Mirror Lockup and Timer Remote Control

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mbscad

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Hi all,
Could anyone tell me if it is possible to achieve mirror lockup with a timed remote control?
Works fine with an ordinary remote, first press lockup, second press exposure but I can't work out how to achieve this with a timer.
Any suggestions gratefully received.
mbs
 
Not sure that I'm understanding you correctly, but the problem I've found with remote triggering using mirror lock-up, at least with my Canons, is that as you say you need two presses - one to raise the mirror and a second press to trip the shutter. And then after the exposure, the mirror flips back down again so you need another two presses to repeat the cycle.

Can the remote be configured to take two pictures instead of one, in very rapid succession?
 
So what happens with yours when you set mirror lock up and then use the timer?

My 5D will do it, but only gives a 2 sec countdown.
 
Not sure that I'm understanding you correctly either. Ok if you lock the mirror, set camera to bulb, press remote and press again after the amount of time you need, will that not give you what you want? :thinking:
 
Thank you for your replies.
HoppyUk describes the problem exactly. Two signals are required from the timer to open the shutter for the required time. If you connect the timer and press go, the timer counts down (delay) sends signal (exposure) waits (interval) then repeats this sequence for the required number of shots. This is perfect if you don't require another signal in the middle to lock up the mirror. If you have mirror lock up enabled in custom functions then you get no pictures at all.
u8myufo... yes it will work that way if I press the button twice (in effectively manual operation) but what I want is unattended timed automatic operation. If I don't enable mirror lock up then everything works fine.
I would like to know if anyone has solved this problem.
I would be interested to know how and why this works ok with a 5D (MisterE).
 
I use the camera self timer on 2s to achieve this, then add 2 seconds to your long exposure time. So if you want 45 second exposure, then set the exposure on the timer to 47 seconds.
 
Again, I don't know what it is you're trying to do, but if you just need two firings for every single picture, then can't you set the remote to do that? For example, if you want one pic every minute, then set it take one every 30 seconds and you're done. This should work fine for time-lapse.

And if you manually make the first press, then all the photos the camera takes will be with the mirror already up, so vibration is minimised and also lag is minimised if that is important (as it is with high speed flash).

What are you trying to do, and what equipment are you using? If it's fairly convnetional time lapse, then just doubling up the frequency should do it, will it not?
 
What John said - timer mode, gives a fixed 2 second delay on the 20D. I had to duck tape over the self-timer light as I use it for astronomy. The 300D has a Russian firmware hack which can give you a one-click mirror lockup with a range of time delays.
 
Thank you for all your replies.
The solution is the one given by jgs001 and Dangerous_Dave.
You need to use the camera self timer, with MLU enabled in bulb mode on Manual.
You need to increase the timer remote exposure time by 2 seconds to get the correct value.
I've checked this myself this afternoon and it works so I've added this comment in case anyone else is looking for a solution for astrophotography.

ps. I've looked at your astro photos Dangerous_Dave...they are awesome!
 
mbscad said:
Thank you for all your replies.
The solution is the one given by jgs001 and Dangerous_Dave.
You need to use the camera self timer, with MLU enabled in bulb mode on Manual.
You need to increase the timer remote exposure time by 2 seconds to get the correct value.
I've checked this myself this afternoon and it works so I've added this comment in case anyone else is looking for a solution for astrophotography.

ps. I've looked at your astro photos Dangerous_Dave...they are awesome!
Click to expand...

cheers! :)
 
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