Mechanical Shutter vs Elect. 1st Curtain

[Basil]

I recently watched a video with Rudy Winston in which he suggested that Elec. 1st Curtain was slightly quieter than Mechanical shutter (which is what I would have expected). I tried both on my R5 and these old ears could not tell any difference. So, Just for fun, I tested Mechanical vs Elec. 1st Curtain on my R5 and the difference in shutter sound surprised me. In fact, I tested the shutter sound with a DB meter and the results were not what I expected.

(If you're not familiar with Elect. 1st Curtain, it's a feature with mirrorless cameras in which the first curtain is electronic (The shutter is open and the sensor activated electronically), then the exposure is ended with the mechanical second curtain closing. (Mechanical uses a mechanical first and second curtain)

If you can believe these charts, the mechanical shutter (at least on my R5) was actually slightly quieter than elect. 1st curtain. This surprised me.

I tried this test a few times with same result. The first image shows the setup. I located the mic on my iPhone just under the lens, near the camera base (close to where the shutter is located).

My set up - the mic on the iPhone (with Decibel meter app) was just under the shutter at the front bottom



Mechanical Shutter: First = 72dB, Second = 70dB, third actuation = 65dB


Elect. First Curtain: First = 75dB, Second = 73dB, third actuation = (about) 66dB



Results were not what I expected. Honestly thought, these old ears could not tell the difference - they sounded the same to me.

 

[DrEntropy]

In Real World situations, the difference is likely moot, as you seem to discern. My curiosity now is what the difference would be between the Db levels of something like the R5 (or about any DSLR too) and a leaf shuttered film camera. I know the sound of a Nikon film SLR is raucous in comparison.

 

[Basil]

In Real World situations, the difference is likely moot, as you seem to discern. My curiosity now is what the difference would be between the Db levels of something like the R5 (or about any DSLR too) and a leaf shuttered film camera. I know the sound of a Nikon film SLR is raucous in comparison.

One Camera I would love to have (but they are rare as hen's teeth) is the Fujifilm X100V. That camera has a leaf shutter (which is reported to be very quiet).

 

[DrEntropy]

One Camera I would love to have (but they are rare as hen's teeth) is the Fujifilm X100V. That camera has a leaf shutter (which is reported to be very quiet).

Hen's teeth and pricey.

 

[Basil]

Hen's teeth and pricey.

There are some on Ebay marked up WAY over original retail.

 

[DrEntropy]

There are some on Ebay marked up WAY over original retail.

I've seen that. Kinda disheartening.