Just how quiet are the various Liecas (and non-leicas)

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I'd love to have a camera that's really silent. At the moment I have an F3. In quiet places like museums I sometimes lock the mirror up (both for noise and vibrations) but it's still pretty noisy.

I've recently started using a Leica III, which I thought would be quieter. It's a softer sound than the mirror-locked F3, but still not all that quiet. I have also played with a Bessa-R in a shop, but it sounds no better than the mirror-locked F3.

How much quieter is a CL/CLE? And a Hexar (silver/black)? Old RFs like the Canon QL17? And a real M camera? (although there's no way I'll be able to afford one of those anytime soon!)

-- Michael Abbott (web@mabot.com), November 09, 2001

Answers

Michael,

I've no experience yet with the Leica M to see how people react to the noise. However, the Minox 35-mm pocket cameras are extremely quiet, even more quiet than a Rolleicord for example. If you want something both small and quiet, I doubt if anything beats the Minox on those criterias.

-- Peter Olsson (peter.olsson@lulebo.se), November 09, 2001.


make that "various Leicas" !

-- Michael Abbott (web@mabot.com), November 09, 2001.

Ohter than a somewhat noisy zoom lens my Nikon Coolpix 950 makes no sound.

-- gerald (sanford@usa.com), November 09, 2001.

The original Hexar models w/stealth mode are extremely quiet -- I've photographed people from a couple feet, in relatively quiet surroundings, and they've been completely unaware. You can either buy a used Hexar with this feature (all models but the current "Silver" have it) or buy the Silver and send it to Andrew Nemeth to have the stealth mode programmed into the camera -- I had this done by another means, and it works perfectly. Go to http://nemeng.com/equipment/hexar.html

-- Douglas Kinnear (douglas.kinnear@colostate.edu), November 09, 2001.

I find the old 1970s RFs are pretty noisy actually, maybe not as loud as the Bessa R. The M6's are definitely quieter, but by far I think the quietest camera is the Hexar AF (original).

As in all things, being quiet- i.e., not intrusive or noticeable- depends on other factors. Taking a shot with a camera using a WL finder probably makes as big a difference as how loud its shutter is. Thing is, a Rollei TLR is incredibly quiet, comparable to the Hexar.

All IMO.

-- Tse-Sung (tsesung@yahoo.com), November 09, 2001.



I too had an F3. Pretty loud without mirror lock-out. We now have an F70 and it is a lot quieter. I also have a real M6TTL. It too is quieter than the F3, but not much quieter than the F70. If you ask me, not at all that quiet like they always say in the ads. (The M6TTL costed me 2-3 times as much as the F3, and 6-7 times as much as the F70.)

Quietness is good, but that's not why I bought the M6TTL.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), November 09, 2001.


So, this should do the trick. Hope I'm now quiet myself.

-- Michael Kastner (kastner@zedat.fu-berlin.de), November 09, 2001.

That was quick! Thanks for the answers so far.

I hadn't considered a Minox. If I can find a cheap one I might try that. I can probably live with scale focusing (as long as it's in metres - my III's elmar is in feet!) Small and black would also be good.

I'm a bit nervous about medium-format, as I'm new to B+W and so far it's been XP2 and a 35mm scanner. Can anyone point me in the right direction for old Rolleiflex info? Also, how do cheap TLRs like Yashica and Seagull comare for noise?

-- Michael Abbott (web@mabot.com), November 09, 2001.


I've used a few M cameras and presently use a IIIc all of which are fairly quiet compared to a SLR, but the quietiest by a long shot are the leaf shutter rangefinders from the late 50's. I have a Ricoh 500 which BTW gives really nice results with a 45/2.8 lens is so quiet I'm not even sure sometines if it fired.

-- Gerry Widen (gwiden@alliancepartners.org), November 09, 2001.

direction for old Rolleiflex info? Also, how do cheap TLRs like Yashica and Seagull comare for noise?

