Mirrorless camera startup and power down sound/noise, including the Z9

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GrandNagus50

GrandNagus50

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I just returned from Santa Clara Ranch in Texas, where I participated in a three and a half day workshop. It was terrific, despite the unseasonably cool, damp weather, which meant fewer birds and animals visited the water holes than would be the case in hotter weather. I had two cameras, the Z9 and my Olympus OM-D-EM1X. I used silent shutter for both, which is a welcome feature in a blind, and is in stark contrast to the rat-a-tat-tat of the DSLR cameras (there were two participants with DSLRs, the rest of us had mirrorless). So far, so good.

I noticed, however, that every time I half-depressed the shutter button of my Z9 there is a "start-up sound," not really loud, but definitely noticeable, and a feature that kind of works against the goal of "silent photography." If I did not depress the shutter for a certain time, there ensued a similar "power-down sound." This has been the case for my other Nikon Z7 camera, as well. But the Olympus is much quieter in this respect. Is there something I can set on the Nikons to reduce this phenomenon?
 
I'm wondering when the camera is set to clean the sensor? There is a menu item. This is a vibrating sound on my Canon, which I set for sensor cleaning on shut down.
 
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I don't have the "clean sensor on startup" turned on, and I do have "silent photography" turned on. I do believe that it is the image stabilization mechanism turning on and off. It's not a really loud noise, and from just a few feet away it is not really audible. But during blind photography, when every sound is kind of magnified, I noticed it over and over and it kind of got on my nerves. Maybe I am one of those "overly sensitive people."
 
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The only way to quiet it is to turn the VR on the lens off. I'm told the noise from the Z9 is the IBIS and the only way to turn the IBIS off (with a non-Z VR lens) is to turn off the VR. I did it for kicks and that seems to be the solution. It would be nice if Nikon would let us just use VR and gave us an option to turn the iBIS off.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Well... I just tested it and it still makes a sound. So then I turned off the shutter. And it still makes a sound. Not as loud but still audible. That's it then. Can't have that. Anyone want to buy a lightly used Z9?
Click to expand...

Ok, through my dim wits I am inferring that Dan is not altogether serious here. The startup lag and this associated light click on and off has been a small annoyance of mirrorless (for me) since I bought my Z7 a few years ago. I know the startup lag drives some photographers crazy, or at least it used to. ON THE OTHER HAND, I can see the day coming before too long when group in-the-blind activity will require mirrorless cameras and DSLRs will be banned or at least highly discouraged. The mirror slap is really, really loud, folks, even in "quiet mode," and it makes taking any video footage problematic (unless one starts from the assumption that the audio track will not be used).
 
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yah, he was joking, but basically he clarified my comment that "silent mode" disabled the protective shield on the z9. it sounds like it makes it quieter, but it doesn't disable it as i had incorrectly recalled. so you should probably disable the protective shield to minimize noise
 
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As a separate comment, I am going to offer that this short trip (with Lisa LaPointe of Muench Workshops) provided a chance for me to compare two reasonably portable telephoto photography rigs. First, there was the Olympus OM-D-M1X with the Olympus 150-400mm 1.25x TC zoom, occasionally supplemented with Olympus' 1.4x teleconverter. Second, there was my new Z9 with the 500mm PF tele and sometimes the TC 14eiii teleconverter. I brought along the TC 20eiii as well, but only used it briefly.

Overall, I felt more comfortable with the Olympus rig. From a fixed vantage point a zoom is really valuable, and 150-500mm (300-1000mm full frame equivalent) really covered just about all situations EXCEPT when there was a group of javelinas present, and that required a wider lens. The quality I got was excellent, in my opinion, and in this somewhat open situation the first-generation Olympus bird detection/tracking actually worked well. The Z9 with the 500mm PF is pin sharp and the full frame images have a ton of "real estate" to work with in post; no quarrel with the results. With the 1.4x teleconverter I perceived no loss in image quality. Eye focus was fantastic, though there were situations where I had to lift my finger and depress the shutter button halfway a second time to lock on. Full frame does better at ISO levels above say, 2000, but I only went up to 3200/4000 first thing in the morning. I used the new Z 100-400mm zoom for Harris' hawk/Caracara photography and it was fine, but I liked the Olympus better for this.

