I miss my mirror flop :)

[Chris 3754]

I entered the photography world in 1979 with a Canon AE-1 and progressed through several SLR iterations over the years. Eventually, I found Sony mirrorless and never looked back. I do, however, miss the confirmation sound and feel of the SLR mirror flop. In my world, a silent camera was not that important. It just confirmed to me that I actually took a photo, and it became part of my picture-taking DNA. With my first Sony cameras, an a7iii and a7iv, I usually used the mechanical shutter because of weird lighting conditions and the fast action of ice hockey to avoid a rolling shutter effect, so I still had some audible and tactile camera feedback. Not having that feedback would be like playing pinball (you young folks may need to Google that) without lights and sounds. As an aside, Apple uses the sound of an actual Canon AE-1 as the iPhone camera shutter sound! Well for me, welcome to the 21st century, and recently made the leap to an a1ii. I can now shoot with the electronic shutter and have not seen any rolling shutter effect, and I love the audible shutter sound option the a1ii provides. I still use my old film cameras and nothing matches that mechanical shutter feel from a vintage camera, but the a1ii fills this void for me.

 

[iamdlewis]

When I got the A9 I thought that I would miss the shutter sound but after my first day of trying fully silent I was sold on it. I actually now find it annoying when I need to use the shutter or around others that use mechanical shutters/sounds. Glad they gave the option for full silent and options for when to use sounds so each can setup to what they like.

 

[Unframed Dave]

I miss it from a nostalgic point of view. My old Practika MTL3 used to sound like a Cold war era Mercedes bonnet being slammed. They probably shared the same parts.

From a birding point of view though, silent is king. In the UK, photographers, are often referred to as "toggers" in the world of birding. The looks of scorn I've felt burrowing into me when in public hide have left scars, deep scars. A friend of mine emigrated to Canada, I'm sure it was as a result of a telling off whilst on a twitch.

The middle aged, middle class Brit, has mastered the withering stare like no other nation on the planet. I blame Churchill.

 

[Chris 3754]

I miss it from a nostalgic point of view. My old Practika MTL3 used to sound like a Cold war era Mercedes bonnet being slammed. They probably shared the same parts.

From a birding point of view though, silent is king. In the UK, photographers, are often referred to as "toggers" in the world of birding. The looks of scorn I've felt burrowing into me when in public hide have left scars, deep scars. A friend of mine emigrated to Canada, I'm sure it was as a result of a telling off whilst on a twitch.

The middle aged, middle class Brit, has mastered the withering stare like no other nation on the planet. I blame Churchill.

Lol

 

[Chris 3754]

I have to agree with the previous posts that there definitely is a place for silent shooting. The days of press conferences with flashing strobes and whirling camera sounds are thankfully gone. However that nostalgic feeling does add welcomed drama to a movie press conference scene. At my weekend hockey games I cann barely hear my own camera sounds so I go full volume and enjoy the warm fuzzy feeling. I do go silent when appropriate. Recently while shooting at a bird rookery in Venice, Florida I found myself standing next to a woman who had the focus lock beep enabled. After the first two minutes of beeping I started to think that either my seatbelt was unfastened or my microwave popcorn was done. You guys are completely correct, as photographers we need to read the environment and respect others.