Mirror Lockup

Can someone actually explain WHAT this is...the manual doesnt explain very well, and should it be used a lot? like i dont get it, im gathering its not like a "good thing" to use, so what does it do and how bad IS it???

aka explain everything if you dont mind bc i have no clue...

mirror lock up.

used mainly when you shoot night portraits. first the mirror is raised, then press the button again to open the shutter. this prevent camera shake from the slap of the shutter.

press once to move the mirror, then again to open shutter.

got it? I didn't understand it at first, but give it a shot. try it out, and you will understand ti 100%

Also depnds on what camera you got. I feel that this option is useless on my XT. but other cameras like the 20D have a big smack from the mirror, so then this option maybe very useful!

Hope this helps!

As Andy said press once to lock up the mirror then press again to activate the shutter. Don't forget to get your focus right firdst (half press shutter) then press shutter button all the way to lock up mirror. It will seem strange as you will then not see anything through the viewfinder. Then press the shutter button again (all the way) to activate shutter. Practice, pracice, practice.

Andy wrote:-"This prevent camera shake from the slap of the shutter."

Andy, I'm sure you meant the slap of the mirror.

z3speed4me, When you take a a picture the sound you hear from the camera is mainly the mirror flipping up and then back down. The actual shutter opening and closing is much quieter. The mirror bounces the light from the lens up to the viewfinder, focus sensor and exposure meter. When the picture is actually taken the mirror must get out of the way so that the light can then fall on the sensor.

As stated before by my fellow POTN members, the lockup feature is to prevent the slight camera shake resulting from the movement of the mirror. Its used mainly for telephoto shots (like 400mm+) where even the slightest movement of the camera can blur the image.

Its also usual but not essential to use a remote trigger with mirror lock up (MLU) again to reduce any possible shake by not touching the camera at all. An alternative to this would be using the timer function with MLU.

If you want to see the mirror working then take off the lens and take a picture. Remember not to put a finger or anything else in there when you take the picture.

Happy shooting
Cheers,

ahh yeah! lol that IS what I meant!

ahhhh i see now...

thanks a lot guys that makes sense


and what i have been doing for far telephoto shots, as i just got my new sigma 70-300 lens like a half hour ago is just put on the self timer before a pic is taken on the tripod so even my pushing the shutter and moving the camera doesnt interfere with the sharpness

now i gotta find some stuff to take pics of!!! ive been shootin aroudn the house with the telephoto nothin NICE outside yet

ima try to take some good exposure pics during the lightning storm tonight

What everyone else forgot to mention;
At less than a 1/30 second the shutter speed is so small that mirror slap won't make a difference (except perhaps with Macro), at more than 1 sec the mirror slap is so short compared to the exposure, that it makes no difference.
So basically, between 1/30 and 1sec MLU comes in handy for still lifes - no good for capturing the moment - you can't see through the viewfinder.

Actually it does make a difference at speeds faster than 1/30 of a second, especially if you are using a macro lens or a long telephoto lens. If you want to squeeze the maximum resolution out of your lens (assuming it is a good one) use mirror lock up at just about any shutter speed.