Most satisfying shutter sound?

[DREW WILEY]

I like the distinct KER-LUNK !!! of my Pentax 67. It's especially nice for weddings in churches. You can get paid more for waking up anyone snoozing through the ceremony.

 

[brent8927]

The artificial shutter sound of the iphone...

I'm biased, because I like what I use, but my favorite is the Hasselblad V-series. I love that mirror slap/rear shutter sound.

I really enjoyed using a Rolleicord back when I had one, and there are many situations where it's the better camera (and typically more discrete, though the TLR design lends more curiosity than a Hasselblad). But I never particularly liked the really quiet shutter. I imagine it might be a more mindful camera to use--my problem has just been I like to see exactly what I'm capturing. (Ironically though, I take more photos of my wife more than stills/landscapes, so the real-time view of a TLR would probably offset the lack of parallax in a Hasselblad...)

 

[Sirius Glass]

The gentle sschnick of my Rolleiflex

Welcome to APUG Photrio

 

[Vaughn]

Copal shutters don't sound very sexy -- kind of tinny, really. I always felt that taking 30+ minutes or so to set up the camera, compose, then wait for the wind to stop, etc, deserves a better sound -- bells, whistles, and balloons would do...

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Copal shutters don't sound very sexy -- kind of tinny, really. I always felt that taking 30+ minutes or so to set up the camera, compose, then wait for the wind to stop, etc, deserves a better sound -- bells, whistles, and balloons would do...

You want a calliope!

This Copal shutter sounds pretty nice when set from between 1/8 and 1 second. Actually, I like it at all speeds.

 

[GLS]

My vote would have to be for the Hasselblad V series ker-thwop.

 

[itsdoable]

Recently I have been refurbishing a broken Bronica S2, (mostly working now) - people say it has the loudest shutter, and I've always wondered what could be louder than my Hasselblad 2000FC/M, and now I can compare them. And since Sirius started this thread, I may as well upload the shutter sound I have as well.

GEEK warning: skip if necessary:
Loudness was measured using a "reasonably" calibrated db meter on an iPhone. Sounds were measured and recoded outside with the microphone 30cm directly above the center of the shutter with the camera on a tripod, set to 1/125th and F8, with the standard lens. It was done this way so it could be repeated by anyone else, as not everyone has access to studio db meters or an anechoic room. Because it is spring, you do get bird sounds and some wind, the ambient background sound was on the order of 40~50db, which is not insignificant. 4~5 reading were averaged, and due to the equipment and setup, there is a few db variation. The measurement location reflects what the photographer hears - I also tried measurements 1m in front of the camera (subject's perspective), but those are quieter and more subject to ambient noise.
END GEEK

As there is some variation in the measurements, please consider them as such, but the relative numbers reflect the what I hear. Click below to download/hear the recordings, and keep in mind the recording does not do the cameras justice, they sound much fuller and different in person.

Hasselblad 503CX: 77db

Hasselblad 2000FC/M; 84db

Bronica S2: 81db

Bronica EC TL: 78db

Kiev-88: 80db

Pentacon Six TL; 72db

Yashica Mat 124g: 60db

Note: the squeak you hear at the end of the shutter on the Pentacon Six is a bird, not the shutter. I added the Yashica Mat as a non SLR lens shutter reference.

In person, the Hasselblad 2000FC/M has a very metallic clang, which makes it sound louder than it measures.

 

[TonyB65]

I just picked up a Zeiss Contaflex 1 at an auction, which needs some work, and that has one sweet sounding shutter. Actually, it's not even the shutter, it's a very muffled crump of the mirror before the leaf shutter snicks, but combined it's a very smooth combination of "crump" then "snick", you can hear them both at slow shutter speeds, at 250th and over just the "crump" of the mirror action, it's classy though.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Recently I have been refurbishing a broken Bronica S2, (mostly working now) - people say it has the loudest shutter, and I've always wondered what could be louder than my Hasselblad 2000FC/M, and now I can compare them. And since Sirius started this thread, I may as well upload the shutter sound I have as well.

