What camera do you think has the sweetest shutter sound

[Roger Hicks]

Ilford Advocate.

Cheers,

R.

 

[mich rassena]

I'm not surprised no one has mentioned the Argus C3. It makes such a loud and enthusiastic ping you swear it won't work the second time. I remember my surprise the first time I tried bulb mode with the lens off. That shutter is a guillotine.

But seriously, my choice would have to be the Olympus XA series. The shutter is so quiet, and the button requires almost no force to trigger it. I can only speculate, but it must be a little easier to handhold slow speeds with the XA vs. a camera with a more energetic shutter.

 

[Roger Hicks]

For entertainment value, the Agfa Selecta-M (1961) is hard to beat. As I said in A History of the 35mm Still Camera (Focal Press, 1984), it "is remarkable both for the length of time it takes to wind on (about one second) and the noise which accompanies it, which is strongly reminiscent of the sound of an old-fashioned water-closet flushing."

There's also an old thread about the Selecta-M on RFF: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139784

Cheers,

R.

 

[zuiko85]

What? No love for an Exa-1 with it's drum/mirror shutter? A very 'soft' sound at 1/25

My original Olympus Pen, with a 2 blade Copal leaf shutter is really the most quiet camera I have, just a soft 'tick' sound.

 

[radi(c)al_cam]

For entertainment value, the Agfa Selecta-M (1961) is hard to beat. As I said in A History of the 35mm Still Camera (Focal Press, 1984), it "is remarkable both for the length of time it takes to wind on (about one second) and the noise which accompanies it, which is strongly reminiscent of the sound of an old-fashioned water-closet flushing."

There's also an old thread about the Selecta-M on RFF: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139784.

Isn't the Agfa Selecta-M's aunt, the Iloca Electric = Graphic 35 Electric, even louder?

 

[nikonhswebmaster]

— Seriously: Care to explain what you mean?

Vapid, shallow, and burdened with a large posterior.

Also a measurement of time, e.g. the party was 50 Kardashians long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny7tgulzNsc

 

[sbug]

Leaf shutters are nice and subtle but the most satisfying shutter sound on a camera I own is on my early model, cloth shutter, Nikon S3. It has a wonderful heavy, mechanical sound but is not harsh, due I believe to the cloth. I've heard the later titanium shutter versions and I do not like them nearly as much.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Isn't the Agfa Selecta-M's aunt, the Iloca Electric = Graphic 35 Electric, even louder?

Dunno, but has it that wonderful water-closet sound?

I was not previously aware of the Iloca Electric and am therefore profoundly grateful for the information, if somewhat chagrined at my ignorance.

Cheers,

R.

 

[rumbliegeos]

I don't hear it very often these days, but I've always liked the wheezy click of the Prontor shutter on my Vitomatic I.


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[mike rosenlof]

Hasselblad 500 series. The shutter sound is sweet. The mirror and the barn doors, not so much.

 

[unixrevolution]

Another Kardashian moment here at RFF.
There are any number of serious reasons to purchase a camera body.
The sound of the shutter isn't one of them.
I own 10 different camera models and don't give the sound of the shutter even a moment's thought.
Perhaps we should start a thread about which camera has the prettiest ISO setter or the nicest typeface on it's shutter speed dial.
Robert

If we can't be geeks about our equipment here at RFF, where can we?

There are a ton of things I can like about a camera, car, watch, computer, etc that have no impact on how well they perform their function. But I'm still allowed to like them, dammit!

EDIT: And if a camera's sound is pleasing and it makes us use it more, that means the shutter sound does matter.

Personally, the whisper-click of a leaf shutter is hard to beat for me. The 6x7 makes a mighty cacphony and the Bronica does too, but that's all part of the fun. I also like the authoritative, solid sound of the ME Super.

