mirror-lock up

[thebeginning]

what exactly is it, and how important/useful is it to have?

i like the nikon fm2n, but it doesnt have it. the f3 i love, but its more expensive. should i go for the f3 or do you think the fm2 will do?

 

[PreludeX]

its really good for those long exposures.... that way the mirror locks up before the shutter goes off to increase chance of no camera shake and sharper images.. as for the cameras, i dont have a comment on them

 

[spike000]

The F3 is great - have a review on it on our site (see link below) - very impressive particularly when you bang on the MD4 motordrive.

Only get one in really good nick though as the F3 was a pro camera and so may have been battered to death by staff photographers in the past!

Mirror lockup - as above - spot on.

Good luck


Spike

 

[ksmattfish]

Mirror lock up is usually only used when the camera is on a tripod. It helps reduce camera movement. Yes it's nice; no, you don't need it. Also the FM2n (and I assume the FM2?) does have mirror lock up, but only when using the self timer.

Both the F3 and the FM2 (and FM2n) are very nice cameras. I thought I wanted a F3, but when I compared the details, I ended up going with a Nikon FM2n. I chose it for these reasons:
cheaper than the F3
higher flash sync speed: 1/80 on the F3, 1/200 on the FM2, 1/250 on the FM2n
FM2 and FM2n will function completely (except for meter) with no batteries, F3 shutter can fire at 1/60th with no batteries

For me the higher flash sync speed was the biggest factor in my decision.

For the price of the F3 you can probably get a FM2n and a couple of lenses.

 

[thebeginning]

yes. i found some stuff on ebay. just put in some buy it now bids (hopefully nobody has beaten us) but i got an fm2n (looks great too), a sigma 70-210mm zoom lens (its an f4.5, which is probably how i got it for 30 bucks) and a nikkor 28-80mm lens. I got them all together for 300. so, im happy.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

Mirror lock-up was introduced on cameras for use with motordrives in the 70's. If you are shooting at 5fps the mirror banging up and down at that speed causes serious problems. 90% of all pro 35mm cameras used to go in for repair because of damage caused to the camera through this. If you lock up the mirror it is only the shutter that moves.

 

[ferny]

My SRT has mirror lock up but no motor drive was ever made for it. It was planned at one point I think but it never got passed the drawing stage. There are versions of the camera without the lock up to.

When the mirror moves it makes the camera vibrate. If you lock it up it eliminates that problem. The best use of it if during normal exposures when you're doing macro work. Normally a long exposure means there is little light around so you need the shutter open for a long time. The vibration from the mirror wouldn't notice in such conditions I don't think. During macro work when everything (including camera shake) gets magnified it becomes useful.

 

[ksmattfish]

Mirror lock-up was introduced on cameras for use with motordrives in the 70's.

It's a much older feature than that, although I can see how it would work with a motor drive. The oldest camera that I know with it is the Graflex R.B. 4x5 SLR. All of my medium format SLRs have mirror lock up (at least one of them is from the 1950s), although none have motor drives available that I am aware of. Several of my pre-1960s 35mm SLRs also have it. I think it's a lot more necessary with a camera that has a big mirror thwacking around, than with a 35mm camera, but if you are trying to get maximum image sharpness out of a 35mm frame then it's another tool to use.

 

[thebeginning]

i just bought an f3. what batteries does it take? i heard some disconcerting info about things happening when it runs out

 

[ferny]

Here's a site about the camera.
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/nikonf3ver2/

I don't know about the batteries or what happens if they go flat. It may tell you on that site. If batteries go flat on mine (dynax 5) and the shutter is open it stays open I think. That's all. Once the batteries are in it goes back to normal.