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5D shutter sound

Discussion

6 replies
Posted by Nick Lazazzera on August 2, 2010 at 3:38 PM
I have not been able to find any information in the 5D user's manual or on the Canon web site, so I am hoping to tap into someone's resource here. I would like to turn off the shutter sound on my 5D. How do I do that?
Thanks!
Posted by Floris van Breugel on August 2, 2010 at 4:31 PM
Not sure what you mean by the shutter sound - do you mean the mechanical mirror slap/shutter? You can't turn that off. You can buy a sound blimp that muffles the sound - http://www.soundblimp.com/what.htm
Posted by Dietrich Gloger on August 2, 2010 at 5:40 PM
Floris is right, Nick. Shutter sounds of cameras can only be turned off if the sound "simulated". Compact cameras or bridge cameras offer this feature to let the camera sound "real". The 5D is "real"... :wink: The shutter is a mechanical device which makes some noise when it moves. No way to turn this off.
Posted by Peter Barnes on August 3, 2010 at 1:18 AM
And it is not just the shutter - in fact most of the noise in a 'real' SLR camera is the sound of the mirror (that reflects the image from the lens to the view finder) rotating up out of the way of the shutter and the sensor when you press the shutter button, then rotating back down after the shutter has fired. In a full frame camera like the 5D that is a relatively big mirror, so it makes a fair bit of noise.
Posted by Paul DeCesare on August 3, 2010 at 2:13 AM
Nick, just curious, did you mean 5D Mark II? If so, just go to the Live View settings menu, put the Mode on "Stills Only" and select Mode1 for Silent Shooting. The mirror will stay popped up thus making the image-capture quieter (just the shutter sound will be heard, very faint).

If you have an original 5D and heard about "5D silent shooting", only the Mark II has that. Hope that helps!
Posted by Nick Lazazzera on August 3, 2010 at 10:28 AM
Thanks to everyone for your comments. My mind was in such a "digital" mode that I forgot I was dealing with a physical, mechanical action. In fact, I like that solid shutter/mirror sound. However, when I am shooting in crowd or at a meeting, which I frequently do, I wanted to be a bit more silent. Oh well! Noise is part of photography. Thanks again.
Posted by Floris van Breugel on August 3, 2010 at 12:33 PM
You can upgrade to a 5D2 and shoot in liveview - then there's no mirrorslap.