Nikon FM3a vs F100 regarding noise.

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I have
to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.

Thanks,

Elie

Elie A Shammas writes:

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I
have to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.

Don't know about the FM3A, but if it is similar to the FM2, the
mirror slap will be louder than on the the F100.

BTW, Nikon specifically mentioned lower noise in the F6
announcement. Maybe that's the right camera then? ;-)

Regards,
Chris

--
Bokeh test images: http://www.bokeh.de/en/bokeh_images.html

Elie A Shammas writes:

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I
have to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.

Don't know about the FM3A, but if it is similar to the FM2, the
mirror slap will be louder than on the the F100.

BTW, Nikon specifically mentioned lower noise in the F6
announcement. Maybe that's the right camera then? ;-)

Regards,
Chris

--
Bokeh test images: http://www.bokeh.de/en/bokeh_images.html

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004, Roger wrote:

Elie,

The FM3a's mirror noise is sharper than the F100. I used a Leica M
series for several decades and compared to that the Nikon mirror noise
is very obtrusive, that is if your street ends in a church. But if we
are talking on the street, street-photography, I find the noise of
most any SLR gets lost in the other aspects quite quickly. The subject
perceived noise also depends on your working distance. If your normal
street lens is a 28mm (e.g. WA) and you are working shoulder to
shoulder with your subjects then any SLR noise is discernable. If you
are working with a 50 or 85 then IMO the noise has little effect on
the scene, but you might try this yourself as the subject with a
friend doing the shooting.

Your own comfort level as a photographer probably has more to do with
you noise consciousness than it does for those who you are
photographing; they are often quite unaware of you.

BTW: the FM3a is a much smaller camera than the F100, but I've grown
very fond of the F100 grip and have come to depend on the motor drive
as part of my photography. I also like the high point finder on the
F100 over the FM3a for a lot of reasons. I'm using my F100 with a 28mm
f2.8 AIS (manual focus) lens for much more right now and I really like
the combination. For a long time my street camera was a F3 and I sold
a FM2n to buy that. The smaller footprint is handy for working out of
a small bag, but I find the F100 superior to both cameras for general
photography.

Regards,
Roger

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004 07:38:14 -0400 (EDT), Elie A Shammas
wrote:

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I have
to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.

Thanks,

Elie



Roger,

Thanks for the reply. I know for fact that the F100 is far more advanced
than the FM3a. I just want a light weight, robust everyday camera. Very
low dependence on batteries and relatively cheap.
I have a decent offer for an FM3a along with AI 28mm f/2. Just the
combinations I need. I just wanted some input on the camera shutter noise.

I own a Maxxum 7 and I find it rather noisy. I used to own an Aria which
was not as noisy, but still the motor advance was irritating, to me at
least. Since, I handled the F100 I was very impressed by its operation
smoothness. So I conclude from you post that the FM3a noise levels should
be similar to that of the Aria, which is acceptable to me.

Thanks for the reply.

Elie

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I own a Maxxum 7 and I find it rather noisy. I used to own an Aria which
was not as noisy, but still the motor advance was irritating, to me at
least. Since, I handled the F100 I was very impressed by its operation

Believe me, the Maxxum 9 is much worse!

Consider a rangefinder if you really want to get the noise down... the Canon
Elan 7's are quite quiet as well.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I own a Maxxum 7 and I find it rather noisy. I used to own an Aria which
was not as noisy, but still the motor advance was irritating, to me at
least. Since, I handled the F100 I was very impressed by its operation

Believe me, the Maxxum 9 is much worse!

Consider a rangefinder if you really want to get the noise down... the Canon
Elan 7's are quite quiet as well.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004, Alan Browne wrote:

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I own a Maxxum 7 and I find it rather noisy. I used to own an Aria which
was not as noisy, but still the motor advance was irritating, to me at
least. Since, I handled the F100 I was very impressed by its operation

Believe me, the Maxxum 9 is much worse!

Consider a rangefinder if you really want to get the noise down... the Canon
Elan 7's are quite quiet as well.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Hi Alan,

What do you mean worse, in what sense. I handled a Maxxum 9 once, and
noticed that the mirror/shutter mechanism to be better damped than that of
the Maxxum 7. But that could be due to the heavier consrtuction. However,
I can not remember if it the 9 was louder than the 7.

Elie

On Thu, 23 Sep 2004, Alan Browne wrote:

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I own a Maxxum 7 and I find it rather noisy. I used to own an Aria which
was not as noisy, but still the motor advance was irritating, to me at
least. Since, I handled the F100 I was very impressed by its operation

Believe me, the Maxxum 9 is much worse!

Consider a rangefinder if you really want to get the noise down... the Canon
Elan 7's are quite quiet as well.

Cheers,
Alan

--
-- rec.photo.equipment.35mm user resource:
-- http://www.aliasimages.com/rpe35mmur.htm
-- e-meil: there's no such thing as a FreeLunch.--

Hi Alan,

What do you mean worse, in what sense. I handled a Maxxum 9 once, and
noticed that the mirror/shutter mechanism to be better damped than that of
the Maxxum 7. But that could be due to the heavier consrtuction. However,
I can not remember if it the 9 was louder than the 7.

Elie

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I have
to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.


Hi Elie,

The FM3A has an extremely noisy shutter, just like the FM2 and FE2
before it. Shutter noise is probably the FM3A's weakest feature.

In comparison, the F100's shutter is silky smooth and quiet, but
obviously there is the noise of the motor winding the film.

Tony

Elie A Shammas wrote:

I am thinking of buying an FM3a for my candid street photography. It
should be rather quite as there is no motor drive. The only noise I have
to worry about the mirror slap.

I have handled an F100 once and was very impressed with its smooth
buttery mirror slap. I am wondering how does the FM3a's mirror slap
compare the the F100's.


Hi Elie,

The FM3A has an extremely noisy shutter, just like the FM2 and FE2
before it. Shutter noise is probably the FM3A's weakest feature.

In comparison, the F100's shutter is silky smooth and quiet, but
obviously there is the noise of the motor winding the film.

Tony