Mirror Lock Up (MLU) demonstration

[polloloco81]

I posted this over in the 300D forum at dpreview.com, thought I'd share it with you guys too.

I got my Sigma 70-300 APO SMII today in the mail, so I thought I'd use it to do an MLU experiment, and here is the result. All I have to say is that evn if MLU is the only feature in Wasia's hack, it's still a worthy download.

It's pretty obvious which shot was taken with MLU on. MLU was set at 3 second delay. You guys might want to click on the picture to get the actual resolution.

http://www.digitalempiredesign.com/web_mlu.jpg

[Tom W]

Good demonstration. That exposure time falls right into the time frame when MLU is beneficial.

[Yeager]

If you dont mind me asking, where and how much did you get the Sigma for?

[polloloco81]

Yeager, I got the lense from www.deltainternational.com for 177 dollars +12 for shipping. I just got the lense today so I havent had time to mess around with it to judge its quality, but one thing I must give major credit to Sigma for is the packaging. For an entry level zoom, it comes with a lense bag as well as a hood. Also, I ordered from Delta monday afternoon, and got the lense today (thursday) at 11:30 AM. Delta has only gotten around 70 reviews at http://www.resellerratings.com , but I think it's going to become a big competitor of B&H considering it's a bit cheaper.

Oh, one more thing I forgot to mention. I did the same test a few nights ago when I first got the hack installed, but I used the kit lense at 55mm. The exposure was .8seconds at F/8, and I could not tell the difference between the two shots. So I am asuming that once it gets close to 1 second exposure, MLU is uneeded.

[Scottes]

Nice demo. I've always been convinced about MLU, but this really shows it's usefulness.

Thanks for posting.

[c0ntr0lz]

so are saying to set the MLU to 3secs or is it ok at 1.5secs?

[cmM]

that certainly shows a difference.... BUT

When do you guys usually use MLU ? Landscapes usually ? Does a normal - wide angle lens vibrate that much compared to 300mm ?

polloloco81, have you tried this test with a wide angle lens and compare the difference? I'd like to have that on my camera, but I'm still a bit skeptical about the "hack"...

[polloloco81]

I can't blame you about being skeptical about the hack, I was the same way. I just one day decided to close my eyes, cross my fingers, and installed it. Now that it's installed, I'm glad that I did it, besides, you can always revert back to the original 1.1.1 firmware.

I arbitrarily set my MLU to 3 secs, I have read on dpreview 1.5 is enough time for the mirror to stop vibrating.

MLU is mainly good for doing tripod shots that are either telephoto or long exposure (1/30sec to .8sec). In other words, MLU is important in shots where vibrations or small shakes can affect the sharpness of the picture.

[c0ntr0lz]

i'm begining to think that's y haven't been getting really good macro shots with the sigma lens
some come out awesome but others don't
and thinking back now the low light shots are when there were just a tad off

thanks for the info

[Jesper]

that certainly shows a difference.... BUT

When do you guys usually use MLU ? Landscapes usually ? Does a normal - wide angle lens vibrate that much compared to 300mm ?

Have a look at the following article from Luminous Landscape: Understanding Mirror Lock-Up (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/understanding-series/mirror-lock.shtml)
And this one from Bob Atkins on photo.net: Mirror Lock Up (http://www.photo.net/nature/mlu)

Mirror lock-up is most useful in certain circumstances: with shutter speeds between about 1/30 second to 1/2 second or so. For shorter exposures, the vibration of the mirror is too slow to have a large effect and for longer exposures, the vibration is only there during such a short period of the exposure that it will have little effect on the photo.

Especially for macro shooting, mirror lock-up can make a big difference - any small vibration is very visible when doing macro.

[PJ]

Would anyone be so kind as to explain a little about what Mirror Lock up is for a peon like me?

I'm guessing that the mirror flips up and the camera waits a certain amount of time before taking the picture. Is this correct? If so how can the mirror be up without the censor being exposed?

thanks

[c0ntr0lz]

you got it PJ

[Jesper]

Would anyone be so kind as to explain a little about what Mirror Lock up is for a peon like me?

I'm guessing that the mirror flips up and the camera waits a certain amount of time before taking the picture. Is this correct? If so how can the mirror be up without the censor being exposed?

thanks

Look at my post right above yours.... :roll: The mirror is not the only thing that's between your lens and the sensor. There's also, ofcourse, the shutter. If the mirror flips up, the shutter is still closed. Only when the shutter opens, the sensor is exposed.

[cmM]

And this one from Bob Atkins on photo.net: Mirror Lock Up (http://www.photo.net/nature/mlu)
For "normal" work with lenses of 100mm or less, sharpness loss due to mirror induced vibrations does not seem to be an issue.
Exactly what I meant in my previous post. Only need for MLU is when using long lenses with relatively slow exposures. Only time I use long lenses is when doing sports and wildlife... no long exposures.

I wish someone would do the test on a landscape picture (with a w/a)

[PJ]

OMG, I can't believe I didn't see those links in your post. I apologize.
:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:

thanks

[c0ntr0lz]

umm are you kissing your 300d PJ? cause it's not black so i know it's not the KISS 300d :D

[polloloco81]

I'm going to try and post a test of wide angle with MLU tonight when I get home from work. The only wide angle lense I have is the kit, so it'll be at 18mm. Not sure if that's going to affect anything.

[cmM]

I'm going to try and post a test of wide angle with MLU tonight when I get home from work. The only wide angle lense I have is the kit, so it'll be at 18mm. Not sure if that's going to affect anything.

That would be great. Please do. I'm dying to know. If I'm wrong, I'm probably gonna break down and pre-order a 1Ds MKII just for the hell of MLU :P