Luminous Landscape Forum

Equipment & Techniques => Digital Cameras & Shooting Techniques => Topic started by: RichardM on February 06, 2004, 10:21:06 pm

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: RichardM on February 06, 2004, 10:21:06 pm

I asked Thom Hogan this question (great Nikon site by the way at www.bythom.com) and he told me that the timers on the Nikon digital bodies don't work this way.

So no mirror lock-up nor mirror pre-fire with the D70.

Richard

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: Dale_Cotton on February 07, 2004, 12:40:17 pm

MLU is certainly necessary for certain lenses, but for vibration supression - at least on the range of focal lengths that I use (28 to 300) - I am doing fine without it with my F80. I was quite concerned about this when I got my F80, but found no difference in image quality between my shots with my F2 using MLU, and my F80 without MLU, except at the well-known window around 1/15th sec. Yes, it can be a bit of a pain avoiding that window, but that's made up by not having to deal with MLU.

Apparently, the mirror and shutter on the F80, F100, D100, etc. are very well damped. The shutter release sound is certainly very muted compared to the F2.

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: Pete on February 08, 2004, 08:03:17 pm

Richard,

One of the tips given at Nikon school for lack of mirror lockup is really simple.   Hold a piece of cardboard or a piece of paper in front of the lens for a moment until the vibration stops, This, I believe, would be used with a bulb setting, but should be okay for most applications.

Nikon school is pretty good about a number of SIMPLE solutions to many problems.  A worthwhile day for any photo enthusiast.

Pete

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: RichardM on February 05, 2004, 09:38:15 pm

From what I have read at a number of sources, there appears to be no mirror lock-up on the D70, which I consider to be a problem for some of the shooting that I do.

The work around that I am using currently with my film-based Nikon, is to engage the timer for 2 seconds or so, as the mirror flips up instantly, yet the shutter doesn't fire until the time is up. Does this work the same way with the digital bodies?

If this is the case, I will no longer be worried about not having a dedicated mirror lock-up function.

Richard

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: MatthewCromer on February 06, 2004, 10:37:45 pm

Maybe at some point someone will explain to me the brain-dead idiocy that leads a camera company to release an otherwise excellent camera that is lacking this key feature.

This is worse than the encrypted RAW files on the Sony 828 (which have now been hacked).

Shame!

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: Erik M on February 08, 2004, 06:46:03 pm

Dale,

Would you say that if using a Nikon VR lens the lack of MLU wouldn't really be a problem at all?

Erik

Title: Nikon D70 and mirror lock-up
Post by: RichardM on February 08, 2004, 09:46:47 pm

Thanks for the tip Pete,

I must admit that I have never thought of that. I'll give it a try sometime.

Richard