hiding the 'click' when it might get you in trouble

[Alfred D.]

That's why Leicas were the wedding photographer's prime cameras for decades. They made an incredibly modest little amount of noise when exposing. You'd have to keep your ear next to it to hear it. Perfect for church weddings and services. If you knew your way around available light photography. Real craftsmen, those guys. In no small amount aided by their Leica's impressive precision and the fabulous central shutter mechanism.
Pricey, too.

 

[Senor Hound]

lol... so you get one shot and only one shot.... rustling a newspaper during an oprah or symphony? I'd like to see that. lol

I have to agree... so far the quietest of cameras are P&S's without the artificial shutter noises.

I don't like to pick fun, especially of someone as cool as usayit, but this made me laugh so much. Perhaps you could take the photos when she has everyone look under their seats for their brand new car!

On another note, though, is it REALLY that big of a deal to hear a shutter once in a while during a wedding? I mean, I'm sure people don't like it (cause people are like that), and I totally understand wanting to keep noise to a minimun, but come on! I mean, if you want photos, you're going to hear shutter. I don't see how people can find a shutter THAT annoying, I mean, it's not like a cell phone going off or something.

 

[Battou]

That's why Leicas were the wedding photographer's prime cameras for decades. They made an incredibly modest little amount of noise when exposing. You'd have to keep your ear next to it to hear it. Perfect for church weddings and services. If you knew your way around available light photography. Real craftsmen, those guys. In no small amount aided by their Leica's impressive precision and the fabulous central shutter mechanism.
Pricey, too.

I paid some three hundred for mine. I should use it more.

 

[mrodgers]

FYI.....

Both shots taken with a no-shutter-noise P&S from about the same area within 20 feet
First taken from as far away as I could get up against the wall in the corner. Second taken from one section over towards center ice and 3 rows down (and cropped for getting tighter on the faceoff).

 

[usayit]

I don't like to pick fun, especially of someone as cool as usayit, but this made me laugh so much. ....

HEHEHE lol. It was late.. I have to say I laughed pretty hard too when you pointed it out.

On another note, though, is it REALLY that big of a deal to hear a shutter once in a while during a wedding?

It was a big deal in the past and depending on what you shoot still can be. The noise pollution we hear today is vastly more audible than it has been in the past. We have all been a bit desensitized to our noise every day lives.

Loud talkers on cell phones in a quiet area (restaurant, cafe, bookstore ..) grate on my nerves a lot. I got to those places for some quiet.


Here's a bit of info....

http://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/directive/vicops/dir_sep_25_90.pdf
Notice section 2 bullet b. This is for Jersey but it was widely accepted that the cloth shutter Leica M rangefinder was the watermark for camera noise in the court room.

 

[Hawaii Five-O]

What about nature photography, loud shutter could scare away some animals.. just a few examples.

I think a sneeze would be louder than a shutter, especially the snotty ones

 

[ksmattfish]

I'm rarely worried about people seeing or hearing me photograph, but if I wanted to fool people I'd switch to my Rolleiflex TLR. Not only is it absolutely silent (the shutter is quieter than a pin drop, as most leaf shutters are), but most folks don't know what waist level finders are. Never raising the camera to my eye fools most folks. The coolest idea I've heard is to take a toilet paper tube and make it look sort of like a lens (cut it short, paint it black). Then stick it over the focusing knob of a TLR. Point the fake lens away from your subject and the real lens towards them. They think you are looking the other way.

SLRs make noise because the mirror slams up. Point-n-shoots and other camera designs have leaf shutters which are very silent. Even focal plane shutters are fairly quiet as long as there's no moving mirror (like a Leica). Focal plane shutters are still louder than leaf shutters.

When I shot weddings with film I was using Hasselblads and Pentax 67IIs. If you think your DSLR is loud you should hear one of those babies go off. Ker-chunk!! Like an axe chopping into a tree truck.

 

[Overread]

Can I say that us wildlife lot hate shutter noise !
In the woods a shutter click is like canon fire

I think that the more advanced DSLRs are quieter than the lower end ones and I have heard that some waterpoofing covers can act as a good noise dampener.

ps I think digi cams from Japan as well as all mobile phones are preset to always have a shutter noise as result of some lesser members of society and a new hobby they started which involved small digicams/mobile phone cams, girls/women and shorter skirts.

 

[Tiberius47]

The 40D has a silent mode in live view, and it hardly makes any noise at all.

it locks the mirror up as soon as you go into live view, and when you take the photo, the shutter activates but doesn't reset until you take your finger of the shutter button. Hardly makes a noise at all.

 

[usayit]

Invest in a Pentax 67. They're whisper quiet.

Hahahaha .. about as quiet as a tank.

 

[manaheim]

Some pocket digital cameras have a menu choice that totally eliminates shutter noise. The older Minolta G6 does, as I am sure do others.

skieur

That's because the "shutter noise" is absolutely fake.

I hate it when cameras fake shutter noises. It was funny when my mom moved from a P&S to a DSLR. She asked me "how do I turn off the noise it makes?" I'm like "uh... ma... that's a physical noise... it's real... no turny offy." She looked at me like I had 2 heads.

 

[KD5NRH]

Another situation would be photographing illicit activity; as an unarmed guard, I prefer to keep suspects unaware of my presence until police arrive or until it becomes absolutely necessary for me to intervene myself, so my old S730 still wins out over the DSLR for a lot of situations.

Yes, it's odd that I'm licensed to carry a concealed handgun *except* when I'm working as a guard, but that's how legislators think, so we're stuck with it for now.

 

[Bifurcator]

You need yourself a good rangefinder or a new digital compact.

Yeah! That's something I really noticed again when I started shooting with my A2 from the D2x. The shutter sound kills all anonymity and candid spontaneity. Plus if you're a rebel like me and want to take a picture of museum sculpture (or whatever) against the establishment's policy it alerts the guard's almost as fast as a burglar alarm. With the A2 or any of my other P&S cammys I can shoot in privacy without being obvious. Great for grandkids and etc. :thumbup:

PS: The A2 has like 4 different sounds (or none) you can choose for shutter, focus confirmation, etc. There was one cam I just read about that allowed you to record your own sounds too. LOL

 

[ksmattfish]

The 40D has a silent mode in live view, and it hardly makes any noise at all.

I've never even tried the live view, but the 40D is one of the quietest DSLRs/SLRs I've ever used.

 

[Easy_Target]

That's what I was thinking, if it's street photography then you'll get used to it with time. Taking pics on the street isn't a big deal.

If you're sneaking around the White House... be careful buddy.

Go for Cheney first. :er: