Ask an Agent / How to silence my camera!

Ask an Agent is a regular monthly feature answering your questions about the business of photography – the photography industry’s first Agony Aunt!If you have any questions you’d like to ask a photographers agent please send them to hello@lisapritchard.com. Questions can be on anything to do with the photography business, such as photoshoots, marketing, professional practice, pricing, contracts, legal stuff – anything.

This month we have a technical question!

Dear Ask an Agent

I wonder if you might be able to help? I’ve been commissioned to shoot some stills on a TV production. They are recording sound and I've been asked to find a way of making sure my camera doesn't make any noise? Any ideas?Thanks,Annabelle

Hi Annabelle,

Good question, and yes we do have a solution!

You can get a piece of equipment called a sound blimp. A sound blimp is a sound proof housing which you can attach to your camera which reduces the sound caused by the shutter click. Sound blimps are specific to your make and model of camera and also the type of lens you are using so you have to be sure to get the right one or it won't work!

Sound blimps are a little outdated these days so can be tricky to get hold of in the UK. Be careful not to get them confused with a waterproof camera casing, as they're similar but do very different things! Wex Rental have one or two which you can hire for approx £120. LPA have done this before on a film shoot with Futures photographer Imogen Forte. We asked Imogen for some tips on using a sound blimp, here's what she had to say!

"This was the first time I'd come across a sound blimp. It was essentially a padded out waterproof camera case so wasn't entirely silent and it didn't allow great access to the buttons I needed, so in ways was more hassle than it was worth. Thankfully the assistant had brought along a camera with a Sony silent shutter. They're a fairly new development but other brands will no doubt start to introduce them in the future. I'd definitely be tempted to get one at some point - they're really helpful for shoots like that where you need to shoot and film at the same time."

So there you go! If you need to reduce the sound coming from your camera they're worth a shot, but to be totally fool proof in the future look out for cameras with a silent shutter.

Let us know how you get on!

Whether you’re a creative director or a student, a photographer or a designer, an art buyer or an assistant, if you have any questions you’d like to ask a photographers agent please send them to hello@lisapritchard.com and we’ll answer as many as we can!

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