Ricoh Simple Shutter Sound Question.

Tom K.

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Location
Connecticut.
Name
Tom
Is the new Ricoh GR as silent as the Sony RX100?

I have the RX100 with all the sounds turned off. The only thing you can just barely hear is the shutter. But it is sooooo quiet that it's insignificant.

For those who have handled both cameras. What is the answer to that question.

Thank you,
Tom K.
 
...and you can turn off all extraneous sounds as well as the power button light and go into stealth mode as it were.

I want as stealth as humanly possible. Being able to turn off the sounds and power button light is fantastic. B&H just got this camera back in stock today. This info is helpful to me. Thank you.
 
I set off a firestorm of discontent on the Ricoh forum on DPR by noting that the GR shutter sound was "louder than I expected". It is NOT as nearly silent as the RX100, LX7, X100(s), Nikon A, RX1. With those cameras, I can't hear ANYTHING unless the camera is held near my ear and then its just the most barely audible 'snick'. The GR has an audible click. It's a very light click, it's nothing that would EVER bother me in use, but it is surprisingly louder than the other cameras mentioned or than it's GRD predecessors. I actually find it pretty similar to the GXR-28, maybe slightly quieter. It's far quieter than any non-leaf shutter - the X-Pro, Nex, M43 from Oly or Pany, not to mention any DSLR are all FAR louder. But its not silent.

The ONLY people who've tried it who I've seen express any actual concern about the sound level are people who shoot in museums, in recording studios where ANY sound is unacceptable, etc. I cannot imagine a street shooting situation where it would be audible to anyone but the shooter, and usually not even the shooter. If there's any ambient background noise, you probably won't hear it. So I don't want to over-state it or make it seem like I'm trying to turn it into an issue, because for me it would never be an issue. But in the interest of full disclosure, if you're expecting it to be as utterly silent as the RX100, it simply isn't as quiet...

BTW, enjoy the camera. I think that having recently discovered the joys of zone focussing, you're gonna LOVE "snap focus"!

-Ray
 
I set off a firestorm of discontent on the Ricoh forum on DPR by noting that the GR shutter sound was "louder than I expected". It is NOT as nearly silent as the RX100, LX7, X100(s), Nikon A, RX1. With those cameras, I can't hear ANYTHING unless the camera is held near my ear and then its just the most barely audible 'snick'. The GR has an audible click. It's a very light click, it's nothing that would EVER bother me in use, but it is surprisingly louder than the other cameras mentioned or than it's GRD predecessors. I actually find it pretty similar to the GXR-28, maybe slightly quieter. It's far quieter than any non-leaf shutter - the X-Pro, Nex, M43 from Oly or Pany, not to mention any DSLR are all FAR louder. But its not silent.

The ONLY people who've tried it who I've seen express any actual concern about the sound level are people who shoot in museums, in recording studios where ANY sound is unacceptable, etc. I cannot imagine a street shooting situation where it would be audible to anyone but the shooter, and usually not even the shooter. If there's any ambient background noise, you probably won't hear it. So I don't want to over-state it or make it seem like I'm trying to turn it into an issue, because for me it would never be an issue. But in the interest of full disclosure, if you're expecting it to be as utterly silent as the RX100, it simply isn't as quiet...

BTW, enjoy the camera. I think that having recently discovered the joys of zone focussing, you're gonna LOVE "snap focus"!

-Ray

Well.....the GR gets delivered tomorrow so I can do a side by side test on the shutter sound with the RX100 vs the GR. The RX100 is as close to inaudiable as any camera I have ever used......and I like that fact a lot. I want as stealthily as possible. If the shutter of the GR is too loud for me I will send it back to B&H. Tomorrow will tell the tale.
 
Well.....the GR gets delivered tomorrow so I can do a side by side test on the shutter sound with the RX100 vs the GR. The RX100 is as close to inaudiable as any camera I have ever used......and I like that fact a lot. I want as stealthily as possible. If the shutter of the GR is too loud for me I will send it back to B&H. Tomorrow will tell the tale.

I can't imagine it being too loud for almost anyone. I guess the guy on DPR who found it too loud for a highly sensitive recording studio I could understand. Some folks said louder than they'd want in a museum, but I can't imagine it being too loud for any museum I've been in. For the kind of street shooting you've been doing, I'll be absolutely shocked if you find it an issue at all. I just wanted to answer the question about the GR relative to the RX100 because, as quiet as the GR is, its not as dead silent as the RX100...

