[Charlotte]

The D50 has mirror lock-up - I'd forgotten this, but spotted it today - but the description says this is to allow the low pass filter to be cleaned Can this feature be used when shooting (for 'sharper shots') or is it purely a feature for cleaning, like it says?

[Charlotte]

Cancel that question ... I just googled the question + found this in Ken Rockwell's review of the D50 :

No Mirror Lock-Up: The "mirror up" function is for cleaning, not mirror pre-release.

[stupot]

i know the mirror lock up on the canon 30d can be used to reduce camera shake so i'm sure your nikon would do the same

i've used it a few times but couldn't really notice a difference to be quite honest

[Charlotte]

Stu, your post crossed with my 2nd post. But as a matter of interest, how exactly do you use mirror lock-up anyway? i.e. do you just set it to 'on', take the shot, then have to remember to turn it to 'off' again?

[stupot]

yes exactly that, you set it on in the custom functions, first press focuses and locks mirror up, second press takes shot and releases mirror

its something i've tried but didn't really notice much difference but that was taking seascape shot and even a slight breeze wound negate its use, to be honest its one of those functions that i forget it's there. i can think of times when it might be of much more use, i.e macro, something i must try.

[GainfulShrimp]

Macro or extreme telephoto - basically any time you need to use a tripod - it's best to use MLU.
With my 20D, I would occasionally worry myself when I forgot to turn it off after a macro shoot... because next time I used my camera days later I'd go to take a shot and everything would just go black and it would take me a few seconds to work out what I'd done wrong.
I'm hoping I won't have the problem quite so bad on my 40D though, cos when I've had some more play time with it I'm going to set one of the custom modes to use MLU so it's easier to remember to turn it off!

Another reason to use it on some Canon DSLRs (e.g. 400D) for such shots is that it'll automatically reduce the self-timer to 2secs (instead of 10secs) which makes the timer a less boring alternative to buying a remote shutter release.

[Charlotte]

I wonder why it can't be used on the D50 during picture taking and I wonder what would happen if I tried ...

I did have to wait on the mirror moving about yesterday while I was bracketing shots for hdr, i.e. had to wait for the mirror to finish fidgeting about + resetting itself between shots. So it would be nice to be able to keep it locked up for the duration, thus reducing time between the bracketed shots. Or is that not a practical use, i.e. keep it locked up between shots? From what GainfulShrimp has said, the subsequent shots after the 1st one might not record the scene at all

[Markulous]

Well, my experiience with MLU is same as Stu: really not worth it. But then it's "value" really comes in at about 1/30 and I'm usually slower or faster! Or forget!

With my camera it shuts itself after the shot is taken, but will reopen prior to the subsequent (it's a rotary control setting). So it's:
press mirror up press shot taken, mirror closes
press mirror up press shot taken, mirror closes

[orangepeel]

Originally Posted by Charlotte

I wonder why it can't be used on the D50 during picture taking and I wonder what would happen if I tried ...

nothing will happen when you press the shutter release if the mirror is locked up. As has been stated, it's only in the menu to allow cleaning of the sensor. It provides nothing photographic.

IMO it's quite possibly one of the dumbest things nikon did - closely followed by a missing backlight on the top display oh and encrypted RAW files.

Originally Posted by Charlotte

I did have to wait on the mirror moving about yesterday while I was bracketing shots for hdr, i.e. had to wait for the mirror to finish fidgeting about + resetting itself between shots.

eh?

Originally Posted by Charlotte

Or is that not a practical use, i.e. keep it locked up between shots? From what GainfulShrimp has said, the subsequent shots after the 1st one might not record the scene at all

the reason you use is is to stop the vibration of the shutter opening from blurring the image.

[stupot]

Another thing with the canon, and i know this doesn't help you Charlotte, but other Canon user might be interested, is that the mirror lock up doesn't work when the camera's set to the automatic scene modes. Only in semi-auto or full manual but if you shoot in RAW then chances are like me you dont use the auto settings anymore because of RAW not being available either in scene modes.