Following a comment on a post of mine a few days ago, I have been thinking about shutter noise. I unashamedly like quiet and I really notice when a camera is not quiet, even though that statement is quite relative. I was all excited to see the Sony a900 (this is the camera that brought up the topic in the first place) in the store and I picked it up to give it a few test shots. Ergonomics, handling, buttons: good. Style: very Sony-ish, but I like it (I like it more than the other Sonys). Then, I pressed the shutter release. KER-PLUNCK! Holy cow! That sound alone would take lots of great features and a very low price for me to actually think about buying one.And Mal (my honored commenter), I mean no disrespect. This post is not written to tear somebody else down or, in any way, to make my way sound like the best way. That comment just got me thinking, and I wanted to share some of my thoughts on why (to me) a loud shutter really matters.

I know, this is yet another in a long list of topics that I think about but almost nobody else does. Well, that is not totally true, but the internet does gives us a false sense of perspective sometimes, making unimportant things out to be incredibly important. Even though a hundred people comment on a blog entry on any particular topic, that does not necessarily mean there is even a slim chance I will ever meet anybody in flesh and blood that could care less.

I care, though. Here is why. The reader comment I mentioned above said it should not matter unless the photographer was into stealth photography. Well, not necessarily. It has to deal with the interaction between photographer and subject. If your subject is a mountain and trees, well, then no it does not matter (unless you have really sensitive ears, I guess). If however, your subject is human, it will matter, because humans react to things like that.

I do not want to dive into a Leica-esque philosophical debate, but they do have a point when it comes to leaving as little a footprint as possible. What I mean is this: even if somebody has given me permission to shoot, sometimes the difference between a subtle camera sound and an obvious one could change their reaction and totally change the face I capture. If they are a model, probably not, but I rarely shoot models. I shoot normal people.

My camera is no Leica (I could only be so fortunate), but it is not terribly loud. I have seen faces change that ruin the situation because of sound alone. Maybe I got the shot I wanted on the first try and I can quit; maybe their reaction to the sound ruined my opportunity to keep trying for a better shot.

We even see this issue playing out, in part, in point and shoot cameras. I detest their I’m-taking-a-picture announcements. Again, feel free to not care, but it can make a huge difference. Those beeps and fake shutter noises are just begging your subject to give you their fake smile or break up that natural moment you wanted to capture.

I think the point is this: the more quiet the camera, the more likely the photographer is forgotten and the more likely the situation will continue on naturally without the nervous feeling of being recorded. That means better photos. That means more photos. That is not to mention the feeling of comfort of the subject (though this is just one small issue in the greater issue in that case). This is all important when you need to capture that special moment, that perfect expression. Well, you could just get lucky on the first shot, but besides incredible luck, staying low key always improves your chances.

This is much the same reason I shoot only prime lenses. Well, price, aperture, and quality are other big factors there, but still, you are not carrying around Big Bertha. Keep from drawing undue attention to yourself.

And that is why the quieter your camera is the better.

So, that is the first question. What is essential in a compact camera? Honestly, all we wanted was something small to do videos of our children since I am already carrying around my camera for the photographs. I think we can safely put the video issue aside, though, because almost all compact cameras take the same quality of video. What is the most important part of any camera? Image quality.

My search was to find the best compact camera possible, but not to pay a huge price for it. My research labors where not in vain.

Now, I do not know all the science of it all, but I know the size of the camera’s sensor has a huge part to play. That is fairly easy to understand. I also know that some companies can use a big sensor but still totally mess up the image quality with other factors in the chain, and some companies do pretty well at the impossible task of keeping decent quality from small sensors. Basically, though, the bigger that sensor, the better quality photos you will have. So, my first step was to research compact camera sensor sizes.

I know, this sounds ridiculous, but it is simply something the manufacturers do not want you to know. More megapixels from the same physical sized sensor is not going to give you much better results…if any better. So, I went to the trusty DPReview website, my first stop for research and reviews on cameras. I used their side-by-side comparison to go through (literally) every single compact camera they had in their lists. I found out pretty quickly that there are two basic physical sizes of compact camera sensors on the market: 1/2.5″ and 1/1.6″. I am assuming that is a diagonal measurement, like TV screens and computer monitors. So, even the bigger size is only just over a half inch…diagonally. It is a wonder they can take any decent photos!

So, I made a list of every single larger-sized sensor compact camera. The list itself was interesting. Now, don’t quote me on any of this; I am doing it from memory (I should have kept that list, huh?). Canon had some, but only among their expensive compacts (G9, G10). Of course, Leica had a couple, but you will pay for those too. Several companies were completely devoid of any larger sized sensor…Sony being the one I remember most. Samsung had a few, but very scattered here and there in their camera lines…therefore, it would be pretty hard to actually find one. FujiFilm was the real champion here. Their entire F-series line had the bigger sensor, and that line also has some very competitively priced cameras.

So, for the completely subjective part of this whole thing, my wife had recently shot on a friend’s Samsung compact camera. Since, I have seen photos from the same camera. She did not like the display, and when I saw the photos, I was absolutely appalled at the image quality. We know it was new. There just is not any excuse, regardless of how much it cost, for images that horrible. I am not kidding.

And for the other subjective input, my wife had also recently shot a FujiFilm compact that she kept saying how much she loved. I did not want her to influence me too much while figuring out which cameras were options, but then when the FujiFilm F-series showed so many larger sensor cameras in my list, we started looking that direction.

Again on DPReview, just offhand to try a different approach to find for high-quality compact cameras, I looked at their most highly rated cameras. What do you know, in the list of the most highly recommended cameras on their site, two FujiFilm F-series cameras were listed: the F31fd and F50fd. If you actually read through either of those reviews, you will see how little the extra megapixels help us. The F31fd review not only put it among the best compact cameras of its time, but the F50fd review, which was good in and of itself, still struggled to compare to the F31fd in image quality, especially noise at high ISO (film speed).

So, though I tried my best to search for a F31fd (because image quality better than most new cameras at an old camera price was fine by me) among the shops, I found some as old, but there were no 31s to be found. Actually, since I was actually looking in Singapore, I found that there were many F-series cameras not on my list…I guess they have some Asian versions that DPReview would know by different numbers. Anyway, we ended up buying the FujiFilm F50fd and are already impressed by the image quality.

As for all the other features they are trying to pack in new cameras and the extra megapixels, I would say image quality is the most important factor to most people. Woops. I do know of one feature the FujiFilm cameras have, which most do not, which really is a great feature I could talk about more some time. It has a setting on the dial where it will take two photos, back to back, one with flash and one without. Wonderful. If only more people could see how much better their photos were with the flash off!

So, I will give a respectful nod to the bigger sensor compact cameras from Canon, Leica, Panasonic, and (grudgingly) Samsung, but FujiFilm gives quite a variety of price and function in their F-series, all of which (as far as I can tell) have the (comparatively) larger sized sensor. FujiFilm F-series wins. Rarely would I specifically give brand names like this, but in this case, it really did seem to come out quite clearly.