M's. The titanium Shutter of a Nikon SP is louder than the Cloth curtain of the older Nikon SP.

This is a good thread, and I appreciate the OP's work!

Just wondering how my S3 2000 compares with the Leica? Probably very close but also probably a bit louder but nothing like my F3.🙄

Thanks again for this!

 

[colyn]

For example, lock up the mirror on the old Nikon F or Olympus OM1 and fire the shutter.

But how many SLR's have mirror lockup??

My SRT-101 with the mirror locked up is still louder than my Leica M's..

 

[Sjixxxy]

It's not really fair to compare reflex vs rangefinder cameras when you talking about "shutter loudness". Reflex cameras is ALWAYS louder because of the mirror has to going up and down and giving the extra sound. That has nothing to do with the shutter loudness.

I thought about this, and did fire a few with the mirrors locked up on both camera. The change in the way my two reflex camera sounded was minimal if any in this mode.

Plus, I'm looking at real world, hand held people shooting use here. It could be done, but shooting an SLR handheld in a chnaging environment without the viewfinder might be kind of difficult.

 

[Mike Ip]

I thought about this, and did fire a few with the mirrors locked up on both camera. The change in the way my two reflex camera sounded was minimal if any in this mode.

Plus, I'm looking at real world, hand held people shooting use here. It could be done, but shooting an SLR handheld in a chnaging environment without the viewfinder might be kind of difficult.

I've considered this, perhaps using an external viewfinder 😀. However, wouldn't you lose autofocus with complete mirror lock up?

 

[RichardB]

I routinely would use my Nikon F's on a tripod with the mirror locked up and they are still noisy. The quietest 35mm I have used or have is the M3, then the M6 and for long duration the M7.-Dick

 

[Turtle]

My two MPs sound different too! One is an MP and the other an MP3 and whilst the volume seems similar, the overall sound is clearly different. The quietest camera I have ever used was a Rolleicord Va.

 

[laptoprob]

M-sound and probably all shutter sounds depend largely on the level of maintanance, lubrication etcetera. Afaik all M-shutters were built similarly to the M2 and M3 etcetera. Maybe there is a development in dampening in later models, I don't know. My M2 sounds just a little different from my M4-2.
Metal shutters are louder, focal plane shutters can be a lot quiter. You can only talk about generalities here because of difference from camera to camera in use, maintanance, lubrication etcetera. So YMMV!

 

[peter_n]

My two MPs sound different too! One is an MP and the other an MP3 and whilst the volume seems similar, the overall sound is clearly different.

I have the same two with exactly the same experience also. I wouldn't say the sound is more/less metallic but the frequency is definitely different for sure.

 

[pvdhaar]

Not only does the sound that an M makes depend on the level of maintenance, it also very much depends on what lens you've mounted and the shutter speed.

Without a lens mounted, you can't even call it quiet. There's a distinct two part 'click-clop' sound when you're shooting at or slower than 1/60

With a light weight collapsible FED50/3.5, there's some shielding of the shutter sound, but it still gets transmitted well. With a 50 Hexanon, the solidness and weight of the latter dampens the M shutter sound to a great extent, taking the 'click' away and merely leaving a muted 'clop'..