I dug out some published camera test measurements and comments on sound levels in a few Pentax bodies, and I would have to say that my personal opinions on the following bodies were supported by the published info (quoted below my own opinions). (It's a curse, being right all the time - <g>.) (Yeah, right...) ;-)
My thoughts: The M bodies (and I've used the MX, the ME, the ME Super, the MEF, and the MF-1) are all distinctly quieter than the K bodies (I've used the K1000, KX, and K2), the LX (but I love it anyhow), and the A bodies (Super Program/A and Program Plus/A - don't know about the A3/A3000). I would say that the ME Super and the MEF are slightly quieter than the MX. Now, as for Modern Photo and Pop Photo... K1000 - "Our sound test recorded the K1000's shutter's performance at the 72 dB level, just about the average noise level for a 35mm SLR." (includes a graph of sound level over time) (Modern Photography, date of issue not known - I forgot to mark the copy - <g>) LX - "Shutter and mirror noise are about average for an SLR." (Modern Photography, Jan., 1981) MX - "[...] a shutter-mirror noise level during exposure which we judge to be slightly less audible than the average focal-plane shutter SLR." (Modern Photography Photo '81 Buying Guide) ME - "While the metal-bladed focal-plane shutters made by Seiko, Copal, and Pentacon have never been noted for their quietness, certainly the new MFC 11-bladed shutter developed by Seiko and Asahi must rank as one of the quietest of the breed." (Modern Photography, April, 1977) ME Super - "[comparing the ME Super to the ME ...] Asahi has given us [...] a quieter, air-dampened (thus less vibration prone) shutter [...]" (Modern Photography, March, 1980) ME Super - "[comparing the ME Super to the ME ...] Pentax has added a pneumatic cylinder to cushion the mirror's action in the ME Super. The small air-damper works to govern the mirror in both directions." There is also a graphical representation of tested noise level, with measurements made in millivolts (measuring method not described), with comparisons of the tested body to all other bodies tested: "average for cameras of this type tested to date" was about 35 mV; "bars represent minimum and maximum readings for all cameras of this type tested to date" showed the highest noise level to be about 175 mV and the lowest to be about 15 mV; the ME Super's noise level was measured at about 18 mV. (Popular Photography, Sept., 1980) MEF (which has, I believe, an identical shutter to the ME Super) - "Among the quietest SLR's we've tested, the ME-F checked in at 62 dB(A)." (includes a graph of sound level over time) (Modern Photography, May, 1982) Super Program - "While the camera has a relatively low noise level (only 71 dB(A), the sound is somewhat "chunky", which can be seen by the comparatively long hill-like peak of the graph." (includes a graph of sound level over time) ((Modern Photography, July, 1983) [Fred] - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
