Noisy 5DMKII

vwhoward · January 13, 2010

I love my camera but the shutter is so much noisier than my 40D and my 30D before that. I was taking photos at a concert on Saturday night and was approached by the manger after taking one shot. She said she heard the click from across the room. I realize I can stick it in a sound proof box as in hollywood sound stage photography but that's hardly the answer. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on modifications? I's pay to make it quieter.

This is my first post, I just found this site tonight. This looks like a great place to spend what ever free time I actually have left.

Cuong · January 13, 2010

Have you tried the live view mode?

Cuong

ivar · January 13, 2010

I moved this to the 'cameras' forum.

Welcome to Dgrin, vwhoward

Photoskipper · January 13, 2010

I am using the old 5D and got the similar complaint. One of the guru told me that due to the big mirror for the full frame body, the weight of the mirror is much heavier and cause more noise when it hits the stopper.

I was told that the MkII has much improvement by changing the housing of the mirror assembly.

Upgrading to MKII soon, hope I can get a little quieter shutter

ziggy53 · January 13, 2010

The Canon 5D MKII has 2 "Quiet" modes of operation:

The first mode is mostly using Live View, as Cuong mentioned above. It is very quiet but not completely without noise as the camera still has to lift the mirror, before the Live Mode, and drop the shutter, when you finish the session. Otherwise the actuations are very quiet.

The second mode simply allows you to delay some of the noises, allowing you to decide when to make the noise.

If you don't have your User Manual handy you can review the modes here (Silent Shooting, p120):

http://media.the-digital-picture.com/Owners-Manuals/Canon-EOS-5D-Mark-II-Manual.pdf

You might be able to find a camera "muffler" or "muzzle" to fit, which some courtrooms require (BTW).

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=7-7894-8326

vwhoward · January 13, 2010

Have you tried the live view mode?

Thanks for the reply Cuong. Yes, I have used "live view" but it does not suit my needs. I prefer to hold the camera to my face while looking through the view finder rather than hold it out in front of me. I understand the mechanics of the camera and why it makes a noise but was hoping for some type of modification to lessen it. It really is quite loud and can be annoying in a small music venue. I will probably just go back to my 40D for this particular theatre. It is a much quieter camera and other than the higher ISO possibilities of the MKII the 40D is still a work horse.

vwhoward · January 13, 2010

Thank you for the mode descriptions Ziggy. Even though the MKII is capable of shooting in live view I much prefer using the view finder. Holding the camera in front of me and framing with the screen feels and looks awkward. I will probably just go back to using my 40D for this particular theatre as it is so much quieter. It does not do as good a job at 1600 but is still a work horse of a camera. In the past I have been very happy with the results. The same can be said for my earlier 30D which I no longer have.

ziggy53 · January 13, 2010

vwhoward wrote:

Thank you for the mode descriptions Ziggy. Even though the MKII is capable of shooting in live view I much prefer using the view finder. Holding the camera in front of me and framing with the screen feels and looks awkward. I will probably just go back to using my 40D for this particular theatre as it is so much quieter. It does not do as good a job at 1600 but is still a work horse of a camera. In the past I have been very happy with the results. The same can be said for my earlier 30D which I no longer have.

The Muzzle is only $130 and it would probably bring the 5D MKII down to 40D sound levels. That way you get to keep the better high-ISO capability of the 5D MKII.

http://www.adorama.com/CZM.html

ivar · January 14, 2010

vwhoward wrote:

I love my camera but the shutter is so much noisier than my 40D and my 30D before that.

Weirdly enough, my 30d is a lot louder than my 5d2

kdog · January 14, 2010

This thread got me curious, so I A/B'd my 40D against my 5DMII. The 5DMII definitely has a lower-frequency tone to it, as you would expect a larger surface to do so. However, I find the volume to be roughly the same. The 5DMII might be a little louder, but not drastically so.

nightshadow · January 26, 2010

kdog wrote:

This thread got me curious, so I A/B'd my 40D against my 5DMII. The 5DMII definitely has a lower-frequency tone to it, as you would expect a larger surface to do so. However, I find the volume to be roughly the same. The 5DMII might be a little louder, but not drastically so.

I must admit that I am a bit puzzled by all of this. Is the shutter really nosier, or are onlookers accustomed to smaller quieter shutters? I understand that the mirror for a full-frame must be larger than for an APS-C or H, but it was not all that long ago that we were shooting film, which was full-frame.

rookieshooter · January 26, 2010

Cough when you take a pic. Problem solved

Jeremy Winterberg · January 26, 2010

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. You're there to do your job. Your job requires your tools. And your tools make a slight noise. If it were absolutely necessary to make it quieter, meaning, you wouldn't get the job... I would go with the muzzle ziggy suggested.

