Hi, Paul, As I already commented, I love that shot!
You're right about the Leica - my CL (which is apparently one of the loudest Leica RF's) is pretty quiet. But, my two Yashicas, both with iris shutters (a Mat and an Electro 35) are almost silent compared to the CL. I wonder if the whole noise issue is a bit overblown, though. Usually there's enough ambient noise on the streets that a small mechanical SLR would be hard to hear, too. That being said, I was taking photos in a cafe today (of dogs, not people), and the owners didn't notice me taking the shots - even after I'd snapped, no one looked up (I did see the dogs' ears perk up, though). That Leica is pretty quiet. To get back to the whole "stealth" thing, I tend to agree with Tom, in that usually, I prefer to have some reaction to to the camera, so I don't often take stealth shots. Except this month's PUG. Or this one (which was taken with a telephoto zoom): http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1502413&size=lg But, generally getting a reaction is what I want in street photography - not that I'm good at it yet, but I'm trying; http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1204193&size=lg cheers, frank Paul Stenquist wrote: > Of course Leica is probably the most common "street photographer" > camera, and it is a focal plane shutter. Yet it is very quiet. It's the > mirror that creates most of the noise in an SLR. I shot this with my > ancient Leica iiif sitting on the table in a Paris cafe. The woman at > the next table, who was no more than four feet away, never glanced my > way. http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=1542479 > Paul -- "I don't believe in God, but I do believe in pi" - Henri Cartier-Bresson
