Dear colleagues...is there any eay to minimize the shutter noise of the D700...last week I attended a special conmemoration ceremony /organ performance in a very old anglican Chapel in Valparaiso /Chile...took a couple of shots...but the noise of the shutter was...to say the least alarming ! & therefore had to put the camera away...Any help much appreciated. Otherwise the camera is superb.
Regards,
Robert

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I'm not a pro nor an experienced photographer, but I love the quietness of the Leica M6/M7 or the Rolleiflex TLR. (Ok sorry, that doesn't answer your question.)

But SLRs are generally loud and clunky. I'd love to hear what creative ideas people have.

Hussam

My personal theory... SLRs and dSLRs like this one can be used professionally. Professional press photographers are usually very conspicuous, and their cameras, given their bulk, tend to be conspicuous as well. With that a conspicuous camera, why bother making the shutter discrete?

BTW, I did get to compare the shutter noise of three Nikons: the F80, the F100 and the F5. The loudest one was the F5.

There's no "silent shutter" setting in this camera. Other than probably wrapping it in towels, I have nothing to offer to you about this, except that if you want a whisper of a shutter, get a Leica instead. A friend of mine has a D300 and told me that the shutter sounds like a thunder more often than not, so, all D700 users will have to live with this... or take our cameras to jazz concerts instead!

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Francisco
Recovering Nikonian in Illinois
My Nikon D700 Blog

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The are housings that reduce the shutter sound, but they are not cheap and not very comfortable to use either. See http://soundblimp.com/nikon.htm for instance. But if the housing makes the difference between a few pictures or none at all, it can be worth the effort.

Despite the conspicuous gear, I believe it's an art to take a picture and be unnoticeable. For inspiration, watch James Nachtwey's documentary titled "War Photographer":

http://www.war-photographer.com/en/

<... unfortunately, he shoots Canon ...>

Speaking of the F5, ironically, it supports a "Cs" film advance mode, which supposedly provides near-silent continuous shooting. Personally, I found it be louder than the other advance modes.

Finally, the older D1, D1X, D1H and D70 (I've never tried any) incorporates electronic shutters, so I'm not sure if that makes them any quieter

Hussam

Even with an electronic shutter, there is still a mechanical focal plain, curtain, shutter and mirror movement.

George
My Nikonian Galleries

Dear All...many thanks for your views/info.Very helpful.
Regards,
Robert

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I don't shoot events often, but a Coolpix 7900 stays in my bag for just this reason.. Can't remember for sure, but I think it was Dave Black who scored a winning photo of Tiger on the tee with a P&S..he was able to do so because it was dead quiet. I'm not suggesting shooting your entire event, but to grab a few shots with the P&S would have yielded you more than what you got with putting the D700 away.

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Michael
D300, D700 and a lot of other stuff
Member NWPLI

Check out Camera Muzzle. I haven't used one before. It is unwieldy and plain ugly. It only muffles the sound and not completely silences the camera.

There are many occasions where I put the SLR/DSLR away because the shutter noise would have been disruptive.

Now if only there is a P&S that has little or no noise both mechanically and at ISO 6400.

I remember during the 5D Mk II introduction there was a mention of a quiet mode used in conjunction with Live View. I haven't heard any discussion of it as yet. Well, the world is still waiting for the verdict on it's IQ and the high ISO low noise performance.

I am sure that Francisco (SolaresLarrave) was joking when he said, “…take our cameras to jazz concerts instead!” because jazz concerts, like organ recitals, have their loud moments and their quiet moments.

At one time, I tried to use a blimp to deaden the sound of my SLR when shooting threatre but the muffled sound was still too loud for my tastes.

What works best for me is to carry two cameras—an SLR to use during the loud passages and during the quiet passages, I switch to a rangefinder if I am shooting film or a silent compact camera (like your Nikon Coolpix 5000 or Nikon Coolpix 5700) if I am shooting digital.

Of course, it is possible to shoot the entire performance with the rangefinder or the compact digital; however, the SLR can provide me wider focal lengths, longer local lengths, and faster lenses than the rangefinder or the compact.

