Mirror lockup

[siejones]

After reading a favourable review of the cheapy cheap ADIDT M1 Remote Cord. I decided instead of spending the £23 canon wanted for thiers. I would go for this cheap alternative for my 350D.

It arrived today and given it's looks like it was built on blue peter from cereal box's and double sided sticky tape but it works perfectly. It half push focuses and full push shoots no problem.

Which leads me to my question. Up until I got the remote I have used mirror lockup to reduce the timer to 2 secs and obviously a steadier shot due no mirror slap at exposure time. Now I have remote I won't be using the mirror lockup but is this the right thing to do? Is mirror lockup really worth it? From what I have read it's not as relevant as it used to be as the later camera's don't suffer as much as they used to due to better mechanism's e.t.c

What do you guys think on this. Do you use mirror lockup? If so what type of tripod related shots justify that extra (if it is still the case) stability?. Or is this feature there because photographers of old expect to see it on the feature list of the camera. The original 300D didn't have the feature enabled in it's default firmware but it was brought back with the 350D. Was this to please the punters?

Ta

Sie

[rhys]

Ok. Blue Peter is a UK children's programme on television known for phrases like "and here's one I made earlier". They tend to make things out of washing-up liquid bottles, toilet roll tubes, old egg boxes and other very cheap and commonly available stuff. I suppose so that children can make things from rubbish that's not going to cost a lot and which will soon be forgotten and thrown out.

I bought the Canon version as it wasn't expensive.

[Wilt]

All that shakes a camera is not merely your hands! It has been shown that mirror slap can contributed significantly to camera vibration in certain speed ranges. For example, a mirror going up and down around 1/8 - 1 sec shutter speed even if you use a remote release! Take a small paper cup partly filled with water, perch it on top of the hotshoe, and fire your shutter at different speeds and watch the water's surface caused by the mirror shake, paying attention to the shake vs. the noise of the shutter going up, the shutter opening and closing, then the mirror returning.


If you are into astrophotography, every bit of shake matters, which is why serious needs are addressed NOT by the entry level cameras, but by the higher priced cameras with the features!

[Atomic79]

If I'm shooting anything that I've bothered to pull out the tripod and remote trigger I'll use mirror lockup also.
Since I can't say it any better, I'll quote from Sean McHugh (http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/)
"...Mirror lock-up can drastically increase sharpness for exposure times comparable to the settling time of the mirror (~1/30 to 2 seconds). On the other hand, mirror shake is negligible for exposures much longer than this...." Sean McHugh

[drparker]

If I'm shooting anything that I've bothered to pull out the tripod and remote trigger I'll use mirror lockup also.

Same here, no reason not to.

[siejones]

Wilt: I am curious to know which all the pro features you are refering too on a 20D which wern't on the 300D?. If I remember rightly you could firmware hack a 300D to match the features of a 10D nearly exactly.

The 300D/350D range of D-SLR's maybe the considered entry level SLR's but not entry level camera's. They are extremely capable camera's for there price.

[Wilt]

Wilt: I am curious to know which all the pro features you are refering too on a 20D which wern't on the 300D?. If I remember rightly you could firmware hack a 300D to match the features of a 10D nearly exactly.

The 300D/350D range of D-SLR's maybe the considered entry level SLR's but not entry level camera's. They are extremely capable camera's for there price.

I wasn't referring to anything specific relative to 300D vs. 20D, when I originally commented.

Nevertheless, some example of 'pro features' left off of 'entry level' cameras in the past by companies (and many of them are still true) but put into their higher priced cameras...

DOF preview
Mirror Lockup
PC synch terminal for non-hotshoe flash
Spotmetering
Manual ISO adjustment (vs. automatic only via coding on film canister)
ISO settings in full EV rather than 1/3 EV
Interchangeable focusing screens

[DocFrankenstein]

Take a small paper cup partly filled with water, perch it on top of the hotshoe, and fire your shutter at different speeds and watch the water's surface caused by the mirror shake, paying attention to the shake vs. the noise of the shutter going up, the shutter opening and closing, then the mirror returning.
The demonstration can be even more dramatic if put some concentrated sulfuric acid in the cup. :lol:

MLU matters and I'd use it when I have shutter speeds from 1/50 to 3 seconds.

[Wilt]

The demonstration can be even more dramatic if put some concentrated sulfuric acid in the cup. :lol:

MLU matters and I'd use it when I have shutter speeds from 1/50 to 3 seconds.


Disclaimer: The above should ONLY be practiced by PROFESSIONALS!

[DocFrankenstein]

Disclaimer: The above should ONLY be practiced by PROFESSIONALS!
I know. Mirror lockup is not for amateurs. :confused: