As MegaPixel race is engulfing the world of photography with both hands, nearly all never realising the fact that, the more megapixels they are going to have, the steadier they have shoot. They will need the Tripod or Monopod at all cost to reduce the micro blur. What exactly I am talking about here? Let’s me share with you my real-life incident.
When Nikon D850 was announced, well before that I was following the rumours sites and all the possible resources to give me the insight of the camera. I know that it’s going to be “nearly medium format” resolution, so excitement was there. I told everyone that “Mark my words, it’s going to be a Layman Medium Format camera” which it is. So later, D850 hit the shelves, and I was among those like 10-12 people in whole Dubai who got my hands on the machine.
So, after getting D850, I was supercharged and started shooting with it almost everything and every type of genre. But wait a minute. Something is wrong with the camera!!!! What’s wrong with the Focus? Why am I not able to have pin-sharp focus? I am still having the same set of lenses which was working ok on my other machine as D700. So, I start investigating, and it didn’t take me long to figure out that everything is fine. Both D850 and lenses are fine. Nothing is wrong. What is wrong is with me. I am not following the right set of “Protocols” operating any high-resolution camera. Check later section of this blog where I have mentioned the protocol.
What happening was simple. When you press the shutter release button, a lot of stuff happens in the DSLR, from mirror flip to the shutter blades movement etc. Any physical action INSIDE the camera due to its any physical movement parts produces vibration. The most vibration is producing by the flipping mirror box which flips up and down and shakes the whole camera. The second vibration is due to the shutter blades movement. Now, these types of vibration get to reflect in higher megapixel images. But hay wait. These vibrations were there from the inception of the DSLR. What’s wrong now? The answer is resolution. Higher resolution cameras are now able to show more, or shall I say magnifies these micro issues. For example, I never had any problem like micro blur with D700 because it got 12MP sensor in it. But when I had D850 it got like nearly four times the resolution of the D700, so chances of the micro blur to be seen is straight away risen by four times. If one tiny movement was affecting one pixel, now the same amount of that little movement is affecting 4 pixels in the same area. Take a look below detail illustration for better understanding. The Yellow box is representing D700 physical size pixel (as a reference) and little green box is representing the D850 pixel in comparison.
To combat this situation, camera companies introduce a function name “Exposure Delay”. Please do not mix it with the “Timer” as both are different. Though both functions look similar, their affect is different as they occur at a different set of time. One is better than the others. You will see by yourself how.
In Old DSLR’s in Nikon like D700 exposure delay function was there but it got one specific value which is around 1 second. We cannot change it. But in D850, that exposure is user define now. The values are from 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 & 3 seconds which you can change as per your taste. I saw the same in Canon 5DS/5DSR. What Nikon did additional step for D850 was, they made the shutter blades with more damping material of carbon fiber so they can make less noise and produce less vibration. The whole shutter assembly and Body structure of the D850 are made in such a way that shutter vibration will be less, and it will be producing less noise. That’s why D850 shutter sound was most pleasing according to the article that was published on the PetaPixel on July 31st, 2019. You can read that article over here.
Now, as all understood in much detail why we are talking about Exposure Delay mode and Timer, let’s dive in and see what is happening when following things happen.
- Timer function enabled
- Exposure Delay function enabled
- Time + Exposure Delay both functions enabled
Timer function enabled
In this procedure Timer function inside all cameras which last for 2, 5 & 10 seconds, happens first and then mirror lift and the shutter opens. This procedure is standard in almost all DSLR’s/Mirrorless cameras. As standard, I used 10 seconds below as example. So now imagine you are shooting some group shots or long exposure on tripod using D850/5DSR. That 10 seconds delay is almost useless because mirror lift up produces shakes inside the body which will cause micro blur.
Exposure Delay function enabled
In this function, the camera doesn’t wait for 10 seconds like Timer. The moment you press the shutter release button mirror lifts up and then camera waits for the time from 0.2 to 3 seconds whatever you program in it and then clicks. Using this feature, you are primarily eliminating the mirror vibration in the first place before even the shutter opens. This is what all landscapers do.
Time + Exposure Delay both functions enabled
It is the easiest one to follow. You enable both Timer and Exposure Delay. It’s double protection to avoid any micro blur when you are shooting with a high-resolution camera. The Timer will protect your image from any blur while it happens when you press shutter release button and the Exposure Delay will protect your image from micro blur if happens due to mirror flap. If you are a landscaper shooter who is shooting with higher resolution cameras, especially long exposures, then you need to enable both functions.
Note: There are scenarios where these functions won’t work to get you your desired results. For example, for shooting seascape where you want to capture some particular wave formation to get the artistic effect, you need to disable these functions as you need your camera to perform quickly on your command. Also, scenarios like street photography it may not work. For portraits, it works completely fine, especially if you are in the studio. But if you are shooting on location portrait, then probably disabling both of these functions will be a better idea.
Set of Protocols for using Higher Mega Pixel Machines:
I came up with this set of protocols, and it always works,
- Put the higher resolution camera on the tripod.
- Enable the mirror lock-up (in this way you have to press shutter release twice, one for lifting the mirror and second time to start the exposure)
- Enable Exposure Delay (or Exposure Delay + Timer whatever you like)
And this how you enable Exposure Delay Mode inside Nikon cameras. Note that this menu inside the Nikon camera may vary from one position to another (depending on model) but it will always be found inside the Shooting/display menu.
Exposure Delay Mode
And this is how you enable Timer function by rotating the dial from the top of the camera. The position of the function also varies from model to model, but it is mostly found it position on the top left rotating dial of the Nikon cameras.
Camera Timer
I hope you find this blog useful and will be taking care of your shooting using the information highlighted in this blog. Please do join our Facebook group VUE for more such info.
Till next time, Happy Learning Guys.
