Mirror Lockup???

Just got a new 5DII,and I've enabled the mirror lockup setting ,when shooting with tripod.
Question is:can I use this setting ,and the sel timer setting at the same time,or should I get a remote release.
In the owners manual,it says that you need to hit the shutter release twice to activate the mirror lock up,then another press to take the actual exposure.

Can anyone clarify this for me??
Any info ,would be much appreciated,

Thanks...

I always put the timer on two second mode so when you press the shutter button, it locks up, counts down, then exposes.

Madhatter
Thanks for your reply,

So,Even though I had the tiimer set to 10 secs...it did take the exposure,and in less time than 10 seconds?? strange??

Am I correct in assuming the mirror did go up?

Thanks,

You'll hear the mirror lock up as soon as you press the shutter button. Then, it beeps and counts down, then exposes.

mike397 wrote in post #10811231
Madhatter
Thanks for your reply,

So,Even though I had the tiimer set to 10 secs...it did take the exposure,and in less time than 10 seconds?? strange??

Am I correct in assuming the mirror did go up?

Thanks,

This was on 5DII?

Strange... I just tested on my 7D and 10 seconds = 10 seconds, 2 seconds = 2 seconds.

On my older 350D however (which does not have 2 second timer mode), 10 seconds automatically becomes 2 seconds whenever MLU is active.

mike397 wrote in post #10811231
Am I correct in assuming the mirror did go up?

Thanks,

If you have any doubts just look through the viewfinder. It will be dark with the mirror up.

-js

I think you are saying the exposure is ten seconds, not the timer, aren't you?

Yes, 2 sec timer works fine.

You know, you really don't need to do mirror lockup for exposures longer than about 2 seconds. The vibrations of the shutter disipate so quickly that it's only a small portion of the overall exposure, so any minor shake doesn't show up in the image.

Use MLU for 2 seconds to 1/30 second... 4 seconds to 1/60 if you want to be really, really safe. it's actually most useful on the shorter exposures within this range, where the period of vibrations are all or more of the total time of exposure.

You'll only need an accessory timer if you start shooting longer than 30 second exposure. That's the longest the camera itself can time. You could use bulb mode and a wrist watch with enough accuracy to not need an accesory time.

When you use MLU with the timer, some cameras use a set time for the timer, so that's probably what's happening.

But you asked about a remote release, and I would say that is a very good thing to get and use because you can use it both with Mirror LockUp and in the Bulb mode (and "normal" shooting) and that way you avoid vibration from handling the camera, not just from the mirror vibration, without having to resort to the self timer.

#6-Thanks for that tip about the viewfinder going black..now I know it was working...and how to check it.

Amphoto--No, the exposure was 1/15sec. I took 2 exposures,one with MLU enabled,the other not enabled.looked at both at 200%,and saw no difference what so ever...don't see the point of using MLU???..or maybe I'm missing something?? I know years ago,when i was shooting film,it was a very useful feature,but now,with shutter/mirror technology at a much higher level..who knows?

Tony--- thanks for your reply,I think I'll just go ahead and get the remote as you suggest...will probably make my life easier in the long run.

Thanks again for all those that gave me some input.

My 400D has only a 10 second option for the self timer. But if combined with MLU, the camera changes that to two seconds, since it will assume that if you use the self timer with MLU, it's just to avoid having to touch the camera to release it, and then you don't want to wait the full 10 seconds.