Muffling a power winder?

Markster · Jan 14, 2011

I have a Canon AE-1P. I picked up a used Power Winder A on the cheap online. It works, but it's a bit louder than I expected. I definitely am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth and this was a great deal.

However, is there by any chance a way to open the winder unit up and pad/line the box with some sort of thin foam or felt? Just some subtle way of blocking the sound waves a bit? If I ever use this baby on people it'll definitely turn a head or two. It's about as noticable as a really bad Canon shutter squeak.

I'm fairly handy when it comes to tinkering. As long as I don't have to rewire anything (one of my weak areas) I'm sure I could take it apart, but the question is would this even help? Is there even any clearance inside to do that?

Has anybody tried something like this? Surely I'm not the first!

(*insert Leslie Neilson reply here*)

elekm · Jan 14, 2011

Nope -- for the most part, they all seem to be surprisingly loud. This is based on my experience with a Nikon MD-12, winder for a Yashica Contax 137, winder for a Pentax ME, winder for a Rolleiflex SL 35 E and a winder for a Minolta XD11.

There's not a lot of extra space inside a winder for sound-deadening material. Perhaps, something for the outside?

I'd be curious to know how things work out, if you give it a try.

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 14, 2011

There are customized "blimps" for movie cameras when used for recording live sound, and I've seen a few for still cameras, mainly for photographing performances in a theater, and these are always bulky, cumbersome affairs.

Markster · Jan 14, 2011

Blimps? I assume bulky, as the name suggests?

The question is, if I surround the outside, what about the battery case? Whatabout between the body and the motor? Will that be enough to still be loud?

I'll keep it, and I'll use it. However, I have grown accustomed to thumbing the lever after so many years. I could just leave it off until I figure something out.

It doesn't have a tricky method to open it, does it? If I tried to open it just to explore I wouldn't risk snapping off connectors, or the like?

Anybody have a manual/maint. guide for the Winder A?

John Koehrer · Jan 15, 2011

Nothing special holding it together, 3-4 concealed screws on the top. No soldering involved.
A blimp wouldn't be difficult to make, Use the fabric from an old quilt. A lot of tiny flowers in the pattern would be nice. =<)

mrred · Jan 15, 2011

I bought one for my OM and it is the sweetest sound to hear. It is the sound imitated by all the Hollywood movies even when they show someone with a dlsr. Embrace it. People will look, for the right reasons...

CD55 · Jan 17, 2011

I've got the same setup and compared to my Canon Elan 7e, it is a lot louder. If you don't want to be noticed with the camera noise why not just remove the Power Winder and wind it manually.

holmburgers · Jan 17, 2011

The key to blocking sound is mass, pure and simple. Foam only serves to reduce reflections, like in a sound booth, but does very little to keep sound OUT/IN, save for the very high frequencies. That being said, I don't think there's much you can do.

David A. Goldfarb · Jan 17, 2011

Here is what a Jacobson Sound Blimp looks like--

http://www.soundblimp.com/canon.htm

They're the standard.

Nikon used to make their own sound blimp, but I couldn't find a photo of one easily on the net.

holmburgers · Jan 17, 2011

David A. Goldfarb said:
Here is what a Jacobson Sound Blimp looks like--

http://www.soundblimp.com/canon.htm

They're the standard.

Nikon used to make their own sound blimp, but I couldn't find a photo of one easily on the net.

!!

btaylor · Jan 17, 2011

Two ways to deaden camera sound: the classic blimp, which is a large hard case surrounding the camera (like the Jacobson mentioned above); and a sound barney which is a soft covering that does not completely cover or entirely silence the camera. They are used a lot with motion picture cameras that are not entirely silent in close quarters when recording sync sound. This guy makes custom ones with his own secret combination of lead and other dense materials: Dead Link Removed I don't see why it wouldn't work for a still camera.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 17, 2011

I have the A-1 with a motordrive (12 AA batteris) which is kinda noisey but I kinda like it.

Jeff

Markster · Jan 20, 2011

I called off my efforts.

I took the screws out then realized i'd have to rip off the faux leather covering to open 'er up. Did not really want to do that right now. I then bought some fresh AA's for the occasional use. Turns out it's not as loud as before. I guess my rechargable batteries I used to test this weren't too "fresh" and were driving the servo slower (making it louder).

Popped a few test shots with the winder in place on my AE-1P and realy didn't notice it as bad with the fresh AA's. I think I'll leave it for now, based on the above testimonies and the reduced noise of fresh batteries.

Maybe in the future I'll revisit this idea.

Rol_Lei Nut · Jan 20, 2011

You'd probably find that there isn't enough room inside the motor for enough insulating material to make a difference.
Even if you did try to stuff some in, there could then possibly be the risk of the motor overheating.

The people who designed them really weren't wasting space or making them bigger than they had to!

Markster · Jan 20, 2011

Anybody ever try to gut it and put a newer 2010-era servo in there? Something that's 10x smaller and just as powerful?

I know electronics have improved quite a bit since the 1980s

Muffling a power winder?

Markster

elekm

David A. Goldfarb

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Markster

John Koehrer

mrred

CD55

holmburgers

David A. Goldfarb

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holmburgers

btaylor

Jeff Kubach

Markster

Rol_Lei Nut

Markster

Muffling a power winder?

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