What kind of concert was it? I've never had any issues with the noise level of my camera at concerts before. I've shot at small quiet venues to larger heavy rock concerts. Obviously it didn't matter at the rock concerts

Photoskipper · January 26, 2010

I love the shutter sound, the bigger the better. It just to tell the guy next to me that my camera is bigger, heavier and more expensive

ziggy53 · January 26, 2010

nightshadow wrote:

I must admit that I am a bit puzzled by all of this. Is the shutter really nosier, or are onlookers accustomed to smaller quieter shutters? I understand that the mirror for a full-frame must be larger than for an APS-C or H, but it was not all that long ago that we were shooting film, which was full-frame.

Unless you happened to shoot one of the professional film cameras the frame rate of most older film SLRs meant the the mirror mechanism could be rather slow by todays standards. As dSLRs increase their frame rates, the energy needed to move and control the mirror and shutter mechanisms goes up dramatically and exponentially, and so does the noise. Today's shutters and mirrors do have less moving mass which does help the noise level somewhat. The Canon 1D/1Ds also have a mirror "latch" to capture the mirror, which is more effective at keeping their noise at a lower pitch than the 5D/5D MKII which just use a bumper to stop the mirror.

I worked with some Mamiya RB67 shooters and I used Hasselblad bodies to shoot weddings. Now "those" were awfully noisy beasts.

Imagine a medium format mirror flapping around?

insanefred · January 26, 2010

Problem: too loud!
solution: ear plugs!

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

vwhoward · January 27, 2010

Jeremy Winterberg wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. You're there to do your job. Your job requires your tools. And your tools make a slight noise. If it were absolutely necessary to make it quieter, meaning, you wouldn't get the job... I would go with the muzzle ziggy suggested.

What kind of concert was it? I've never had any issues with the noise level of my camera at concerts before. I've shot at small quiet venues to larger heavy rock concerts. Obviously it didn't matter at the rock concerts

Jeremy, I was not working or on the job. I was attending a concert at a venue that I shoot at several times per month. This was an acoustic concert, Chris Smither and his guitar. It was a very quiet night, you could hear a pin drop. I was standing on the side toward the front as usual but for the first time ever I was approached by the theatre manager. After firing off a single shot I was asked to please limit my shooting to the first song because my camera was noisy. I'm not new to concert shooting but this was the first time I had ever heard this. I became self conscious and my camera all of a sudden seemed loud to me as well. I still think it is noisier than my 40D but I'll deal with it. I don't like the idea of using a muzzle.

Photoskipper · February 14, 2010

Just got the 5D2 home before the weekend and spent almost 2 day "warm up" with the new toy.

Compare to old 5D, the new 5D2 is much softer. It just sound like a electric motor with small gears or like to electric toy car starting up. The old one just like the metal plate crashing the wall.

still need some time to get use to it.

ziggy53 · February 14, 2010

Photoskipper wrote:

Just got the 5D2 home before the weekend and spent almost 2 day "warm up" with the new toy.

Compare to old 5D, the new 5D2 is much softer. It just sound like a electric motor with small gears or like to electric toy car starting up. The old one just like the metal plate crashing the wall.

still need some time to get use to it.

Congratulations on the new camera.

robscomputer · February 16, 2010

I've been shooting with my 5d mk2 for the past few months, and charged up the 40d to compare. I was surprised at the difference in sound and vibration from just holding the two cameras. The 40d has a sound like a click where as the 5d mk2 is more "clunk" sound. It's interesting to note how the cameras sound so difference, but even more strange is the Rebel sound, where it's basically the same size internally to the 40d.

Pindy · February 19, 2010

Release the shutter on the downbeats.

but seriously, you gotta learn to focus it then pop it into live view quiet mode 2 and go.

Jonnyyaya · February 19, 2010

I shoot lots of concerts almost 2 to 4 a month, I've never had any issues with the noise level at a concerts before with my camera. I've shot at small acoustic venues to Country & Rock concerts.
Good Luck..

vwhoward · February 21, 2010

Jonnyyaya wrote:

I shoot lots of concerts almost 2 to 4 a month, I've never had any issues with the noise level at a concerts before with my camera. I've shot at small acoustic venues to Country & Rock concerts.
Good Luck..

So do I on a weekly basis or as much as I can. It has never been an issue before and I have taken photos in this particular venue several dozen times. My guess is it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop and the long lens (70-200 2.8L IS) helped it to stand out.

I've also compared my 5DMKII to my 40D and have changed my mind. They sound different but are about the same level. While the 40D makes a double click noise both clicks exactly the same, the 5DMKII makes a double click sound with the second click being a higher pitch than the first. One example may vary from the next also for all I know. Anyway, I love the camera and won't let it get in the way. I shot a jazz concert Friday night and am very pleased with the results. No one said a word about shutter noise either.

Photoskipper · February 22, 2010

First field test, love the zero noise at ISO 1600

Village Idiot · February 22, 2010

ivar wrote:

Weirdly enough, my 30d is a lot louder than my 5d2

Same. The 30D always had what I remember amounting to a quick very audible snap while the 5D MKII is a slower quiter drawn out noise in comparison.

ivar · February 22, 2010

Photoskipper wrote:

First field test, love the zero noise at ISO 1600

I don't think that's the kind of noise people in this thread are talking about

Noisy 5DMKII

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