Seems we're all interested to varying degrees in the "near silent" shutter of M cameras. While I think the shutter sound of my M6ttl is discreet, I wouldn't necessarily say it is quiet. My wife has a double stroke M3 and I think that shutter is quiet by comparison.

I realize that none of this is all that important, but can anyone tell me if there has been a comparison done of the various M models' shutter construction and the sound of each shutter? Perhaps it has something to do with brass versus aluminum bodies, maybe brass has a greater damping effect on sound than aluminum?

Thank you all.

-- jeff voorhees (debontekou@yahoo.com), May 17, 2001

Answers

I've had a lot of different M's over the years and I agree with you the M isn't the silent creature it's mythologized to be. The sound of an M shutter is quieter than an SLR for sure, but hardly silent. Different speeds make different sounds and with the lens off it's a lot louder if that's the way you're listening. Makes a difference how you're holding it, too. The more you cover with your hands the more muffled the sound. Helps to have someone cough as you press the shutter too. Just about any non-SLR leaf-shutter is quieter than an M particularly at the higher speeds where the slow-speed escapement isn't buzzing down. My Rolleiflex is quieter than my M's...but it is also a matter of a person's hearing and the background noise. M's make a low-pitched "clop" while leaf-shutters a more high- pitched "tick".

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), May 17, 2001.

Hi, Jeff: This is only to comment the much that has been said about the near silent shutter of the M models. In fact that is one of the characteristics I had read about that made me buy my first M3. I put attention to it from the very first click and though not deeply disappointed I couldn't help comparing it with the truly near ssssssilent shutter of my old Yashica G TLR. That IS silent. In fact the first time I shut with it I thought the shutter had failed. It took a time for me to get used to such a low noise. Of course it is a lens mounted shutter as compared to a back plane type, like the M's. Now if we compare the M3's shutter sound with my Pentax KM's or my son's Hasselblad's, yes it is silent indeed. It is funy I have never heard a M6 buy I was assuming it was more silent than my old M3s (both of them click very alike though not quite the same; the SS being a little louder than the older DS). The more I learn about the M3 the most I admire that design and the more I think it is time for it to be brought back from the cold. Regards -Ivan

-- Ivan Barrientos (ingenieria@simltda.tie.cl), May 17, 2001.

I suspect that maintenance also has lot to do with the noise level of M shutters. I have two M3 bodies. One was overhauled right before I bought it; its shutter is very quiet, and the film advance is so smooth it's almost effortless. I'm not sure when the second was last serviced, but even though the shutter is accurate, it's about twice as loud as the other M3, and the film advance (and everything else) is noticeably stiffer to operate.

-- Mike Dixon (mike@mikedixonphotography.com), May 17, 2001.

Jeff:

I have to agree -- One of my shooting buddies has an M3, and it is quieter than my M6TTL, but not by very much. We then compared their sounds to another buddy's M6TTL Black Paint, thinking that perhaps the brass body had something to do with the difference. IMO, the M3 and Black Paint sounded about the same which subjectivly supports the brass vs base-metal body making the difference, though I have no definitive proof of this.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), May 17, 2001.

A sound of a Leica shutter depends on two reasons: 1) Tensions of main shutter springs are over- or underbalanced, which are set when adjusting a shutter. The less tension the less sound and vibrations. However the tension has its limits. If it is lower than low limit, first and second curtains would move slower than 16 msec as it is required. In addition a slow-speed movement couldn’t switch at 1- 1/15 sec because of weak impact of first curtain, and film gate would remain open at these speeds as though at “B”. Older camera that has never been CLA'd is very quiet, but its shutter' curtains move too much slowly.

2) The tension of the brake spring of the first (front) curtain is lower than regular. As a result, the first curtain kicks very strong and aloud and even returns a little bit making an overexposure strip on a negs. When a brake spring is overbalanced a slow-speed movement doesn’t switch as in case 1).

-- Victor Randin (ved@enran.com.ua), May 21, 2001.