-Ray
 
I can't imagine it being too loud for almost anyone. I guess the guy on DPR who found it too loud for a highly sensitive recording studio I could understand. Some folks said louder than they'd want in a museum, but I can't imagine it being too loud for any museum I've been in. For the kind of street shooting you've been doing, I'll be absolutely shocked if you find it an issue at all. I just wanted to answer the question about the GR relative to the RX100 because, as quiet as the GR is, its not as dead silent as the RX100...

-Ray

Thank you. I just finished reading the DPReview thread you started about it. Jeepers. Some folks got a bit testy. I'll know for sure tomorrow. It seems by what I read in the DPR thread it won't be a problem for me. I can't wait to hear the sound now though. Especially after reading that thread.
 
Thank you. I just finished reading the DPReview thread you started about it. Jeepers. Some folks got a bit testy. I'll know for sure tomorrow. It seems by what I read in the DPR thread it won't be a problem for me. I can't wait to hear the sound now though. Especially after reading that thread.

Yeah, I think "contentious" is the general state of being over there. I really didn't think I was making an issue of it at all - I bent over backwards to insist it would NEVER be an issue for me. But there were folks accusing me of making stuff up, of anti-Ricoh HERESY for goodness sake. Jeez, I've been shooting Ricoh for a few years and like them a lot (although I did choose the Nikon A over the GR, so perhaps I'm a traitor, but I fully expected to buy the GR when I started that thread)... Some people claimed I was making it up. I don't know - maybe there is some sample variation and maybe some of them are as quiet as the RX100. But the one I had for a month or so was simply not that silent. And enough folks in that thread backed up my account of it that I suspect they all sound pretty similar. A friend of mine in Philly has a GR and I checked his out and it sounded like the loaner I'd had, so I don't think I'm nuts...

-Ray
 
Yeah, I think "contentious" is the general state of being over there. I really didn't think I was making an issue of it at all - I bent over backwards to insist it would NEVER be an issue for me. But there were folks accusing me of making stuff up, of anti-Ricoh HERESY for goodness sake. Jeez, I've been shooting Ricoh for a few years and like them a lot (although I did choose the Nikon A over the GR, so perhaps I'm a traitor, but I fully expected to buy the GR when I started that thread)... Some people claimed I was making it up. I don't know - maybe there is some sample variation and maybe some of them are as quiet as the RX100. But the one I had for a month or so was simply not that silent. And enough folks in that thread backed up my account of it that I suspect they all sound pretty similar. A friend of mine in Philly has a GR and I checked his out and it sounded like the loaner I'd had, so I don't think I'm nuts...

-Ray

The mind can play tricks on a person. I just went downstairs and gave a listen to my Sony RX100. I used to think it was 99% dead silent. But then when I tried it the sound was louder than I previously thought. Prior to reading all this sound stuff it was dead quiet in my mind. When I take photos with it no one knows I am taking photos. I suspect the GR will be fine....but.....tomorrow will tell the tale for sure.
 
The mind can play tricks on a person. I just went downstairs and gave a listen to my Sony RX100. I used to think it was 99% dead silent. But then when I tried it the sound was louder than I previously thought. Prior to reading all this sound stuff it was dead quiet in my mind. When I take photos with it no one knows I am taking photos. I suspect the GR will be fine....but.....tomorrow will tell the tale for sure.
I just did the same with the RX1 and the Nikon A. The RX1 I could hear, barely, with the camera at my face. At half an arm's length I can't hear it at all. The Nikon A I can still hear at half an arms length, but barely, and that's in a VERY quiet room. The GR I could hear at arms length and more clearly at any distance than either of these at a foot in front of my face. And in a slightly less quiet environment. And its a somewhat clearer sound, more of a click than a snick. And its still a non-issue to 99.9% of us I'm quite sure. But, when I first heard it, I was "surprised" by the sound, minor as it is. And that's why I titled that thread on DPR something like is anyone else "surprised" by the sound of the GR? Not bothered or disturbed, just surprised. Hopefully, after all of this buildup you'll wonder what I was even talking about - if you find it to be a problem, I'll be even more "surprised" by that!

-Ray
 
Ok.....I just received the GR. I gave it a quick try just to hear the shutter sound. It's louder than the Sony RX100 (which is close to dead quiet). But the sound from the Ricoh shutter is soooo insignificant......especially for the way I shoot that it is not an issue. I will grant you that if you were in a echoey museum where you could hear a pin drop and you clicked the shutter it would be audible. But situations like that are something I will never have to think about.

Bottom line: for me it's not an issue. It is a very quiet camera.
 
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