EOS 90D Mirror lock up good for long exposure?

[Ramsden]

Hi folks 

After my successful street photography trip on the silent mode, I came across the Mirror lock up option on my EOS90D. 

I've not used this before and just been giving it a go. To my untrained eye it seems a lot faff with marginal benefits in the photo.  Pressing the shutter button twice feels strange.

Would you suggest its a good tool to use and I should stick with it for long exposure etc. Any tips, advice welcome.

And one tip for starters, is remember to turn it off!

Ramsden 

[kvbarkley]

That is totally up to you. It is just a way to ensure that you can achieve perfect sharpness.

Frankly, I don't think it does much. I think the camera mfgs. put it in there so sticklers for sharpness could not complain "My picture would have been perfectly sharp, but mirror slap *ruined* it!"

[jrhoffman75]

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/s/article/ART136786

[stevet1]

Ramsden,

One thing you can do is add a 2 second time delay to your shutter. That way you only have to press the shutter once to lock up the mirror, and 2 seconds later the shutter fires by itself. That gives you a chance to step back away from the camera/tripod and eliminates camera shake caused by you pressing the shutter button yourself.

Steve Thomas

[Ramsden]

Thanks Steve

That sounds very sensible,  I'll give it a go

Thanks 

R

[jrhoffman75]

II don't have my DSLR anymore, but 'm not sure the two second delay moves the mirror initially. The two second/ten second delay modes are a self-timer. Gives time to press shutter and then get into the photo location. If the mirror moved camera couldn't focus. Does give time for camera to stabilize if on a tripod.

[kvbarkley]

Yeah, on my T6S, the mirror goes up after the delay. The delay prevents "shutter-button-press-bounce".

[FloridaDrafter]

---

@Ramsden wrote:

Hi folks 

After my successful street photography trip on the silent mode, I came across the Mirror lock up option on my EOS90D. 

I've not used this before and just been giving it a go. To my untrained eye it seems a lot faff with marginal benefits in the photo.  Pressing the shutter button twice feels strange.

Would you suggest its a good tool to use and I should stick with it for long exposure etc. Any tips, advice welcome.

---

Hello, Ramsden!

I only use mirror lock to clean my sensor. If I want to take long exposures, I'll either dial in a long shutter delay or use Bulb mode with a remote shutter trigger. I use the 2 or 10 second timer when stacking or sometimes for macro.

I'm not sure why, but I've never had problems with mirror or shutter shock. I don't deny it bothers some folks, it's just never been a concern for me.

Newton

[stevet1]

Hi John,

With the DSLRs, (which have a mirror), you set the mirror lock up in one of your custom functions in your menus.

As Ramsden said, you have to press the shutter button once to lock the mirror up, and a second time to actually take the picture.

With the 2 second time delay, you can avoid that manual second shutter press. The camera will do that for you.

Steve Thomas

[Waddizzle]

“ Would you suggest it’s a good tool to use and I should stick with it for long exposure etc. Any tips, advice welcome. “

A robust tripod and a robust tripod head is a must have for long exposures. You don’t want the rig to wiggle in a breeze.  You don’t the head to exhibit backlash when you tighten it down. That means the head will shift the direction the camera is pointing as you tighten it down.

The heavier your gear, the stronger the support needs to be. A high quality head is the most important investment you can make for long exposures. 

 

I haven’t used a DSLR in several years. But I believe that the LV mode used for silent shooting on the 90D raises the mirror at the start of the shutter delay, not at the end.