Live View vs. Mirror Lockup

[tudor_apmadoc]

<p>Has anyone done or read any test reports that cover the difference of Live View mode vs. Mirror Lockup mode when doing long exposure?</p>

<p> </p>

[philip_wilson]

<p>What are you worried about - battery life, noise, camera shake? In my experience I find MLU works well and only use Live View if I need it for focusing and composition (e.g. with MF lenses on TS adaptors.</p>

[jamie_robertson2]

<p>If you're talking about camera shake there will be no difference.</p>

[g dan mitchell]

<p>I prefer live view for a variety of reasons:</p>

<ul>

<li>I can zoom in at 5X and 10X for critical focus.</li>

<li>I can superimpose a grid on the image.</li>

<li>I can superimpose a live histogram on the image.</li>

<li>I can very precisely evaluate the effect of aperture on DOF - and fine tune focus with this in mind - by zooming around the image at 10x magnification while the DOF preview button is pressed.</li>

<li>If I'm not mistaken, there is actually less vibration with live view depending upon which shutter mode you use.</li>

<li>I can focus in much darker conditions when I have exposure simulation turned on. This is useful for night photography and when using dark ND filters.</li>

<li>In windy conditions I can compose, then zoom in to 10X and watch for the camera to settle between gusts, thus minimizing the effect of wind vibration.j</li>

<li>I can see the image for composition and focusing when the camera is in positions such that I could not look through the viewfinder.</li>

<li>There is no delay between composition, etc and making the exposure as there is with MLU.</li>

</ul>

<p>(More here: http://www.gdanmitchell.com/2009/07/06/why-i-like-live-view-on-my-canon-eos-5d-mark-ii)<br>

There are some minimal downsides:</p>

<ul>

<li>Live view consumes battery power at a much higher rate.</li>

<li>AF is problematic in live view - you can do it, but it isn't ideal.</li>

</ul>

<p>Since the advent of live view, I virtually never use MLU any more.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>Here is a good thread from a few weeks ago about this very issue.</p>

<p><a href="00ZwgQ">http://www.photo.net/canon-eos-digital-camera-forum/00ZwgQ</a></p>

<p>And there<em> is</em> a difference if you're talking about camera shake. If you click on the link in my response to the linked thread, it explains that Live View locks the mirror up, but it shuts the curtain then re-raises it for the exposure. The curtain closure, though not as impactful as the mirror, does introduce a vibration not present when just using MLU. I used to be in the Live View camp with Dan, but now I use LV to get proper focus, then exploit the use of MLU.</p>

[g dan mitchell]

<p>The story is that if you use "electronic first curtain shutter" in live view that there is no vibration before or during the shot created by the shutter. More information here: http://krebsmicro.com/Canon_EFSC/index.html</p>

<p>This means that live view can be the most stable mode for shooting.</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>hmm...learn something new every day. Thanks for the link G Dan. Surprisingly they don't mention the 1 series having this feature. It would seem odd for the flagship line to be exempt from a feature on other models. I'll have to look into it.</p>

[gooseberry]

<p>Have a look at Michael Covington's <em></em><a href="http://www.covingtoninnovations.com/michael/blog/0910/index.html#091002" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Electronic first shutter curtain on Canon DSLRs: What's better than mirror lock?</em></a></p>

[g dan mitchell]

<p>By the way, I virtually always use Live View this way when I work from the tripod, and I work from the tripod the majority of the time. If you are making large prints from full frame DSLR photographs it is important to take care of everything that can affect image sharpness, and I'm convinced that this helps.</p>

<p>Now if they could just get live view to not drain the batteries so quickly... ;-)</p>

<p>Dan</p>

[craig_meddaugh]

<p>Thanks for that link. I'll check and see if the 1 series works that way when I get home, especially given the problems I've had with the 1D IV and liveview. For all I know I have the settings incorrect. </p>

[joseph_wisniewski]

<p>@Craig, unfortunately, the 1D IV does not appear to have the electronic first curtain. Here's what Canon said in the 1D X press release</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The EOS-1D X also features an electronic first curtain, new to the EOS-1D series DSLRs, for minimal in-camera vibration during image capture.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>http://www.dvinfo.net/news/canon-usa-introduces-eos-1d-x-digital-slr-camera.html<br>

@Tomek, thanks for that link. I've been following Michael Covington more than half my life. Great guy.<br>

@G Dan, the Charles Krebs link always bears another post. </p>

[sarah_fox]

<p>Thanks, Dan! I learned something new! I only have this feature on my less frequently used 40D, but my 5D will eventually be upgraded to the MkII. :-)</p>

<p>I agree with Nathan: It's surprising that the documentation on the 40D doesn't discuss the electronic first curtain. In fact the entire discussion of liveview is rather vague and murky. It would seem an easy thing simply to tell us what the various modes do!</p>

<p>Happy Leap Day, y'all! :-)</p>

[tudor_apmadoc]

Thanks for the responses. I have a 5D mk ii, I don't think that silent shooting or electronic first shutter is an option.

Unless I misread the manual?

[Glenn McCreery]

<p>Tudor; silent shooting is available on the 5D II, see page 113 in the manual.</p>

[ivaylo_stoynov]

<p>Hello Tudor,</p>

<p>My interest is in astro-photography and made some experiments in this area. LiveView and long exposures combination is not the best one, because if your exposure is longer than 15-20s the images will suffer from "amp-glow". Here can be found a sample with 65s exposure. <br>

<a href="http://www.ideiki.com/astro/skinAstro/19deg_anti25s_exp65s_Virtual.CR2">http://www.ideiki.com/astro/skinAstro/19deg_anti25s_exp65s_Virtual.CR2</a></p>

<p>With longer exposures the effect is more visible... For comparison here is the same test but with mirror locking.<br>

<a href="http://www.ideiki.com/astro/skinAstro/19deg_anti25s_exp65s_Com.CR2">http://www.ideiki.com/astro/skinAstro/19deg_anti25s_exp65s_Com.CR2</a></p>

<p>Hope that this is help :)</p>

<p>Regards,<br />Ivo</p>