When you ask many photographers what they miss or love the most about shooting film, it’s the feel and sound of the shutter. For better or for worse, mirrorless cameras just aren’t really the same. Even DSLRs didn’t quite capture that film camera shutter magic.
But what about when cameras fake it? The Apple iPhone doesn’t have a shutter sound of its own. So, they captured the sound of the Canon AE-1’s shutter (with the Power Winder attached). That’s the noise you hear every time you hit the shutter in the iPhone camera app.
Canon AE-1 – World’s most famous camera shutter sound
It was posted to Instagram by Phil Edwards, and I can’t believe this hasn’t been common knowledge for years already. I mean, it’s not a particularly significant piece of photographic history, but I’m surprised this wasn’t just one of those random little photography facts that everyone seems to know.
As a reminder, here’s how the iPhone’s camera app sounds…
And this is the sound of the Canon AE-1 (on a fairly slow shutter speed) with the Power Winder motor drive…
Historic Windows Photography
Apple isn’t the only company that has a historically interesting photographic factoid. Although the Canon AE-1 shutter might be the most heard camera shutter sound in the world, it didn’t create the most seen photograph.
That honour goes to Microsoft and the Mamiya RZ67 with Bliss. Bliss is the wallpaper that was distributed with Windows XP. Due to the proliferation of desktop computers during the time of Windows XP’s tenure, it’s widely regarded as the most-seen photograph in human history.
As someone who grew up sitting at a computer pretty much 24/7, I always find it fascinating to see where the worlds of photography and computing have collided during their respective journeys.
