Nikon D70, lack of mirror lockup - problem?

[Dan Wells]

[font color=\'#000000\']I rarely use mirror lockup on anything, and am certainly more likely to use it on my Hasselblad (huge mirror) than to miss it on the D70, which has a light enough mirror that slap is not much of a problem. I have not yet missed it in 1500 shots with my D70, and what I've read is that with modern SLRs smaller than medium format, vibration damping is good enough that mirror lockup is rarely if ever needed. In theory, a DSLR should be even less of a problem than a 35mm film SLR, because the mirror is smaller. This doesn't completely address your question, because you were using it (and presumably seeing a benefit) on your last camera, but I don't miss it.
       The one place where it would be nice is if the self-timer locked the mirror up in advance (it doesn't), because they warn us in the manual to use a blind over the eyepiece, manual exposure or the AE lock  button when using the timer in order to keep the camera from adjusting exposure based on light entering through the eyepiece.
 
                                                                -dan[/font]

[ternst]

[font color=\'#000000\']To test if the mirror slap is doing anything to your photos fill a shot glass with water and balance it on the lens, then shoot a long exposure (a second or two should do it) and see if there are any ripples in the surface of the water during the first part of the exposure - look very close. If there are ANY, then guess what? If you are doing longer exposures of more than a second, the vibrations probably would not add too much, or very short ones, but it seems the exposures in the 1/15 to one second range show this vibration the most. But test it and see.

Tim Ernst
www.Cloudland.net[/font]

[newyork]

[font color=\'#000000\']Has anyone found not having a MLU feature on the Nikon D70 to be a problem? I am in the habit of always shooting with the mirror locked up when using a tripod regardless of the lens or shutter speed.[/font]

[jdemott]

[font color=\'#000000\']I've had a D100 for almost two years.  As you probably know, the D100 is the (very similar) predecessor to the D70, but the D100, unlike the D70, has a mirror pre-fire setting that is in effect a mirror lockup.  When I first got the D100, I did some tests by taking identical shots with the mirror pre-fire on and off.  I found that mirror lockup is very helpful for shots at slower shutter speeds (e.g. 1/8).  There was a very noticeable difference between shots with mirror pre-fire on and off.  Of course the differences are most noticeable when you use good technique with the camera locked down on a tripod and a cable release.  Also you probably wouldn't notice much difference at smaller print sizes.

My sense is that the D100 is a little more sensitive to shutter vibration than a comparable 35mm film SLR at equivalent settings.  I think this is one more aspect of the smaller sensor size of most DSLRs, so that vibration effects are comparable to those that would be experienced at a longer focal length with a film body.  The result of my testing is that I just leave the mirror pre-fire turned on for all my landscape shots.  This is only a problem when some wildlife shows up unexpectedly and I have to go into the menu settings to turn mirror pre-fire off for quick shooting.

I don't have a D70 so I can't speak for the results with that camera and I don't know whether Nikon made any improvements to the mirror when they developed the D70 (but I haven't heard of any).  I guess that a complete answer would require someone who had access to both cameras to do some comparisons, since a D70 by itself can't generate any basis for comparison between mirror locked up and not.

I hope this helps with your question, although I know its not exactly what you asked.

John DeMott[/font]

[jimk]

[font color=\'#000000\']a bigger problem with the d70 is no mechanical or electric cabled release .. they only make a wireless infrared cheapy remote for the d70[/font]