Which hexar is quiet-est?

[pb908]

i have silver hexar AF, I like the lens a lot, i know that by default it doesn't have silent/quiet mode, so by little research, i made it enabled.

but even when it is enabled, I can hear the af motor/servo whirling, more quiet, but still I can hear it in quiet room, it is like "srrrrrrrt" sound. I test to a friend standing 1m and he can hear it as well (in quiet room). I was hoping I will not hear it at all 🙁

I wonder if the black HAF have quieter sound than this. Any one have both and can confirm me if black HAF have quieter sound than enabled silver HAF? thanks !!

 

[semilog]

The Nikon D5000. 🙄

 

[Krosya]

i have silver hexar AF, I like the lens a lot, i know that by default it doesn't have silent/quiet mode, so by little research, i made it enabled.

but even when it is enabled, I can hear the af motor/servo whirling, more quiet, but still I can hear it in quiet room, it is like "srrrrrrrt" sound. I test to a friend standing 1m and he can hear it as well (in quiet room). I was hoping I will not hear it at all 🙁

I wonder if the black HAF have quieter sound than this. Any one have both and can confirm me if black HAF have quieter sound than enabled silver HAF? thanks !!

I think they are all the same - it gets quieter in a silent mode, but not to the point you cant hear it. I have a black one that did come with a Silent mode and it sounds like what you describe.

 

[pvdhaar]

When I still had a Hexar-AF, I found that you can do a bit more than merely selecting the silent mode to keep the camera as quiet as possible..

Focus..
The noise of focusing is lowered in silent mode. It can be completely eliminated by setting focus manually. Combined with a fixed aperture for a hyperfocal setting, this would be most effective.

Aperture..
The noise of the aperture opening up or closing down is not affected by the silent mode. It can be completely gotten rid of by manually selecting the aperture in A-mode or M-mode. Combined with fixed focus for a hyperfocal setting, this would be most effective.

Film Advance..
The noise of film advance is lower in silent mode. It can not be completely eliminated, but the film advance can be delayed by keeping the shutter release pressed. Only release the shutter when the Hexar's hidden under a piece of cloth, or the sound is camouflaged by other noise.

Film rewind..
The noise of film rewind is also lower in silent mode. Make sure you don't need to rewind at a critical moment..

Switching on/off..
When switching off, the aperture opens up completely, and the lense moves back to its base position. When switched on again, the aperture closes down to the one selected immediately. The lense will move again when focussing takes place either manually or automatically. You should avoid switching the Hexar on and off all the time between shots..

Hope this helps..

 

[pb908]

When I still had a Hexar-AF, I found that you can do a bit more than merely selecting the silent mode to keep the camera as quiet as possible..

Focus..
The noise of focusing is lowered in silent mode. It can be completely eliminated by setting focus manually. Combined with a fixed aperture for a hyperfocal setting, this would be most effective.

Aperture..
The noise of the aperture opening up or closing down is not affected by the silent mode. It can be completely gotten rid of by manually selecting the aperture in A-mode or M-mode. Combined with fixed focus for a hyperfocal setting, this would be most effective.

Film Advance..
The noise of film advance is lower in silent mode. It can not be completely eliminated, but the film advance can be delayed by keeping the shutter release pressed. Only release the shutter when the Hexar's hidden under a piece of cloth, or the sound is camouflaged by other noise.

Film rewind..
The noise of film rewind is also lower in silent mode. Make sure you don't need to rewind at a critical moment..

Switching on/off..
When switching off, the aperture opens up completely, and the lense moves back to its base position. When switched on again, the aperture closes down to the one selected immediately. The lense will move again when focussing takes place either manually or automatically. You should avoid switching the Hexar on and off all the time between shots..

Hope this helps..

thanks a lot, very interesting information !!
I had tested my silver HAF with my M2. Talking about silent/quiet:

Hexar AF:
in my ears, the biggest noise is AF. Sound from the AF, shutter trip until it wind again is like " srrrrt (af),(cklick-silent), wrrrrrrt(winding)" all in very low level. But still af sound can be heard around 1m in quiet room even in silent mode.

M2:
"srrrrrrr(smooth film wind),clap(low tone shutter sound)" the most noticable noise is shutter sound, although it is not as noticable as on my bessa R2/RD1 (which is a high pitch "cklick")

for me, it is hard to decide what to take if I need "very" quiet RF for specific event. Both M2 or HAF have it's own noise which recogniceable, but acceptable.

 

[sepiareverb]

They are equally quiet when in the collectors cabinet.

 

[coelacanth]

You might wanna also consider the characteristics of the sound itself. I often do dead close candid with M2 or even IIIf which has a lot louder shutter noise compared to M leica, and I rarely see people react to the shot if not never. I do have my ways and techniques, but the biggest reason they don't notice the shot is because the shutter sound of these cameras is very not-camera-like to people's ears. M2's shutter sounds like I just snaped a lever or turned a switch (whatever that is) to non photographer people. I think that is mor important than the volume of the sound itself.