[Leica] Is the issue of camera noise over-rated? - Talk amongst yourselves...:-)

["bdcolen" <bdcolen@earthlink.net>]

On another Leica list, during a discussion of what camera outfit someone
have, a responder made the following comment...

"The one thing I 
might add to my bag is an M-somethingorother to use in 
situations where near absolute silence is required (and in this 
regard, nothing but an M fills the bill in terms of 
interchangeable-lens cameras thus far)."

To which I responded:

"We got talking about the subject of camera noise, quiet, etc., last
night in the final session of the four-week documentary photo course I
just finished teaching. And in talking this through I came to a
startling realization - we tend to grossly over-rate the need for
"silence." 

Yes, the unobtrusiveness of the Ms is great. But first off, they are not
nearly as silent as we think they are. Yes, if there is any kind of
background noise, the "click" disappears - but so does the whine of a
single SLR. On the other hand, in a place like a church, when there is
silence or near silence, the click of an M can sound like the report of
a rifle - not that anyone cares. And THAT's the really important thing
to consider: ' The person who is most aware of the noise generated by a
camera is the photographer, who has the camera jammed in his ear. Most
people being photographed hear the noise as long as they are paying
attention to the fact that they are being photographed, and then they
ignore it, and probably cease to hear it. When I'm shooting on a job, I
use both Ms and Nikon F100s, which are relatively quiet, but hardly
M-like, SLRS. And I get no more reaction from subjects when I'm using
the motor-driven reflex than I do when I use the M. I may be more
comfortable with the M, but it's no big deal to the subject.

If you don't believe this, consider for a moment that a documentary
photographer like Eugene Richards, who has shot crack addicts, and been
in potentially life-threatening situations, uses Olympus OM3s and Canon
F1s - both really "clacky" SLRs, which he shoves to within inches of his
subjects faces. James Nacthwey uses Canon EOSes, and again, works close
and does so in hairy situations.

Sure, it's nice to have a quite camera. But we seem to forget to
important things:

First, cameras, and the noise they generate, is ubiquitous - everyone
owns a P&S and they all make noise; those noises are part of the
background music of all important life occasions, as, for that matter,
are flashes going off;

Second, what is really important is the way the photographer works, the
way he or she relates to the subject, and not the decibel level of the
camera."

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