Sometimes, subtlety is the key to a good photo—whether you’re trying to quietly snap a shot of someone on the street or a candid at a friend’s party. In the short video below, fine-art photographer Davin Lavikka compares the shutter sounds of five heavy-hitting cameras:
As you can hear, the mirrorless Olympus OM-D EM-5 Mark II is beyond quiet—it’s absolutely silent.
When heard immediately after the machine-gun sound of its four competitors (a Canon 5Ds, Nikon D810, Pentax 645z and Sony a6000), there’s absolutely no comparison.
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Great test, but other than the shutter sound volume comparison, these cameras are vastly different.
For example, the Canon 5Ds has a full frame sensor with 50 megapixels, while the Olympus has a much smaller 4/3 sensor with 16 megapixels.
Also, keep in mind that most cameras aren’t used in perfectly silent environments… as photographers, we hear the internal camera noises louder as the camera is close to our ears. Therefore, we expect others to hear the same volume. But in real life, if you’re 10-15 feet away they most likely won’t even notice that you’re taking a picture.