Tech Talk – Camera Sound Blimps Update

The sound blimp is the quintessential production stills photographer’s tool. It is a sound proof enclosure to make the stills camera almost entirely silent. This device means that a photographer can shoot during takes without his or her shutter sound being picked up by the sensitive microphones used by sound recordists.

Sound blimps are also often used by court photographers, classical music and wildlife photographers for when it is absolutely imperative that the slapping sound of the shutter does not disturb the proceedings. I’ve worked almost entirely without one for most of my career as a unit stills photographer, but it makes the job substantially more difficult than it already is. My main reticence to acquire one was the unwieldy nature of the Jacobson Blimp, which up until the last couple of years was the only option.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether sound blimps will soon become obsolete with advancing camera technology. To my knowledge, at this time there is no completely silent dSLR camera model and even the fabled quietness of the Leica M9 rangefinder is not sufficient to meet the requirements of most film sets. High end point and shoot cameras can often be rendered silent but in my opinion the image quality these cameras can produce is not yet sufficient to be relied on for creating publicity images on film sets. Nikon and Canon Pro series cameras now have “silent mode” which shoots without the manual shutter slap, but reports from users of these bodies consistently mention it not being an effective solution.

meet the blimps: click to enlarge

I’ve previously written a detailed round up (including links to available videos) of all the sound blimp options in TT 15 Sound Blimp Round Up (LINK). This article will serve as a simplified rendition of the information in that article. In case you’re wondering, I have no commercial relationship with any of the manufacturers, but I’ve liaised with most over the last couple of years and that information has informed this article.

The table below summarises all of the available information on each of the 5 available or soon to be available sound blimps. In the future, I’ll be looking to test all the sound blimps under the same conditions – subject to the manufacturers being prepared to supply me with test equipment – I’ve got the team on standby for just this purpose!

I’ll welcome comments and suggestions for updates to this information.

Notes
US Prices correct at March 2012 via BH Photo Video and manufacturer’s web sites.
Aquatech Blimps are now available for purchase and for hire in the UK via Fixation