Quick question for the wildlife togs...

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James
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Is shutter noise a problem for you guys?

The reason I ask is that this morning, 2 pheasant's (sp) walked into my garden to have a good old dig around so I ran upstairs and grabbed the first camera I could find, which happened to be the d700.

I quietly opened the conservatory door with ninja esque skill and fired of a couple of shots, at which point they promptly scarpered :lol: (either that or they saw me and ran?)

The shutter is so loud on the D700 and in some respects the D300s too, how do you cope with shutter noise?

I assume you could wrap something around the body, but then how do you get to the controls? :shrug:

This may be a dumb question, but I genuinley have no idea about wildlife photography.
 
With the Kites etc yes they do here the shutter noise but what we do is wait until they have their heads up, shoot, pray they stay where they are and then keep so so still, when they have their head back down to feed, you can then quietly do adjustments to what you need.

We have learnt though when they come into feed we let them get tucked into it first before you start togging away otherwise they go, so we sit back and enjoy the view for a couple of moments. :D

Can be abit difficult with 2 of you shooting as soon as one person lets the shutter off then there is the risk of the bird flying away so that is why it is good to go down there on your own sometimes as only yourself to blame, but we are shooting with a Nikon and Canon and I am sure we can her each others shutters.
 
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This is where live view is useful, on the 5D2 the mirror stays up, so there are a couple of silent shooting modes available.
 
If the pheasants become regular visitors then they'll soon get used to you. Ours like pecking away at the stuff under the bird feeders. When I walk into the garden they'll run off. But if I sit down quietly, they'll soon come back and get within 4 or 5 metres of me.
 
I photograph Kingfishers from a distance of 4 or 5 feet. Shutter noise has never been a problem. They can hear it but it just guarantees eye contact.
Paul
 
the D3 shutter is incredibly loud too, i've been taking photos of deer that have no idea i'm there and they hear the shutter and look at me! 90% of the time it's not a problem though. i think it's the least of my worries in getting a good photo.
 
Is shutter noise a problem for you guys?

The reason I ask is that this morning, 2 pheasant's (sp) walked into my garden to have a good old dig around so I ran upstairs and grabbed the first camera I could find, which happened to be the d700.

I quietly opened the conservatory door with ninja esque skill and fired of a couple of shots, at which point they promptly scarpered :lol: (either that or they saw me and ran?)

The shutter is so loud on the D700 and in some respects the D300s too, how do you cope with shutter noise?

I assume you could wrap something around the body, but then how do you get to the controls? :shrug:

This may be a dumb question, but I genuinley have no idea about wildlife photography.

Your 300s has a "Quiet mode" for the shutter.
Getting in a position to take the pic is a bigger problem for me than shutter noise.
 
I've never had a problem with wildlife and shutter noise, some turn and look but that helps at times.
 
The D300s has a quiet shutter mode, but it only allows one shot at a time (this is probably better for your photography though!). I find that the best thing to do is to let the subject get settled, and slowly start to take pictures.

HTH

Oscar ;)
 
...and don't forget no matter how quiet you are opening a conservatory door the chances are the light reflecting off of it will only be apparent to those on the other side, and will not be the thin white frame you think it is. We have a large picture window upstairs which I leave open for a while to let whatever is outside settle down
 
I find it varies from animal to animal. I visited the Paradise Wildlife Park in southeast Hertfordshire last week. The male white lion went berserk in response to the click made when my Manfrotto monopod extended. By contrast, one of the red pandas glanced briefly up at me in response to the shutter noise from my 550D and then ambled nonchalantly on its way.
 
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