Foamy?

I adore my DSLR as much as I despise its noise. So...

What if one were to open up its body sufficiently to spray an expanding foam insulation everywhere but the mirror/sensor cavity which looks sufficiently sealed to prevent intrusion from foam around and behind it.

Would that significantly muffle shutter/mirror noise?

Heat issues? Shorts/grounds from conductivity?

I never use Live View; the LCD only is lit 2 seconds after each photo for review and even that could of course be dispensed with.

I hate my MILC and want a quiet DSLR this much!

It would probably be better to use foam...EARPLUGS in your ears.

Kit Lens Avenger wrote:

I adore my DSLR as much as I despise its noise. So...

What if one were to open up its body sufficiently to spray an expanding foam insulation everywhere but the mirror/sensor cavity which looks sufficiently sealed to prevent intrusion from foam around and behind it.

Would that significantly muffle shutter/mirror noise?

Yes... because the camera would no longer function. There really isn't a significant bit of open space inside most cameras and expanding foam will wreck stuff.

Heat issues? Shorts/grounds from conductivity?

Physical damage from the foam expansion would probably wreck it before you could even power-up the camera. That stuff could easily make discontinuities in the flexible connections between components and even cause sufficient stress to pop surface-mount components off boards. BTW, if there really was a sealed cavity with electronics in it, you could probably harmlessly fill it with mineral oil -- that's often used for immersion cooling of electronics -- but don't even think about it.

I never use Live View; the LCD only is lit 2 seconds after each photo for review and even that could of course be dispensed with.

I hate my MILC and want a quiet DSLR this much!

Well, you need to be less hateful, but an actually feasible answer is to basically wrap the outside of the camera in some sound-absorbing material, perhaps some neoprene-like materials. This sort of thing is actually something wildlife shooters regularly do, sometimes even enclosing the camera in a sound-deadening housing that vaguely resembles an underwater enclosure.

Of course, an even better answer is to lock-up the mirror and use electronic shutter... effectively making your DSLR an oversize mirrorless body without an EVF. 

Hank didn't say it, but my instinct is that the diol that reacts with the isocyanate will fry your circuits before the polymerisation is complete. But his ideas for external insulation are logical - but make the DSLR even bigger. Maybe time for some relationship counselling with the MILC? Just a thought

Ed

Bumping an old thread here, but spray foam isn't very good for soundproofing anyway. Modern fridges use it for energy star ratings, but they can be pretty noisy. I think it has to do with a lack of mass but im not sure.

If it were that easy to make a camera quiet, they would have all been quieter years ago.

GossCTP wrote:

Bumping an old thread here, but spray foam isn't very good for soundproofing anyway. Modern fridges use it for energy star ratings, but they can be pretty noisy. I think it has to do with a lack of mass but im not sure.

If it were that easy to make a camera quiet, they would have all been quieter years ago.

Some digital cameras are very much quieter than others. The same was true of film cameras.

Don

D Cox wrote:

GossCTP wrote:

Bumping an old thread here, but spray foam isn't very good for soundproofing anyway. Modern fridges use it for energy star ratings, but they can be pretty noisy. I think it has to do with a lack of mass but im not sure.

If it were that easy to make a camera quiet, they would have all been quieter years ago.

Some digital cameras are very much quieter than others. The same was true of film cameras.

Don

Yes, but usually the more expensive models, because they achieve it with more expensive designs and components - not stuffing them with cheap insulation.

Great idea. Go for it.

And send me your lenses. You won't be needing those after you fill your camera with foam.

GossCTP wrote:

Bumping an old thread here, but spray foam isn't very good for soundproofing anyway. Modern fridges use it for energy star ratings, but they can be pretty noisy. I think it has to do with a lack of mass but im not sure.

If it were that easy to make a camera quiet, they would have all been quieter years ago.

Spray foam is relatively stiff (compared to other forms of insulation, like rockwool), so it just couples vibration from the inner shell to the outer one

xlucine wrote:

GossCTP wrote:

Bumping an old thread here, but spray foam isn't very good for soundproofing anyway. Modern fridges use it for energy star ratings, but they can be pretty noisy. I think it has to do with a lack of mass but im not sure.

If it were that easy to make a camera quiet, they would have all been quieter years ago.

Spray foam is relatively stiff (compared to other forms of insulation, like rockwool), so it just couples vibration from the inner shell to the outer one

Ahh. That makes sense. Some of the higher density foam products are rigid enough to be structural. Canned spray foam isn't in that category, but is still as you say comparatively rigid.