GEEK warning: skip if necessary:
Loudness was measured using a "reasonably" calibrated db meter on an iPhone. Sounds were measured and recoded outside with the microphone 30cm directly above the center of the shutter with the camera on a tripod, set to 1/125th and F8, with the standard lens. It was done this way so it could be repeated by anyone else, as not everyone has access to studio db meters or an anechoic room. Because it is spring, you do get bird sounds and some wind, the ambient background sound was on the order of 40~50db, which is not insignificant. 4~5 reading were averaged, and due to the equipment and setup, there is a few db variation. The measurement location reflects what the photographer hears - I also tried measurements 1m in front of the camera (subject's perspective), but those are quieter and more subject to ambient noise.
END GEEK

As there is some variation in the measurements, please consider them as such, but the relative numbers reflect the what I hear. Click below to download/hear the recordings, and keep in mind the recording does not do the cameras justice, they sound much fuller and different in person.

Hasselblad 503CX: 77db

Hasselblad 2000FC/M; 84db

Bronica S2: 81db

Bronica EC TL: 78db

Kiev-88: 80db

Pentacon Six TL; 72db

Yashica Mat 124g: 60db

Note: the squeak you hear at the end of the shutter on the Pentacon Six is a bird, not the shutter. I added the Yashica Mat as a non SLR lens shutter reference.

In person, the Hasselblad 2000FC/M has a very metallic clang, which makes it sound louder than it measures.

Thank you! Can I make copies of these so that I can play them whenever I want? I have been playing them all afternoon.

 

[johnha]

In person, the Hasselblad 2000FC/M has a very metallic clang, which makes it sound louder than it measures.

Way back when, the British Journal of Photography used to do db and frequency analysis of shutters with the lens on/off and mirror moving/locked - in the case of a Pentax LX, a 50/1.4 reduces the high frequency noise significantly.

My Bronica S2A makes a significant thrump, the Pentax 6x7 with a leaf shutter lens seems to go on forever...

 

[DREW WILEY]

I'm not a geek, but the shutter kick of my P67 can be measured with a seismograph.

 

[itsdoable]

Thank you! Can I make copies of these so that I can play them whenever I want? I have been playing them all afternoon.

Certainly, they should be down-loadable. I'll try to add others when I encounter them (or I've finished the film in them...)

 

[Sirius Glass]

Certainly, they should be down-loadable. I'll try to add others when I encounter them (or I've finished the film in them...)

Speed Graphic and Graflex focal plane shutters should be included if possible.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

.
...Sounds were measured and recoded ...

This confirms to me that I don't like the sound of the rear baffles on the Hasselblad 500 series. To me, the 2000 had the best shutter sound of all the recordings.

In real life I heard a Kiev 88 and the gold colored focal plane shutter sounded wonderful. On the recording, not so much.

 

[itsdoable]

A Graflex FPS should be an interest comparison, but its been a while since I had access to one... In the mean time, how about one of these:

Fujifilm GX680: 81db

 

[Sirius Glass]

A Graflex FPS should be an interest comparison, but its been a while since I had access to one... In the mean time, how about one of these:

Fujifilm GX680: 81db

NICE





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[Stephen Prunier]

When I want to hear music to my ears, I love my heavy metal AC/DC Mamiya RZ67 II. When I'm looking for that quiet Bill Evans piano sound I reach for the Kodak Retina IIc.

 

[paul ron]

I think most TLRs have pleasant shutter sounds. I especially like the Yashicas. That almost silent zzzzzzzit is so sweet to the ear. When shooting on the street, sometimes I wonder if the shutter even went off, that's how quiet they are.

Then there is that snappy sound Copals make. So determined and sharp. .

 

[faberryman]

I suggest we expand the question to include the most satisfying aperture click.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

I suggest we expand the question to include the most satisfying aperture click.

Methinks thou speakest in jest. But verily I say:

I can hear the aperture stop down on some of my Exakta lenses: the "semiauto" lenses which stop down at half-press of the release.

As for the sound and feel of the aperture ring, the best sound and feel, to me, in all of cameradom are the Pentax Super Takumar M42 lenses. A sensual delight. The worst? Well, the worst by a wide margin are the Canon FDn lenses: sounds and feels like dragging a plastic bucket along a cobblestone road.