Easiest MLU in a full-frame DSLR?

[quixotic]

Canon, Nikon or Pentax only, since I want to convert a Zuiko 24mm shift lens with a Leitax converter and they are the only choices.

I had a Canon 5D at one time, but the mirror lock up was buried in the menu system, and I hated it. Is there anything in those three makes that permits the easy facility of going from MLU to non-MLU just like the old film SLR's? I'd need something that would separate the MLU function from the shutter function by at least 10 seconds, since I often use a Sirui monopod (with the legs spread, of course) indoors, and it requires a bit of time to settle down. I guess it would also be nice to have the shutter go off with some sort of remote release, instead of relying on a timer.

I had a Nikon Df for a short while, but the complexity threw me off. Maybe I should give it another chance?

Thanks in advance.

 

[wiltw]

Why a Leitax convertor?
I use the Olympus OM 24mm PC (shift) lens on my Canon dSLRs and us an OM-to-EF convertor.

Do you have a specific need for use of MLU?

 

[quixotic]

Thanks wiltw. I hadn't thought to look for other adapters. Maybe I'll do that before I start messing with a convertor.

The MLU would be for interior architecture shots mainly, as well as miscellaneous museum shots. Places like this tend to prefer monopods over tripods (less of a tripping hazard), and although the Sirui is about the most stable monopod there is, it really needs as much help as it can get with regard to settling time, etc. I haven't done any tests with glasses of water perched on hot-shoes or anything, but I'm assuming that a MLU will help.

Do you use the MLU with your Canon at all? I've hesitated about getting a 6D, because I found that the MLU on my old 5D was such a pain, and I think the menu systems are fairly similar.

 

[MattKing]

Don't forget to check whether there is a built in self timer with mirror pre-release option - it is a great way to achieve mirror lock up.

 

[quixotic]

Don't forget to check whether there is a built in self timer with mirror pre-release option - it is a great way to achieve mirror lock up.

It looks like -- on the Nikon Df, at least, which I currently seem to be drawn towards -- that the timer function and the MLU will not work together. They're separate functions on the exposure mode dial. But I'd be OK with that, since I cut my teeth on an old Mamiya 645.

 

[wiltw]

Decades ago, the MLU was found to be most beneficial in the 1/8 - 4 second range (or thereabouts...my memory is not photographic!)...IOW, MLU works in the range where a monopod does little for elimination of camera motion as you hold it...the monopod only eliminates one axis of motion ...the side to side, and the rotational (twisting about the axis of the monopod) motion are not eliminated. Methinks you are looking for the wrong solution to a problem that is solved only by a tripod.

 

[quixotic]

Decades ago, the MLU was found to be most beneficial in the 1/8 - 4 second range (or thereabouts...my memory is not photographic!)...IOW, MLU works in the range where a monopod does little for elimination of camera motion as you hold it...the monopod only eliminates one axis of motion ...the side to side, and the rotational (twisting about the axis of the monopod) motion are not eliminated. Methinks you are looking for the wrong solution to a problem that is solved only by a tripod.

The Sirui is a totally different beast. You can call it either a monopod on steroids, or a tripod with serious deficiencies. But suffice it to say that with it and a 2-pound camera inside a building (ie with no wind), you can easily get tack-sharp photos with a 30-second shutter speed.
http://www.sirui.com/index/tpl/productmonopodpsr.html

I just finished taking it on a holiday to Ireland and Isle of Man, and I suspect that it'll edge out my tripod on future holidays, also. It's certainly not a panacea (it even weighs more than my tripod), but it's much easier to set up, and at no time did museum or cathedral staff ask me to leave it outside. And that combination of carbon fiber and anodized aluminum is sooo sexy!