Noise levels of M7 and MP

[wmmeyers@verizon.net]

What are the decibel ratings for the shutter noise of the M7 and MP? Which is quieter?

[cocker]

Originally Posted by wmmeyers@verizon.net

What are the decibel ratings for the shutter noise of the M7 and MP? Which is quieter?

On which Planet?

[xjr]

Is this a serious question ? More appropriate to airplanes, power tools, mother-in-laws etc but £eicas ?
Happy new year.

[rubenkok]

Hi William,

Welcome to the forum
Here is an MP3 file with first the M7 sound folowed by the M8 shutter release
M7 and MD have allmost the same shutter ! M7 has ballbearings and electromagnets (more noise ??).
enjoy
All the best
Ruben

More on Leica M8 Review: 5. Body & Design: Digital Photography Review

[peter_n]

Originally Posted by wmmeyers@verizon.net

What are the decibel ratings for the shutter noise of the M7 and MP? Which is quieter?

I have only a sample of two of each camera. The sounds are qualitatively different for the two sets of bodies but I would rate the M7 to be very, very marginally quieter than the MP.

[andybarton]

I bet if you are standing 3 feet away from either an MP or an M7, under normal conditions, you can't hear either, so the difference is going to be moot anyway.

[stunsworth]

Originally Posted by andybarton

I bet is you are standing 3 feet away from either an MP or an M7, under normal conditions, you can't hear either, so the difference is going to be moot anyway.

I hate to disagree with you Andy, but I've always found this 'silence' of M cameras a myth. Yes, they're a lot quieter than an SLR, but they're not silent. At least in the case of the M2/3/6 that I've owned..

[andybarton]

I am not saying that they're silent (because they're not). However, in a normal room or on the street, they might as well be.

[earleygallery]

myth.......as in that you CAN hear other stuff in a Rolls Royce than just the clock ticking.

My fathers old Kodak Retina lllc is probably about as quiet as any mechanical camera can get (interchangeable lens rangefinder so kind of comparable to a Leica) but my Panasonic LC5 (or the D1 and I think D2) is completely silent. But how quiet does a camera have to be?

[ndjambrose]

People who have pointed out that they're both quiet are of course right - within certain broad parameters, at least. But if you wish to take a picture in a situation where it's important to reduce all possible noise then the M7 has a quieter shutter action than the MP.

Much depends on your preferred application. If you're a street photographer who likes to work candid and close-up to your subjects then the difference is important. Likewise if you're photographing in a theatre, or during the vows of a wedding.

[wmmeyers@verizon.net]

Originally Posted by rubenkok

Hi William,

Welcome to the forum
Here is an MP3 file with first the M7 sound folowed by the M8 shutter release
M7 and MD have allmost the same shutter ! M7 has ballbearings and electromagnets (more noise ??).
enjoy
All the best
Ruben

More on Leica M8 Review: 5. Body & Design: Digital Photography Review

Thank you, Ruben, for your serious reply. I am surprised that so many Leica users thought the question was foolish.

Did you make a typographical mistake in your post, and write MD instead of MP? The MP and M7 make different sounds; the former goes "click" and the latter sort of goes "cluck." I was curious if one was quieter than the other.

With both my M6 and my MP I have been in situations where I could not shoot because the shutter sound caused a disturbance, so the answer is important to me.

Bill

[wmmeyers@verizon.net]

Thank you, Neil. I though M7 was quieter than the MP, but I wonder if anyone could quantify the difference.

Bill

[cocker]

Originally Posted by wmmeyers@verizon.net

With both my M6 and my MP I have been in situations where I could not shoot because the shutter sound caused a disturbance, so the answer is important to me.

Bill

I'm taking your comment seriously and would say that in those circumstances you should either use a really quiet camera such as a Mamiya 7II or Rolleiflex, accept that you can't take a picture without disturbing the situation or take a pencil and pad and make a sketch!

[rubenkok]

Hi William,
Yes, MD had to be MP

With both my M6 and my MP I have been in situations where I could not shoot
because the shutter sound caused a disturbance, so the answer is important to me.
Maybe you have to use an other camera ?
Mamiya 7II:Precision, super quiet, electronic shutter
Mamiya 7II Instructions
Can you solve this by using a 90 or 135 mm lens?

