The camera silence problem... I encountered and researched this myself, one of the reasons I left Sprint, one of the more minor reasons, but none the less.
I frequent art gallery and symphonic events where this was a problem, silencing the phone was the fix, however I also attend political events/meetings where it is acceptable and more so necessary to receive calls, while at the same time unacceptable and a nuisance having the 'damn' camera shutter sound go off for every picture snapped.
In brevity, short of rooting, AT&T was the solution.