Topic: DSLR with really quiet mirror slap (or point'n shoot)?

[sunjan]

Hi all,

For the last few years, I've been taking concert photos with my Nikon D70.
Since I usually tape simultaneously, I find the noise from the camera way too loud. This is mainly the mirror slap and the shutter maing noise.

Back in the analogue days I was using a Nikon FM2N, which was much more tolerable.

Now I've heard about this new function called Live View, which supposedly Canon 40D and Nikon D300 has. My understanding is that this eliminates the mirror slap noise? Are they the most quiet DSLRs around, or do you have other suggestions?

Or any point'n shoot/rangefinder that's absolutely silent, but still have good specs?!

/Jan

[it-goes-to-eleven]

In quiet venues those SLRs can easily be heard Many feet away (10-20').....  Seems like it should be possible to more heavily dampen the mirror at the expense of shooting delay/fps.  Don't know if anyone is doing a mod like that.

Gotta love the folks with otherwise silent cameras who leave the dumb shutter sound effect on and don't know how to turn it off.

[Sanjay]

Live view does not eliminate the shutter click, in fact more clicks occur.  No DSLR will eliminate that.  The quietest I've heard has been the Pentax series. 

Think about this, if what you are recording is quiet enough that a shutter sound will appear on your tape, it would likely be discourteous to other listeners to be snapping away at pictures.

[stirinthesauce]

Sanjay is spot on.  The newer models are quieter but a dslr is going to have a large mirror and action noise.  Some do better than others, my 20d has a big 'ol slap whereas my rebel xt is bit quieter.  I haven't played with the 40d but I hear it is an improvement.  My advice, go to a reputable camera store and try out any of their demo's or display units and see which one is most tolerable. 

[sunjan]

Live view does not eliminate the shutter click, in fact more clicks occur.  No DSLR will eliminate that.  The quietest I've heard has been the Pentax series. 

Think about this, if what you are recording is quiet enough that a shutter sound will appear on your tape, it would likely be discourteous to other listeners to be snapping away at pictures.

Yeah I know, the mirror noise is a drag and I always wait until a loud moment comes, or snap inbetween the songs. Sometimes I get a pass to the photo pit, which won't bother the audience, but is less than optimal from a taping standpoint.

I'll have a listen to the 40D and Pentax K10D FWIW. They should beat my Nikon D70 at least...

+t all around for your tips.

/Jan

[dmonkey]

The pro-model Canons (1D, 1Ds, 1DMkII, etc..) have a "quiet" mode you can put them in. It helps dampen the mirror slap a bit, but it's not silent. I've used it a couple of times just to try it out, but I normally don't need that functionality so I haven't looked at it too closely.

You want really quiet, check out a rangefinder. No mirror to slap around, and many have cloth shutters. Much quieter than SLR, but I don't know of any that are digital right now.

Of course, point 'n' shoot digicams are quiet also...no mirror or shutter to slap around (electronic shutter).

[Sanjay]

You want really quiet, check out a rangefinder. No mirror to slap around, and many have cloth shutters. Much quieter than SLR, but I don't know of any that are digital right now.

[stirinthesauce]

You want really quiet, check out a rangefinder. No mirror to slap around, and many have cloth shutters. Much quieter than SLR, but I don't know of any that are digital right now.

sexy!

[sunjan]

The pro-model Canons (1D, 1Ds, 1DMkII, etc..) have a "quiet" mode you can put them in. It helps dampen the mirror slap a bit, but it's not silent. I've used it a couple of times just to try it out, but I normally don't need that functionality so I haven't looked at it too closely.

You want really quiet, check out a rangefinder. No mirror to slap around, and many have cloth shutters. Much quieter than SLR, but I don't know of any that are digital right now.

Of course, point 'n' shoot digicams are quiet also...no mirror or shutter to slap around (electronic shutter).

Yep, rangefinders was the real thing back in the days. I've read a lot of praise for Konica Hexar AF, called "the most quiet camera ever made". But I'm not going back to film.

The silent mode with 1D sounds exciting. I could never justify the price of a new, but maybe picking up the first model second hand will do... They can be had for $700 on Ebay.

I found this list where they tested the sound levels of some models mentioned in this thread, but 1D was not featured. Interesting results:
http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/181334-post11.html

Maybe digital rangefinders like Panasonic DMC-L1 (aka Leica Digilux 3) is the second best option? Some reviews our there says they are virtually silent. Can anyone confirm?!

/Jan