Shutter Sound: D810 vs 5D3

D.P. · 6 Aug 2014 at 21:26

There was some discussion about the D810's quieter shutter and how it compares to the 5Dmk3.
Here is some objective measurements based on sound recordings, not scientific standard but at least a side by side comparison.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR7Kjeq2aH4#t=37

The video review is quite good but jump to 22.50 for the sound stuff.

Results:
D810 Full: -23Db
D810 Quiet: -29Db
5Dmk3 Full: -12Db
5Dmk3 Quiet: -26Db

So the D810 is much quieter than the 5Dmk3 in Full modes, and slightly quieter in Quite mode. In fact, even when the D810 is in Full mode it is close ti the 5Dmk3 in quiet mode.

I guess Nikon listened to the complaints and made some bigger changes to the shutter.

An Exception · 6 Aug 2014 at 22:22

But I don't get why so many people want a quiet shutter?

Edit:
I'll be serious. The D810's shutter is lovely for a DSLR. That with some F1.8 primes makes for a light weight, discrete (in terms of sound) setup with spectacular image quality.
Considering it's usability, it's probably delayed the switch over to mirrorless from when I otherwise would have switched.
The next advancement I see making just as big an impact is electric shutters without jelly effect. Completely silent.

Above&Beyond · 6 Aug 2014 at 23:54

To me the improved live view is the best feature. The quieter shutter is the same as shaving 20g off the weight, it wouldn't matter for any shots I took. The D810 for £1930 looks good if you're still wanting to jump to full frame or upgrade your D700.

snow patrol · 7 Aug 2014 at 08:04

a quiet shutter is very helpful during weddings i find. I always use the quiet mode on my 5d mark 3 and never feel self conscious or worried that my shutter sound is in any way annoying to anyone involved. If i used the regular shutter sound, i think some people might be disturbed by it, especially as i'm usually standing rather close to the registrar.

alexthecheese · 7 Aug 2014 at 14:49

That camera sounds positively excellent to me.

Looking at the shadow detail in the night photography, it's ridiculously good compared to the 5DMK3. Makes me think I must be under-appreciating the DR of my D600!

An Exception · 7 Aug 2014 at 15:14

I haven't actually read/watched a full review yet, but yeh the DR is pretty incredible.

An Exception · 7 Aug 2014 at 22:47

DP, have you read anywhere about added latency of the shutter in QC mode?

D.P. · 8 Aug 2014 at 14:48

An Exception said:
DP, have you read anywhere about added latency of the shutter in QC mode?

I believe there is increased latency because the quite mode is simply flipping the mirror slower. I don;t know what the actual time differences are though.

englishpremier · 8 Aug 2014 at 19:49

Isn't 0db the threshold of human hearing? How are these shutters quieter than that

Rojin · 9 Aug 2014 at 09:03

The D810 is looking pretty awesome.

jonneymendoza · 9 Aug 2014 at 12:45

nice but i dont see the point of a d810 ?

why diddnt nikon go all out and release a d900?

i dont remember the d700 having increment upgrades?

infact i never seen a FF/top of the line body get minor mall upgrades?

its always the lower end dslr that do?

An Exception · 9 Aug 2014 at 14:42

D.P. said:
I believe there is increased latency because the quite mode is simply flipping the mirror slower. I don;t know what the actual time differences are though.

Thanks Dp, that's what i thought. Just wondered is someone or nikon had disclosed the difference.

redline · 9 Aug 2014 at 18:54

jonneymendoza said:
nice but i dont see the point of a d810 ?

why diddnt nikon go all out and release a d900?

i dont remember the d700 having increment upgrades?

infact i never seen a FF/top of the line body get minor mall upgrades?

its always the lower end dslr that do?

I think it maybe because we live in more of an upgrade culture than in the past, with people prepared to spend on rapid iterations. So, it makes financial sense to push-out new models with smaller increments of features and quality, as more people will buy the latest and greatest, even if they do not need it. It is likely cheaper to engineer these small changes, than suffer the costs of R&D for a major revision.

D.P. · 9 Aug 2014 at 21:15

jonneymendoza said:
nice but i dont see the point of a d810 ?

why diddnt nikon go all out and release a d900?

i dont remember the d700 having increment upgrades?

infact i never seen a FF/top of the line body get minor mall upgrades?

its always the lower end dslr that do?

Nikon always release mid-life updates to their pro bodies (d2x to d2xs, d3 to D3s, D300 to D300s, D4 to D4s, D600 to D610).
The D700 was an exaction to the rule because Nikon needed a bigger differentiator to the D3s.
These updates make sense, the pro bodies have a 4-5 year life cycle and in that time small tweaks to sensors, firmware difference, better manufacturing, component changes etc happen. It is actually the lower bodies that don't get minor tweaks because they get a new body reiterated very frequently. Ever change from d3000 to D3100 to D3200 to D3300 had big differences in sensor, meter and focusing. Same with the D5000 series and D7000. They are all very different camera with big changes.

Nikon didn't release a D900 because the D800 is only 2 years old. There hasn't been any significant improvements in sensors, the D800 is still untouched in the DSLR world. The D810 has the D4s AF like the D800 had the D4 AF so nothing new there to add.

Canon don't release updates to their pro cameras because they tend to release on a shorter schedule . They also iterate their entry level cameras way faster (300D to the 700D happened very quickly), but many if these are very minor tweaks, often same sensor.

Both Canon and Nikon approaches are fine. Canon has slit ly more resources to churn out cameras faster, Nikon tend to do it slower but with bigger differences between generations.

An Exception · 9 Aug 2014 at 22:40

£50 says Nikon's successor to the D810 won't be called D900...

D.P. · 10 Aug 2014 at 01:40

An Exception said:
£50 says Nikon's successor to the D810 won't be called D900...

I'm pretty sure it will be. I will bet £50 it won't be the 820, They may have to come up with a complete new numbering system (they did this with the D90 successor which would have been the D100 which was already released). The marketing department won't at all like mid-life tweaks and whole new cameras not being differentiated.
The D800/D810 successor will most probably be the D900, the only question is over the D600/D610

And the reason the D610 got a 10 instead of an S was due to marketing to escape their PR disaster over the D600 oil fiasco, they don't won't D600 hits being returned in google searches. The D810 was named as such to simplify the D800 E and non-E differences. D800Es doesn't have the same clarity (even the suffix case can't be consistent). If the D810 was named D800Es then I would favour D810 being the next new body, and the D810s being the mid-life tweak etc.

There is also surely a large technology change coming at some point with a move towards mirrorless. It I've next generation, I expect D5 and D900 cameras with mirrors. After that (so 7 years from now) Nikon may well be releasing a new line up of F-mount mirrorless cameras and so will use a completely new numbering systems before their current one really ends up with issues. D610 replacement would be the caveat, maybe it would be D650 (or maybe it will be the first mirrorless as a trial for the higher end bodies).