>What works best for me is to carry two cameras—an SLR to use
>during the loud passages and during the quiet passages, I
>switch to a rangefinder if I am shooting film or a silent
>compact camera (like your Nikon Coolpix 5000 or Nikon Coolpix
>5700) if I am shooting digital.


Exactly what I do. (Coolpix stays in my bag all the time)

I'd rather a slightly lower quality image than none at all, or be asked to leave the slr in the bag for the balance of a show because I was interrupting.

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Michael
D300, D700 and a lot of other stuff
Member NWPLI

Not really... and I know all too well that jazz concerts aren't noisy. It simply happens that there's less of a church-like moment in a jazz concert (I went to listen and photograph Reginald Robinson in a concert hall within the CSO Hall in Chicago, with my F5). I only shot my very noisy camera when he was playing a crescendo. Since his genre is ragtime, it was relatively easy. And the shutter noise was completely muffled by the musicians.

I must scan my slides some time...

BTW, my D700 is even quieter than the F5.

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Francisco
Recovering Nikonian in Illinois
My Nikon D700 Blog

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I shot my first church wedding with the D700 a few weeks ago. My wife was in the church the whole time. With my nose pressed up against the camera I was aware of some shutter sound, but I asked my wife if she heard it and she said NOT AT ALL. The good news is I shot only available light at ISO 3200 and certainly was much less annoying than the other folks shooting with strobes. (Many Priests/Ministers ask that no flash be used during the actual ceremony and the D700/D3 really shines then.)

A photographer makes the picture....the gear only helps!

I believe most of the noise generated by SLR/DSLRs is from the mirror. Maybe Nikon can work on this. A good rangefinder, as was mentioned, makes sense.


Fred Isom

www.fredisomphotography.com

The noise may also be carried/amplified by your skull being pressed against the camera. Try putting the camear on a tripod in a quite room and releasing the shutter to get a sense of the noise. Remember sound decreases by the square of the distance like light.

George
My Nikonian Galleries

Hi, it was reassuring to read your message about the D700 shutter noise. I have a wedding to shoot this saturday and did some test shots in the church yesterday and the shutter sounded increadibly loud, it was reassuring to know that when you shot your wedding your wife was unable to hear it. It has made me feel a lot more confident about the whole thing.


Tony

www.tonysalephotography.co.uk

A big difference between camera models is the shutter noise. The D3 has a much quieter sound than it's lesser models.

I am not sure about all Canon bodies but I do know that the 1D Mark III had the option to shoot in a quiet shutter mode which was cool. Too bad the AF motor on the camera died after 15,000 clicks... that's Canon for you lately.

So yeah, the D3 will be pretty substantial in shutter sound and noise level. I think there are a boat load of websites out there that record the shutter noise and have audio files of them all.

If you want something quiet then a Leica will be your best bet.

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one thing i have found helpful in some of these situations.

if the goal is simply to minimize distraction, or to have people notice me less,

i will release the shutter, often, and at odd times, for no reason, pointing at nothing, pretending i'm 'testing', or whatever.
as folks are attracted to the noise, and see i'm not pointing it at them, or anything in particular, they get accustomed to the noise,

and then, when i am trying to be the 'fly on the wall', they have heard the noise before, and have lost interest in what i am actually doing.

obviously this is not what i would do at a funeral, or any other situation where distracting noise would be rude.

this is for situations where the noise, itself, is not the problem, but just the distraction it can cause.

other than that,
for situations you find yourself in, where a noisy kodak is just not cool,
having a non-SLR in the kit bag for a few shots, is priceless.

I'm afraid a quality point and shoot is your only option; DSLRs are the kiss off death here... all of them.

Only if you are on a sound stage. One can always use a camera blimp or a camera muzzle

George
My Nikonian Galleries

I understand the issue you are faced with. I have been photographing a high school orchestra for about 6 years and what I have learned to do is listen carefully to the music and only shoot when the more dynamic sections are being performed. An organ recital would be more problematic, but the louder the music, the more it "covers up" the noise your camera is making. Hope that helps a little.