Here is some more reading:
Most digitals are quiet too
Cameras at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Some court rooms only allow Leicas
Images that could only been taken with a Leica/RF and why?

Hope this is some help?
All the best
Ruben

[bill]

Get yourself an LC-1/Digilux 2.

That's about as silent as it gets with a decent rangefinder-style camera.

Regards,

Bill

[frc]

Ouote William: "The MP and M7 make different sounds; the former goes "click" and the latter sort of goes "cluck." I was curious if one was quieter than the other."

My MP certainly does "cluck" not "click"!
Although not being interrested in either clique or cloinque, I would like to ad that the few Mp"s I've heard all had a slightly different sound.

Wanna buy either one of these camera's, try a number of samples at your store.

My camera is used a lot for documentary and reportage, the "?????" noise has never been a problem.
Behaving suspicious attracts far more attention.

[enboe]

A factor not yet discussed is the timing of slow shutter speeds.

For all M cameras except the M7 and M8, there is a clockwork mechanism inside of the body that runs for speeds of 1/15 and slower. This is often heard as a slight hissing sound during and after the shutter actuation.

For the M7 and M8 models, slow speeds are electronically timed, and the closing curtain is released by electromagnetic techniques.

Another option is to muffle the camera through the use of a case or a blimp. I find the M8 is noticeably quieter when in a Luigi's half-case.

I also agree with the others here in that the ultimate quiet camera is a digital point and shoot with the shutter sound disabled. The only moving part is the shutter release button itself.

Eric

[budrichard]

The Japanese magazine Leica #7 concerning the M7 has 3d-Frequency graphs of the M7, M6TTL and M3 for 1/2 and 1/250 seconds comparison. The basic differences is really in the slow train where between actuation and end, the M7 is vitrually silent, otherwise there is no practicle difference to be noted. This is born out by my M3, M6 Classical and M7. As previouly said, a few feet away and there is no difference and I would believe that the MP would also bear this out.
BTW, the Japanese Leica publications are out of print but even in Japanese one can glean a lot of information and the photographs of the Leica equipment put any Western publication to shame. The M7 in this issue is completely torn down into its modular subcomponents.-Dick

[A_E_Darling]

Originally Posted by frc

Ouote William: "The MP and M7 make different sounds; the former goes "click" and the latter sort of goes "cluck." I was curious if one was quieter than the other."

My MP certainly does "cluck" not "click"!
Although not being interrested in either clique or cloinque, I would like to ad that the few Mp"s I've heard all had a slightly different sound.

Wanna buy either one of these camera's, try a number of samples at your store.

My camera is used a lot for documentary and reportage, the "?????" noise has never been a problem.
Behaving suspicious attracts far more attention.

Agreed, if you want to shoot un-noticed then first you must not hold the camera as if you are taking a picture. Usually you cannot use the viewfinder.
If you are not visually spotted then the subject mostly does not notice at all.
Secondly shooting from the hip and even better sideways usually succeeds.
We are talking wide angle and prefocussed lenses. Exposure determined on a substitute object if needed.
Thirdly wrapping the camera body in an appropriate article of clothing both disguises the sound and tends to hide the camera itself.
It is not going to work with a long tele lens of course, but there you have distance on your side.
My M6 is clearly noisier than my leaf shutter compacts, but sound is rarely a key point outdoors

[gyoung]

Originally Posted by frc

Ouote William: "The MP and M7 make different sounds; the former goes "click" and the latter sort of goes "cluck." I was curious if one was quieter than the other."

My MP certainly does "cluck" not "click"!
Although not being interrested in either clique or cloinque, I would like to ad that the few Mp"s I've heard all had a slightly different sound.

Wanna buy either one of these camera's, try a number of samples at your store.

My camera is used a lot for documentary and reportage, the "?????" noise has never been a problem.
Behaving suspicious attracts far more attention.

M cameras tend to get noisier with age, as the lubricant in the shutter dries, after servicing my M3 was noticeably quieter than before.
With the M6ttl, it had been allowed to sit in a collectors showcase for five years before I bought it and was noisier than the M3, however after servicing its almost as quiet as the M3, Malcolm Taylor said that apart from lubricant it was a case of poorly adjusted brakes on the shutter, quite common straight out of the factory, he said,

Although the Ms are very quiet, you can't beat a Rollei (or Retina or similar) if you want a REALLY quiet film camera.

Gerry