If you want a quiet canon, then the Canon canonet range finder camera, 35mm film, 45mm f1.8 lens a auto function and film advance lever mounted on the bottom to give the camera a smooth look for the top. When they were first released in Japan they were supposed to have sold out within a hour and most importantly no mirror for silent use. Next it's little brother the Canonet Junior range finder with a 40mm f2.8 lens. Both cameras were noticeable by the light sensor mounted around the lens. Now if you want to look cool, this is the way to go. You may have the latest and modern digital camera, most people will think, Oh look a camera but a vintage camera like this will arouse interest.
The technology in cameras moved ahead in quantum leaps and bounds beyond the time of the Canonet. An SLR and a rangefinder are two very different things, and a rangefinder is usually quiet, while the degree of noise of SLRs across the marques varies considerably. Noise (shutter/mirror/drive, etc.) however is grossly overrated and misunderstood, particularly amongst beginners. Regarding vintage, quite a few of Canon's pro-level analogue cameras can be considered vintage now, among them the EOS 1 and 1N, 5, 50E, 30 and 33, but not quite the 1V. This is also true of other marques; people though are not so preoccupied with any sort of noise but more with keeping them going as benchmarks of their era. A truly silent camera would by my ZeroImage 6x9 MF pinhole camera!
