mirror lock-up?

[Sonny]

When to use it and what's the purpose?

Can someone explain it to me like I'm a 6 yr old? Thank you.

[CaptainTom]

When the mirror thingy jumps out of its house where it lives when you are looking through the little window, it can make the whole camera shake just a little bit.
If you want to take a picture and the camera shutter thingy is going to be open a long time, like forever, you can tell the camera that you want the mirror thingy to move out of the way before you take the picture.

[Junomech]

For Nikons, this option lets you inspect your CCD to see if it's dirty (smudges, dust, etc.) It basically pops up the mirror so you clean it.

[JamesB]

its good to use mirror lock up when using a long lens to avoid camera shake. beleive it or not the mirror slapping around will cause camera shake, possibly degrading your image by giving an out of focus apperance.

of course this is to be used when the camera is on a tripod.

of course to lock up the mirror requires batter power, but not a whole lot.

James

[jeffkohn]

The mirror has to swing up out of the way so that the shutter can open and expose the sensor. This action happens very quickly and can cause vibrations (aka mirror slap), which depending on your shutter speed can affect image sharpness. Depending on who you ask this is most problematic in the exposure range of 1/15 second to 1/60 second. Some say exposures up to 1 second or even longer can be significantly affected; it may also vary somewhat from one camera model to the next.

As to when to use it, I always use MLU when shooting a static scene with the camera mounted on a tripod; there's really no reason not to. For landscapes especially, by the time you add a polarizer and stop down for depth of field, your shutter speed is almost always in the "danger zone" so it just makes sense.

BTW of course MLU is pretty pointless if you're not using a cable release or self-timer, because the act of pushing the shutter is likely to create more vibrations than mirror-slap would.

[zeroendless]

Anything to minimize shutter shake.

With heavy long lens shooting low shutter with static subject. IS or not...

Macro or Landscape with low shutter.

I use it with shutter cable release or 2 seconds relay shutter

[Wes]

Not sure about your 20D, but I'm reasonably certain that the Nikon D70 does not have this feature.

[Duffy Pratt]

20D does have it. You can use the mirror lockup and the delayed shutter to eliminate all of the vibration from actuating the shutter trigger.

Duffy

[CaptainTom]

Originally Posted by Sonny

When to use it and what's the purpose?

Can someone explain it to me like I'm a 6 yr old? Thank you.

Wow, all of you guys must have genius 6 yr olds. LOL

[JohnRushing]

I thought it might be like an egines lock-up, like when you forget to add the oil after an oil change . Not that I have ever done that, really I haven't!

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

Wow, all of you guys must have genius 6 yr olds. LOL

I was hoping someone would catch on to my Philadelphia reference. Denzel Wasington said it a few times in the court room.

[Davidtxs]

Wow thanks Tom yours is the i understodd the best lol

[petert]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

When the mirror thingy jumps out of its house where it lives...

[chenology]

on the 20d, does it work when you press the shutter to lock mirror, and then press shutter again to take picure? sounds shaky.. i prefer mirror lock up automatically in 2-3 sec delay..
"When the mirror thingy jumps out of its house where it lives..." genius.. lol

[Happyfunball]

In my experience with MLU on the 20D/30D/5D, there are four ways to use mirror lock up on each of them:

- Single/multi shot mode: press button once for mirror, once for shutter
- Timer mode: Press once to start timer, mirror immediately locks up, 3 seconds later shutter opens
- Bulb w/ single/multi mode: press bulb once for mirror, once for shutter (max of ~30 seconds between MLU and shutter open to save battery)
- Bulb mode: Press bulb once to lock mirror, press again to open shutter, release to close shutter. (again, max of ~30 seconds between MLU and shutter open)