Overall, the Olympus 150-400mm zoom is so good and so versatile, it's hard to beat for photography from a fixed position such as the kind one does at Santa Clara Ranch.
 
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GrandNagus50 said:
Ok, through my dim wits I am inferring that Dan is not altogether serious here. The startup lag and this associated light click on and off has been a small annoyance of mirrorless (for me) since I bought my Z7 a few years ago. I know the startup lag drives some photographers crazy, or at least it used to. ON THE OTHER HAND, I can see the day coming before too long when group in-the-blind activity will require mirrorless cameras and DSLRs will be banned or at least highly discouraged. The mirror slap is really, really loud, folks, even in "quiet mode," and it makes taking any video footage problematic (unless one starts from the assumption that the audio track will not be used).
Click to expand...


I've been to Santa Clara and that is such a great place to shoot, and you simply can't ask for a better guide than Hector. I hope the day never comes when photographers start to discriminate against each other based on dslr vs. mirrorless. In a public workshop, you will have some interested in stills, others that want video, all different brands and types of camera. Not to mention some mirrorless shooters that enable sound to help them track the number of shots they take. Unless you pay for a private workshop, I don't see this happening.
 
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frdjohns said:
I've been to Santa Clara and that is such a great place to shoot, and you simply can't ask for a better guide than Hector. I hope the day never comes when photographers start to discriminate against each other based on dslr vs. mirrorless. In a public workshop, you will have some interested in stills, others that want video, all different brands and types of camera. Not to mention some mirrorless shooters that enable sound to help them track the number of shots they take. Unless you pay for a private workshop, I don't see this happening.
Click to expand...

Hector wasn't present, as he has now expanded his activities to include overseas workshops. A woman named Patty helped out, but our group leader Lisa LaPointe really was in charge of how things were done. I felt very useful, actually, since as a longtime birder I could identify all of the birds. The Tex-Mex food provided for the meals was heavenly. The frustration was that, after we were advised to be ready for "hot weather," we encountered a cold front that produced rain, overcast, and remarkably cold temperatures (as low as the upper forties). I was really glad that I brought not one but two light jackets, both of which I wore in the blinds in the mornings. The animals and birds were not particularly motivated to come drink, particularly after it had rained and other, temporary sources of water became available. We did not see a single bird bathe in any of the ponds until the final morning. Bummer.

Fortunately for me, I am signed up for one of Hector's workshops in late May, where I will be joined by my son, who lives in Nebraska (Kearney; he is enjoying the cranes presently) and does bird photography pretty much only when he is with his dad. I am pretty confident it will be really hot and sunny, and this is what you want at Santa Clara Ranch.
 
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NorthernFocus said:
Well... I just tested it and it still makes a sound. So then I turned off the shutter. And it still makes a sound. Not as loud but still audible. That's it then. Can't have that. Anyone want to buy a lightly used Z9?
Click to expand...
Yeah, FWIW on my Z9 the shutter doesn't close when it goes into standby mode. It only closes if you physically turn the camera off. I *wish* it would close on standby and/or when it detects you've removed the lens because I periodically forget to turn the camera off when changing lenses.
 
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nautiboy said:
Yeah, FWIW on my Z9 the shutter doesn't close when it goes into standby mode. It only closes if you physically turn the camera off. I *wish* it would close on standby and/or when it detects you've removed the lens because I periodically forget to turn the camera off when changing lenses.
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That makes the most sense. I tried to judge by sound(one time) and couldn't really tell. Didn't occur to me to take off the lens. Then again wouldn't occur to me that they'd not have it shut when lens is removed :unsure:
 
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