A Quiet Digital SLR for Discreet Photography

Don't Stand Out in a Crowd

This is the page for you if you're looking for a quiet digital SLR.

There are plenty of good reasons why you want to have a camera that doesn't make a ton of noise:

• A quiet digital SLR will benefit the nature photographer who does not want to disturb the wildlife
• If you take photos of weddings or other quiet events, it's disruptive to be making noise
• You can take photos of your sleeping baby or child when you have a quiet SLR

Why Digital SLR Cameras Make Noise

When a digital SLR camera takes a photo, the mirror that is reflecting the lens image into the viewfinder snaps out of the way and exposes the sensor to light.

This snapping mirror is what causes the noise every time you take a photo with a digital SLR.

Some SLR cameras try to reduce (or dampen) the noise made by the snapping mirror so that there is not a loud POP every time you take a photo.

Which camera does this the best?

The Olympus E-1

The Olympus E-1 camera is a very quiet digital SLR.

Relative to the other major digital SLR cameras (Canon 20D, Nikon D70, Pentax *ist D) the Olympus makes the least amount of noise.

This is probably due to the smaller sensor in the Olympus E-1. The Olympus uses a special sensor (called a 4/3") that is smaller than the sensors on other cameras.

Since the E-1 sensor is smaller, the mirror that sits in front of it isn't very big.

The smaller mirror makes less noise, but Olympus has also done a good job of dampening the sound to make this a very quiet digital SLR.

If you'd like to be the judge, listen to the sound made by the Olympus E-1, the Canon D20, the Nikon D70 and the Pentax *ist D.

Sounds are courtesy of Digital Photography Review, a great tech weenie web site for digital camera enthusiasts.

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