Canon 5D Mk III Mirror Lockup Question

[mbaginy]

I use the original 5D and am quite satisfied.  Lately, I've been eying the Mk III body and can't get the answer to a question: does the Mk III have a dedicated mirror lockup button?  I'm quite sure it doesn't, but it does have a number of buttons which are programable.  Can any Mk III user say, if one of these can be programmed to act as MLU activation?

Accessing this function on the 5D is a time-consuming pain.  Sure, it only takes a matter of seconds to call up "menu", rotate the dial to "function No. 12", then to "mirror lockup" and "off" and then the "set" and back to the main menu before concentrating on the shot.  But I've missed a number of shots while shooting macros or landscapes using mirror lockup when I suddenly spot an interesting animal shot off to one side.  Rotating the camera and having to switch autofocus on takes enough time but fiddling with the menu to turn mirror lock off is a royal pain.  I was never fast enough to get the shot, either the ducks had landed or the deer had disappeared.

Many Nikon models I've looked at have a dedicated MLU button and I'm hoping Canon engineers have finally found how to design such a beast themselves.  The issue is so important to me, that I've even thought of switching brands.

Thanks in advance for your replies!

[Ronny Nilsen]

The short answer is: no.

But there is a couple of workarounds.

Live view is a dedicated button and I prefer that to mirror lock up on a tripod and with manual focus.

Mirror lock up can be programmed into the custom functions, and is then just a twist of the function wheel.

And you can have the function setting in "my menu" making the menu hell a lot easier.

But no dedicated button. 

Ronny

[Wayne Fox]

Live view button on a 5D mark 3 I believe is superior to mirror lockup because it moves everything from in front of the sensor.  The first curtain is electronic, so if the shutter is already open from live view, there is no mechanical activity of the camera until the 2nd curtain closes to end the exposure.  If you use mikrror lockup, the mirror will move up, but the shutter which is normally closed to protect the sensor doesn't open.

I haven't used mirror lockup on my canon for several years now, instead hit live view (which I also use to manually focus much of the time so I already have it activated), and self timer or cable release.

[Tony Jay]

Mike, Ronny Nilsen is correct.

Forget using MLU per se - use Live view.
Live view activation is easy - a button push.
There are many more advantages to Live view than just using it as a MLU-type function - using Live view for critical focusing adjustments is one, Live view also has an electronic spirit level that may help with fiddly compositions.

Personally, as a very satisfied 5D III customer, I would never go back to using MLU.
Live view just has so much more functionality.

Tony Jay

[mbaginy]

Thanks for your helpful comments, Ronny, Wayne and Tony.  I guess I'll give Live View a try, once I get an Mk III body.  About a year ago I tried that function with an Mk II body a friend lent me but wasn't completely convinced.  but I was shooting landscapes only.  I can imagine, that it's a great advantage for macros.

Ronny, I used the custom function on my 5D with mirror lockup activated and that does work.  I found it odd though, that once the shot was taken and the power went down, each powering up brought back that same aperture (in this case 4) as when I programmed the custom function.  The aperture itself is a programmed custom function (along with MLU).

I wonder if a mechanical MLU function would make sense, but without Live View, to reduce battery drain.  Maybe I've still got too many fond memories of my old F2 - got to get those out of my mind.