topic Re: Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography in EOS DSLR & Mirrorless Cameras

Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography

macgyver60 — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 13:31:34 GMT

I am starting to do astrophotography with my 6D. My first project will be a deep sky object (Orion Nebula or Andromeda Galaxy). It will require about 1800 images that will stacked to obtain a final image. These images will be taken at 300 mm and will be 1 second shots every 2 seconds. I would like to lock the mirror up to reduce wear and tear but also to reduce vibration. I've enabled mirror lock up but it seems like it only stays up for one exposure and then the mirror goes down again. Is there any way to keep it locked up for the entire shoot? If not then obviously it makes no sense for me to use this feature.

Re: Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography

shadowsports — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 13:57:33 GMT

Greetings,

Only one shot can be taken during lock up or mirror actuation.

Canon Knowledge Base - How to use Mirror Lockup on the EOS 6D.

After a shot, the mirror returns to the down position. Hope this helps.

eos6d-im7-en.pdf (c-wss.com)

Re: Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography

macgyver60 — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 15:43:54 GMT

Thanks. Yeah I had read that and thought so but I was hoping there was some work around or software update that might have eliminated that limitation. It seems odd. I know this camera wasn't designed for astrophotography but its become very popular in that community. I guess I don't understand why Canon put that limit in place and why they never chose to change it with a firmware update. It seems like it would be a simple thing to do although by now obviously this camera is not a priority anymore.

On a related note I tried shooting in live view but even in live view the mirror moves back down and up with each shot. That just seems strange. I lose the live view for a second each time because of the mirror dropping down and it doesn't seem to serve any purpose. Any idea why this is the case

Re: Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography

Waddizzle — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 19:21:58 GMT

Live View has different shutter mode options. One of them keeps the mirror raised to complete a shot.

Re: Canon 6D Mirror Lockup question for astrophotography

stevet1 — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 20:29:56 GMT

macgyver60,

I have a T81.

If I enable mirror lockup in the Custom Functions Menu Settings,

a) in Viewfinder shooting, I have to press the shutter button twice: once to raise the mittor, and a second time, to take the shot.

b) In Live View shooting, I press the little button to go into Live View. This raises the mirror, and it stays up. From that point on, I only have to press the shutter button once for each picture I want to take. The mirror will stay up until I press that little button again to go out of Live View.

That's why you don't want to leave your camera pointed at a bright light source for an extended period of time when you are in Live View.

I don't know why your mirror is dropping back down when you are in Live View. It's not supposed to work that way.

Steve Thomas