Any Insight into the Mirror Lock?

[littlevoice]

I was told that i would have even sharper images if i would enable my mirror lock on my Canon Rebel XTi. Has anyone had experience with this? Is it worth the effort?

[goldboughtrue]

It's usually only helpful when the shutter speed is low. This also depends on the lens you're using. If you have on a 100mm and shoot at 1/30 speed, then you should use MLU and tripod. However, if you have on a 14mm lens there's no need for MLU at that speed. I use MLU when shooting with any lens at less than 1/20 shutter speed.

[krb]

MLU is only worthwhile if you have the camera mounted to a very solid tripod. But if it is mounted solid then yes it can make a noticable difference.

[number six]

MLU is very helpful if you're shooting a still subject from a tripod.

At shutter speeds faster than 1/30 second or slower than 5 seconds (rough estimates) it doesn't make much/any difference. Within that range it can be significant.

Shooting with a very long lens stretches those boundaries...

-js

[Mike]

MLU is only worthwhile if you have the camera mounted to a very solid tripod.

MLU is very helpful if you're shooting a still subject from a tripod.

+1

What enabling this feature does is lock the mirror in the up position before the shutter fires. This stops any wobbles that might occur from the mirror slapping into the up position. You must be on a tripod with a shutter release cable for this to be useful. It is worth the effort but you have to remember to compose and focus your scene, depress the shutter button to lock the mirror up, wait a second or so for the vibration to stop and then depress the shutter button for a second time to take the photograph.

[neilwood32]

I would say that unless you are doing things where the sharpness is absolutely critical (ie macro/product shots) then it tends not to be a big issue. Unless you are using very sharp lenses without really pixel peeping at 100% crops, you probably wont notice that big a difference.

[tonylong]

If you are serious about landscape/scenic photography, or, in fact any still-subject photography, then you will likely want to maximize sharpness. You will want to start with a sturdy tripod/head assembly.

From there, MLU with either a cable release or at least the camera self-timer just becomes part of your SOP (standard operating procedure).

If maximizing sharpness is not a chief concern, then, well, you do whatever is convenient:)!

[blueM]

From there, MLU with either a cable release or at least the camera self-timer just becomes part of your SOP

I went out to shoot at night recently & forgot my cable release (idiot). I used mirror lockup with the self-timer. Bad idea. There is not enough time between mirror lockup & shutter release for the camera to stabilize. I would have been better off without using the mirror lockup, just using the self timer alone.

Got to attach my release cable to my tripod

[krb]

Got to attach my release cable to my tripod

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I've been thinking of doing this exact thing. Any ideas for attaching it in a way that protects the remote from weather and bumps when it is not being used?

[blueM]

Mine came with a small cloth bag. I would wrap in a bit of bubble wrap then into a small ziplock bag. I don't think I would attach to the tripod, just hang it on so I would remember to stick it in my pocket when taking the tripod.

[Picture North Carolina]

Definitely. I was using the canon 100-400 yesterday extended all the way to 400. I happened to look thru the viewfinder while shooting a shot (with no MLU enabled). I could see substantial movement thru the viewfinder, and this was on a decent tripod that was securely fastened and with a remote trigger.

[argyle]

Don't mean to hijack the thread but I've been thinking of doing this exact thing. Any ideas for attaching it in a way that protects the remote from weather and bumps when it is not being used?

I once saw a guy that had velcro'd an eyeglass case to one of his tripod legs. In it, he kept the remote release. I'm sure that there's something better than velcro, such as a nylon zip-tie or two. All you'd need to do is thread the zip-tie through the pocket clip...

[chauncey]

CannedHeat, I sympathize with you.
You should see a long lens with live view, it vibrates like...a chiwawa on meth.

It's so bad that the slowest SS I use on static objects is 1/800 with a 300mm.
More often than not, the SS is bumped up to 1-2000.