Anyone use mirror lockup?

[cali]

I've heard about it but I've never tried it before. What kind of shooting situations is it useful for? Can you notice a difference in picture quality? I have a 20D so is there anyone who can walk me through this technique? Thanks.

[stupot]

if you're using a tripod (normally with still subjects) it is useful. the mirror has to flip up pretty quickly as taking a photo's gotta be pretty instant... on longer exposures this can cause a bit of camera shake. but if you're doing still lifes for example, enabling mirror lockup means that there is a pause between the mirror going up and the shutter opening, giving all the vibrations time to damp out. its in your custom functions, dont know which one for 20d but look it up in the manual. remember to press the shutter button twice, one to flip mirror up, one to take photo. or.. if you stick it in self timer mode it will give you a two second delay between the mirror flipping up and the shutter opening.

[mbze430]

Still life macro, and product shots. Sometime do it for headshots as well.

[Sean-Mcr]

It's worth investing in a shutter release cable for long exposures and general photography. Trust me when you press a shutter you get camera movement. An old test is to balance a glass of water on top of the hot shoe and hit the shutter, watch the water.

[Atomic79]

Mirror lockup is most effective on exposures of 1/30~2sec. and can drastically increase sharpness.

[stupot]

It's worth investing in a shutter release cable for long exposures and general photography. Trust me when you press a shutter you get camera movement. An old test is to balance a glass of water on top of the hot shoe and hit the shutter, watch the water.

lol i am not doing that!

[Sean-Mcr]

:) serious it's an oldie but goodie, sits right on there.

Then think of the glass of water in T-Rex scene in jurassic park.

[stupot]

i'll just take your word for it:)

[DocFrankenstein]

I sometimes use a 1.5 second MLU when handholding. The shutter and more importantly the muclses of my fingers pressing the shutter don't move the camera.

[Jon, The Elder]

It is also part of the 'sensor clean' procedure. that is what happens when you shift to that function. However, nothing to do with the image gathering process you are asking about.

[Jamey S.]

I use MLU frequently + remote.. if you don't have a remote use the timer function. I use it for still life macros, landscapes, and night shots/long exposures all the time.