Posted on 06/23/2010 7:21:55 AM PDT by ronjon
Why is it that when the press is allowed into the white house to cover comments being said by the anointed one, you can barely hear the talking due to the extreme clicking and clacking of the (apparently) antique cameras making so much clatter?
My gosh - Are these news agencies so broke that they can't upgrade to nice, quiet 21st century DIGITAL cameras instead of 20th century (probably dating back to the '30s or '40s) cameras?
Even digital SLRs have shutters.
It’s by design
For the same reason that 911 does not have Caller ID?
I had to call 911 yesterday because of a car PARKED on a US freeway.
The dispatcher asked me for my telephone number. I said, “You don’t have Caller ID?”
He said “no” and did not want to talk about it.
You could buy a car with what most of those cameras and lenses cost.
Point and shoot digital cameras take crappy pictures compared to SLRs and they are probably as quiet as they get.
Digital cameras click. And most of the wire services are dumping many digital images on the web immediately following an event.
My digital SLR still “clicks” even with all the warnings and indicators turned off. Some photographers still prefer old fashioned film.
I know for a fact that 911 definitely has caller id in some jurisdictions. A 911 hang up will result in a visit by the local constabulary.
A digital SLR has a mechanical shutter mechanism, that switches the incoming light from the viewfinder to the CCD. It allows a much higher number of frames per second(FPS) and much shorter latency between depressing the button and the shot being taken.
So where can one readily buy flash bulbs and flash cubes? They worked great connected to trip wires.
When I take pictures I use my excellent Kodak P888 digital.When I take photographs I use my 30 year old Canon A-1 with Kodachrome 64.
It’s the mirrors in SLR’s that make all the noise flipping up and down, not the shutters. Especially when shooting in ‘burst mode’ (multiple frames per second) which is what press photographers do.
My digital camera does have a soft shutter click, but not the load whirr of the film advance. I sometimes think the noise is a soundtrack dubbed in just so us ignorant peasants would know people were taking a lot of pictures.
I don’t know about yours but the state of the art digital SLRs that I use have shutters that click and motors that re-cock the shutter. They are somewhat quieter than film cameras due to the winder/motor drive not having to advance an inch and a half of film through the gates.
Digital point and shoot cameras are indeed quiet but have limited optics and sub par picture quality compared to DSLRs.
The location is also shown on a map for the dispatcher.
Duguerreotypes [spelling highly suspect] were silent, right? Maybe they could do those again.
I'm still waitin' for my eyebrows to grow back!
Consider it a blessing!
The press tends to use smaller microphones (the active element is relatively small) so they are more sensitive to a high frequency transient than a larger mike, or your ears.
The modern high end digtals still have a shutter and mirror, you can find camera reviews that have .wav recordings of the camera sounds. The mikes tend to “like” clicks and pops, so they pick up all those Nikon D90s and Canon 40Ds and DS-1’s working. The cameras tend to be close to the mikes, too- you see a small forest of shotgun mikes with low shrubbery of cameras blasting away in full-auto mode. Clack-clack-clack....
If I recall correctly, the “click” on the DSLR’s is the sound of the mirror moving out of the way. This is normal. The cameras certainly are not “antiques”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.