There was a time when I had MF on the brain. Try the MF digest

http://www.ex.ac.uk/mfd/

As for Rollei, there seem to be a number of sites nowadays (Google them). This one looks pretty cool:

http://people.we.mediaone.net/wymanburke/Rollei_Links.html

As for trying to get cheap, I got a nice old Rollei Automat IV (Xenar f3.5) for 80 clams, in a flea market outside of Pittsburgh, PA. It's a wonderful way to get incredible images w/o anyone noticing, on big, fat juicy negatives.

-- TW (tsesung@yahoo.com), November 09, 2001.



If you want an almost quiet camera you will have to move up to medium format. The Mamiya 7II with leaf shutters is a rangefinder and you will not even hear the shutter if you are not perfectly quiet. No one from any distance will hear it. BUT the trade off is, the fastest lens are only F4, not so good for indoor available light shots as you like. Best regards, BH

-- Bob Haight (rhaigh5748@aol.com), November 09, 2001.

Michael, I agree the leaf shutters are the quietest, and are also very steady at slow speeds. My Olympus 35RC was/is extremely quiet. So is my dad's old Agfa medium format folder. M3 is very smooth, and I find the IIIa pretty quiet. I once had a CL which is a tad noisier. Everyone hears an SLR. But modern point and shoots are noisy too. I discovered this with my minilux in a Spanish church. First unsnapping the velcro case. Then the whirr of the camera turning itself on, focusing and winding noises. Disapproving glances! I might as well have turned a ghettoblaster on. I tried to sneak out but horrors, my sandals made a squeaking sound! Very embarrassing. My wife, sensibly, stayed at the entranceway. Not a bad picture though. Oh, one more thing: I reckon slightly heavier cameras are easier to hold steady at slow speeds. Has anyone else found this?

-- David Killick (Dalex@inet.net.nz), November 09, 2001.

I reckon slightly heavier cameras are easier to hold steady at slow speeds. Has anyone else found this?

Yes, David. My favorite in this respect is an old Pentax K1000 I seldom use now: Strong mirror slap but not the slightest vibration though . . .

Cheers

-- Iván Barrientos M (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), November 10, 2001.


Tessina with teflon gear is the quietest camera.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), November 10, 2001.

I have only had my M6ttl for a few months and still getting use to how quite it is. This last week I was shoot some artist in a critique. When I brought the photo back a few days latter they all were asking me when I was taking pictures. AAAhh the Leica! My F-100 was like a grenade lancher going off AND holding. quitly say by--->scott

-- Scott (scottevans@mediaone.net), November 10, 2001.


It's true that Minox 35mm camera shutters are very quiet but the film advance makes an annoying, rachety sound.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), November 11, 2001.

How about a Rollei TLR. Very quiet "chip" as the shutter goes off. A larger negative (maybe useful in museums?) and you could fashion a monopod /walking stick that the museum guards might overlook and work perfectly at waist-level. Just a thought.

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), November 11, 2001.

"Chip?" my Rollei TLR goes "tingggg . . ." Maybe it needs a CLR. Whether you use the chip or ting model, it is a very quiet shutter.

-- Bob Fleischman (RFXMAIL@prodigy.net), November 12, 2001.

Maybe "chip" is what "tingg" sounds like after using a Nikon FM for years, which went "clangggggg", loudly.

Are you sure the "tingg" isn't the self-timer? ;-)

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), November 12, 2001.


The film advance of Minox 35 camera indeed has ratched sound. Its shutter sound is very quiet.

Which camera has the quietest film advance mechanism ? It is not Leica M, or screwmount

The camera with almost inaudible film advance noise is Minox EC. The shutter noise of Minox EC is ever lower than Minox 35

Minox EC is THE stealth camera

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), November 14, 2001.


I'll bet my pinhole camera is even quieter than that, Martin! :-)

-- Tony Rowlett (rowlett@mail.com), November 14, 2001.

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