Noisy T5 (body, not image noise)

[Martyjoy]

I'm a new DSLR user and have had a new T5 for a few days. I know there are higher rated models in this segment but the T5 is the right camera for me at this time. Here's my question: the camera makes a loud clunking sound when shooting or changing features. Although it doesn't bother me, I did want to ask if that's normal or have I somehow gotten a defective one. I imagined a DSLR sounding more electronic than mechanical.

[ebiggs1]

Not normal.

Other than the shutter noise there are really no mechanical parts to "clunk" around.  Take it back and see if another one sounds like this because you may be reffering to the shutter noise ( or the lens snapping in place).  But if it is making a "clunking" sound it shouldn't make, you don't want it.

[Martyjoy]

Thank you ebiggs1. Think I'll go by Best Buy and check one out just to be sure.

[TCampbell]

When the camera takes an exposure there are a few mechanical things happening inside the camera.

When you point the camera and half-press the shutter, the aperture blades inside the lens are fully retracted and the reflex mirror inside the body is in the "down" position so that light entering the sensor body will be bounced up into the viewfinder focus screen.

When you take the shot, the loudest action is that the reflex mirror has to flip "up" and fold flat to get out of the image path -- this allows light to travel all the way to the sensor at the back of the camera.  Also the shutter has to open to take the exposure.  It is a mechanical focal plane "global shutter" with two "curtains" or "doors".  One slides open and after a delay, the second door slides shut.  When shooting at higher speeds, the second curtain follows the first curtain leaving only a small gap (depending shutter speed) to expose only some of the pixels.  This guarantees that no individual pixel will be exposed to light for longer than the prescribed amount of time regardless of the travel speed of the shutter curtains.

Less noisy, but still mechanical... up in the lens the aperture blades stop down to reduce the aperture to prescribed size needed for the shot and then these retract open again after the shot is taken.

The noisiest component is the mirror... which makes quite a slapping noise as it flips up and then back down.  On some higher end bodies the shutter can be put into a "silent" mode which isn't really completely silent, but it does dampen the speed of the mirror swing (the noisiest component) so that you hear a soft-shutter noise instead of a louder slapping sound.

As for changing modes... if you switch into or out of video mode then you'll also hear them mirror-slap.  That's the reflex mirror flipping out of the way so that the sensor can continuously record video.  The main dial on the camera as well as the mode dial do have click-stops but I assume you're not worried about the clicking sound of adjusting those dials.

Hope that helps.

[Martyjoy]

TCampbell thanks so much for your detailed reply! I think what I'm hearing is exactly what you're describing. It's helpful to know what's going on in there. Whatever it is, I'm very happy with the images. Thank you.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Martyjoy wrote:
I'm a new DSLR user and have had a new T5 for a few days. I know there are higher rated models in this segment but the T5 is the right camera for me at this time. Here's my question: the camera makes a loud clunking sound when shooting or changing features. Although it doesn't bother me, I did want to ask if that's normal or have I somehow gotten a defective one. I imagined a DSLR sounding more electronic than mechanical.

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The clunking is probably from the autofocus mechanism and/or the image stabilizer. Whether it's normal or not depends on how loud it is. Neither should be very loud, but noises sound louder if you're not expecting them. Try turning autofocus and the stabilizer off and see if it makes a difference. If it doesn't, or if the difference is profound, your camera should probably be seen by a repair shop.

[Martyjoy]

Thank you Bob! Tried one out at Best Buy and it sounds just like mine so it must be normal operating noise.