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Why are flagships so loud

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Leica Kid

Leica Kid

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I recently got a nikon d4 and i am coming from a d600. The first thing i noticed was the shutter on it. It has so much more noise to it. Imo the d500 was about as loud as the d600. What causes my d4 to be so loud? Today i took it into a forest and at times it could cause an echo. Any tips on making it quiter/living with the noise?
 
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Hi,

All the moving parts are larger, heavier and move faster. So, more energy required. So, more sound energy left over.

And the D4 is pretty quiet compared to the F5. That thing sounds like I'm racking a shell out of, and then into, a 105mm howitzer. Except no clang of the spent casing hitting the ground. And I have had many F5 bodies with digital backs and they all are pretty loud. I still use one as I make good use of the easily swapped viewfinders and focusing screens.

Stan
 
Stan Disbrow said:
Hi,

All the moving parts are larger, heavier and move faster. So, more energy required. So, more sound energy left over.

And the D4 is pretty quiet compared to the F5. That thing sounds like I'm racking a shell out of, and then into, a 105mm howitzer. Except no clang of the spent casing hitting the ground.

Stan
Click to expand...
LOL :-)
 
Jeep_Joseph said:
I recently got a nikon d4 and i am coming from a d600. The first thing i noticed was the shutter on it. It has so much more noise to it. Imo the d500 was about as loud as the d600. What causes my d4 to be so loud? Today i took it into a forest and at times it could cause an echo. Any tips on making it quiter/living with the noise?
Click to expand...
More metal, less plastic.
 
Jeep_Joseph said:
I recently got a nikon d4 and i am coming from a d600. The first thing i noticed was the shutter on it. It has so much more noise to it. Imo the d500 was about as loud as the d600. What causes my d4 to be so loud? Today i took it into a forest and at times it could cause an echo. Any tips on making it quiter/living with the noise?
Click to expand...
I've never fired a D600, but I don't find my D4 to be all that loud. If you want a quite camera, buy a ML.... no mirror flopping around in the body, only the shutter.
 
Thanks for the info, i will check out the links
 
Oh god, i would hate to hear how loud an f5 is then. I couldn't imagine trying to shoot wildlife with the f5
 
Thanks, yeah i feel i got kind of spoiled since i also often use a gh5 so it is significantly quieter than my d600, let alone my d4
 
Or you could trade in your D4 for a Df. The Df has the same awesome sensor but a much, much more quiet shutter.
 
Actually not a bad idea to get a Df as a second backup. My d4 has almost 400k actuations and a bit of wear so i am sure i will need to fix it eventually.
 
Jeep_Joseph said:
Actually not a bad idea to get a Df as a second backup. My d4 has almost 400k actuations and a bit of wear so i am sure i will need to fix it eventually.
Click to expand...
When I got mine years ago, the sensor and the relatively quiet shutter were the biggest attractions, for the theater shoots that I was doing frequently.
 
When I got a D700 I noticed right away that it was louder than my D200. . . My understanding is that the D700 shares some innards with the D3 but I don't know if that includes the shutter mechanism.

I often read complaints about the noisy D700 and I sometimes reply that it is the beautiful sound of a robust and dependable camera (unlike some shutters that shall not be mentioned here. . .) LOL
 
Comparing any full frame camera with an equivalent-era cropped sensor camera is almost certainly going to show the full frame camera to be louder.

Comparing the top of the line pro camera to a non-pro camera within the production ranks will also likely show the pro camera to be louder - because it has to perform better (faster). It's going to take some muscle within the camera to drive an FX mirror and shutter to the frame rates of the D4-type cameras, and the usage requirements mean the design has to be very durable at the same time. Which sounds to me like a recipe for heavier components (or much more expensive ones).

Further, it just doesn't seem like pro cameras have had much of a emphasis on being quieter, except on movie sets (big blimp cages?). When a pro shoots at a press conference, we're all expecting to hear a lot of shutter noise, aren't we? Not quite the same as a Dad shooting daughter's elementary school play.

If you look at Quiet Mode on newer Nikon cameras, you can see it's just a way to delay the mirror-raise to spread out the noise. One way to make a camera quieter is to have it shoot slower, though this is pretty much a cheat than a real improvement.

You want quiet? Just shoot in Live View, or shoot mirrorless. Most of the noise is in the mirror slap.
 
My D800 is plenty loud ..

Normally it doesn't matter at all but I might in future be in the market for a quiet camera. I can imagine situations where it could be important.

Mark_A
 
Stan Disbrow said:
Hi,

All the moving parts are larger, heavier and move faster. So, more energy required. So, more sound energy left over.

And the D4 is pretty quiet compared to the F5. That thing sounds like I'm racking a shell out of, and then into, a 105mm howitzer. Except no clang of the spent casing hitting the ground. And I have had many F5 bodies with digital backs and they all are pretty loud. I still use one as I make good use of the easily swapped viewfinders and focusing screens.

Stan
Click to expand...
Compare that to a Hasselblad! Imagine a nice, quiet church during a wedding and the super expensive photographer you hired steps up with his big flash and body and goes KER-THUNK.

People who complain about DSLR noise forget how loud older cameras could be.

The even older Speed Graphic used a leaf shutter and 4x6 plate film. Almost silent.
 
Stan Disbrow said:
Hi,

All the moving parts are larger, heavier and move faster. So, more energy required. So, more sound energy left over.

And the D4 is pretty quiet compared to the F5. That thing sounds like I'm racking a shell out of, and then into, a 105mm howitzer. Except no clang of the spent casing hitting the ground. And I have had many F5 bodies with digital backs and they all are pretty loud. I still use one as I make good use of the easily swapped viewfinders and focusing screens.

Stan
Click to expand...
Yes, it's mostly the mirror. It moves MUCH faster that the two and three number cameras. Otherwise, you can't get a high shutter burst rate.
 
Hi,

Ah. Speed Graphic. Very quiet. For one shot. Then there's all the sounds of dark slide in, film holder out to flip, film holder in, and dark slide out. After all that, it's another quiet shot. ;)

There's what we need: a digital Speed Graphic with flippy sensors. Teach us all about Real shooting. :P

There were many amazing images shot with those Speed Graphics.

Stan
 
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