Is X-T5 shutter louder than the X-T4? (and X-T3 / X-E4)

I've owned an X-T4 for about a year now, and have gotten on well with it. I really like the sound of its shutter - at least on my copy, it is very quiet and has a sort of dampened, dare I say luxurious, tone to it. It sounds intentional, almost like the way car manufacturers engineer the sound their doors make when they close.

At one point I picked up an X-E4, considering it as a small second camera to use for backup. I didn't use it long before deciding that the shutter was much too loud for me and that I missed IBIS more than I expected.

Later, I broke my X-T4's shutter button (soft release button torqued it) and sent it in for repairs. I bought an X-T3 to use in the meantime, and I don't remember it being particularly noisy, but it didn't have quite the same sound as the X-T4. I sold it shortly after getting the X-T4 back so I can't compare it now.

Well I just bought an X-T5 and the shutter is very loud and jarring to me. It sounds more like the X-E4 than either of the other cameras. It's very disappointing as I like some of the "finish" improvements in other areas (e.g. the new EV dial feels great, and the grip is a huge improvement.)

I'm curious what experiences others have had with the sound of the shutter on their X-series cameras? Did I just get a bad copy?

There's an interesting Japanese (I think) video out there comparing all the X-T bodies 1-5, including AF (especially), high ISO noise, body size and - yes - even shutter sound. For the most part, each shutter seemed to get softer, but the X-T5 sounded mostly different from the X-T4 because it was less distinct. From my perspective, the T5 is clearly softer than the T2 (or T20), so I find it very pleasant. I'm also sensing (perhaps just getting used to the sound) that it gets softer and less noticeable over time.

I'd give it a bit of a wear-in period before coming to a firm conclusion. Of course, I'm almost entirely using EFCS - which is really the best of the E and M shutter options. You might want to go that route to reduce sound.

Having owned the X-T3 and now the X-T5, the X-T3's shutter definitely sounds more mechanical or less "smooth" than the X-T5's. I have never owned the X-T4 but have tried it in a store and can also definitely tell its shutter sound was smoother than the X-T3's. But I have never directly compared them side-by-side.

When you are comparing shutter "sounds", especially with another body that doesn't support EFCS like the X-E4 / X-S10 / X-T30ii etc., you are actually comparing the shutters actuating twice on bodies without EFCS to just once with (assuming your X-T4 is set to EFCS mode of course).

One other thing to note, is that the X-T5 does come with improved artificial shutter sounds and these are much more realistic than the loud "clicks" from previous models. When I first fired up my X-T5 the artificial shutter sounds were left on by default and you could be mistaken the shutters were much louder than it really is. After you turn them off the real shutter sounds a lot quieter. I only turn on the artificial shutter volume if I am in Electronic Shutter mode just to have an audible feedback after I have fired a shot. With this setup even ES mode seems quite realistic. Well done FUJIFILM for the improved AI shutter noise

JNR wrote:

There's an interesting Japanese (I think) video out there comparing all the X-T bodies 1-5, including AF (especially), high ISO noise, body size and - yes - even shutter sound.

You wouldn't happen to have a link to that video, would you? I did a quick search and didn't find it.

I may need to buy a microphone just to record the X-T4 and X-T5 shutters myself and post them.

I think GoSUV brings up a good possible explanation... Did you turn off the artificial shutter sound in the menu?

As for the video... here's the link - entertaining and quite helpful (if you enable translation):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9i0mPjiAE

Shutter comparisons (single and multi) start at 9 minute mark.

JNR wrote:

I think GoSUV brings up a good possible explanation... Did you turn off the artificial shutter sound in the menu?

As for the video... here's the link - entertaining and quite helpful (if you enable translation):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn9i0mPjiAE

Shutter comparisons (single and multi) start at 9 minute mark.

Yes, the shutter sound is disabled.

Thanks for the video. I ended up purchasing a Zoom H1n and recording the shutter on both the X-T4 and X-T5. I think the volume is a bit normalized, but the difference I'm referring to can be heard.

Here's the X-T4 shutter sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmUcc1XW8gM

And here's the X-T5 shutter sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je1wWIQffnA

I apologize for not annotating the video or doing side-by-side comparisons, but that's outside of my realm of experience and I wanted to post this before DPReview closes its doors.

The part of the X-T5 sound that bothers me is the high-pitched... metal?... spring-like?... note that it ends on. It becomes more noticeable at slower shutter speeds, especially around 0:35 onward.

In the X-T4, this sound isn't present at all, which led to my description that it sounds "dampened." It sounds more like a leaf shutter, for lack of any better comparison.

I realize that these videos have a lot of background noise and aren't very easy to compare. I made a 1:15 long recording that I think does a better job of showing the difference: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vFFH9w2OHeaElykHJu2su3hza3uVbOzY/view?usp=share_link

OK, I took the X-T4 and X-T5 up to the local camera shop - shoutout to Midwest Photo in Columbus, OH. They were extremely nice and immediately grabbed a display model to test with.

The good news is that my X-T5 does not seem to be defective - this is just how the shutter is. So my fears are put to rest, and I'm ready to get used to the new sound!

I let the employee hear both shutters without giving any subjective comments, and he stated "the X-T4 almost sounds like a medium format shutter." If I'm not mistaken, many medium format lenses use leaf shutters.

I am a bit baffled that so many places on the internet declare the X-T5's shutter to sound "even better" than the X-T4, as I don't see how someone listening closely to them side-by-side would draw that conclusion, but I guess preferences are preferences.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get to the bottom of this!