 

[kb244]

Keep in mind, I'm mostly deaf so I tend to go by feelings of the vibration more so than the subtle nuances of the sounds. (moderate to severe on one ear, severe to profound on the other, with most of the loss in the higher frequency)

My most amusing one is the Universal Mercury II

The big hump on top is part of the rotary shutter assembly. When released it's sort of a Swoosh-click, with the click being very short. If you had it on bulb mode it would be like clack-release-swoosh-click.

My smoothest/cleanest sounding or feeling one is my Fed-2A (back center) which was professionally CLA'd. It has a very smooth consistent wind and likewise the shutter button is like a gentle release with a seamless subtle vibration leading to a quick click-click. Not very sharp, not dull or muted, just clean.

The Canon 7 in the front is probably the sharpest/crispest sounding one that feels more like a single sharp click, but I can feel the shutter curtain travel with the subtle vibration.

Not too crazy about the sound on the Argus C3. It's like tinfoil goes clang against a ball bearing. Like when you pluck a spring.

If we can't be geeks about our equipment here at RFF, where can we?
.

What he said, it's up there with comparing aesthetics, The aesthetics I noticed gets mentioned quite often when considering a camera, even if it's ergonomics or performance is stellar they can be dismissed for not being pleasing to the eye.

For me, if a camera doesn't "feel" right in my hand when the shutter goes off, I'm going to be annoyed or concerned about it. It's a very tactile sensation that goes into it that I don't get from many other cameras.

Like with fountain pens, people often ask about if a nib "sings" (due to ink, nib, paper combination, they can sometimes create a harmonic vibration that they squeal or hum when being written with), I never had that issue, mainly because I can't hear worth a damn to begin with, but I care very much with how the pen vibrates or provides feedback to me as it glides on the paper, be it scratchy but not restrictive to velvet drag or just glass glide.

If a camera is going to cause a jarring sensation against my eye socket or fingers especially in the cold, I'm not going to want to use it. At least one of the loudest cameras I had (Mamiya RB67) had a padded feeling to the mirror reflex.

 

[johannielscom]

I prefer the sound of a pinhole.

 

[kb244]

I prefer the sound of a pinhole.

Hah.... (so the quiet peel of tape? or the ever so quiet sound of a lens cap scraping the surface).

😛

 

[oftheherd]

'polaroid peel'😎 I wonder what other sounds associated with photography evoke a response in people, or indeed, what other sensory factors associated with photography, touch, smell etc evoke emotions

The smell of D-76 in the morning? 😀

it makes a cat noise when you trip the shutter to attract a photographer's most fav subject matter.

most sexiest sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzcJ2-VzHdA

Who knew? 😛

I don't know how I would define sweetness of a shutter sound. Quietness is much more definable to me. The two quietest I have owned would be the Rolleiflex TLR I had, and my current XA. For loudness, my Yashica TL Super with its back open would have awakened the dead, and did incur the wrath of those in the barracks rooms around me the one time I tried that about midnight.

I think at 1/25 second, my Kiev 4a has a unique shutter sound. Keith once described it as sounding like a small animal be strangled. 😀

 

[leica M2 fan]

I can agree with all the aforementioned choices but for my money the Nikon F100
has the nicest sound to my ears!

 

[danielsterno]

or the lack of any sound on my X100 leaf shutter!....

 

[aldobonnard]

From what I use, in order from lower to louder noise:
Rolleiflex 3.5 < Yashica Mat 124 < M7 < ZM < R-D1 (s,x) < M9 <<< M8
Compacts-wise, Ricoh Gr-1s,v, Minolta Super Mini (28mm) , Mju II, Fuji Klasse S albeit fantastic little gems, definitely make more noise than the above mentioned cameras, due to their automatic film advance, enough to be noticed when shooting in quiet places.

 

[unixrevolution]

And come to think of it, the sound of the shutter and film advance on a Pentax PZ-1 is very pleasing. It's the textbook "Camera shutter" sound, as in, I think it's the model used for the sounds played by camera phones 😀

 

[jordan.dickinson]

I've always like the tiny click sound of the leaf shutter on my Rolleiflex and my Mamiya 7ii I used to have.

Then again, I love love love the sound of my M4 and MP