# Here's How Canon's Motor Driven Mirror Mechanism Works



## Canon Rumors Guy (Dec 19, 2015)

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## Click (Dec 19, 2015)

Thanks for posting.


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## RGF (Dec 19, 2015)

interesting. I would like to see how Nikon does theirs and compare the two (if they are different). Just curious how these work and alternatives/benefits of other approaches


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## Chaitanya (Dec 20, 2015)

nice to see the mechanism in action, but what has that 50mm lens got to do with the mirror mechanism?


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## infared (Dec 20, 2015)

That is cool!...but complicated.
I think that I need life span statistic on mirror and shutter actuations for a camera with this mechanism. :-X


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## Bennymiata (Dec 20, 2015)

It goes to show how much detail and engineering goes into our cameras.


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## AvTvM (Dec 20, 2015)

Bennymiata said:


> It goes to show how much detail and engineering goes into our cameras.



to me it just shows, how Canon is wasting resources and efforts on outdated mechanical stuff rather than developing a kick-ass mirrorless system with a kick-ass global electronic shutter instead of slightly improved mirror slapping. 

MIRROR - FLAPPED AND SLAPPED! - LUBRICANT SPLATTERED [Nikon] - SHUTTER SHUDDER - BOOM! - MOTOR RE-COCKING SYSTEM - WHIRRRRR! - GEARS TURNING - NOISE MADE - VIBRATION BLUR INDUCED - X-SYNC LIMITED TO 1/200s ... and a whole boatload of other unwanted effects.

... let's just get rid of it. Now!


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## infared (Dec 20, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> Bennymiata said:
> 
> 
> > It goes to show how much detail and engineering goes into our cameras.
> ...



Good point.
I love my 5DIII, but if I could have a full-size Canon mirrorless camera to use with all the EOS-mount glass that I have that performed like my Olympus OMD's (except AF)....I wound buy it in a heartbeat. Just from the standpoint of mechanical simplicity and for reviewing images on-site in the VF...that is an invaluable tool...just invaluable.


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## eninja (Dec 20, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> Bennymiata said:
> 
> 
> > It goes to show how much detail and engineering goes into our cameras.
> ...



It just shows how good they are developing technology, if they have a kick-ass mirrored system and still is no 1, how can they not have a kick-ass mirrorless, after all all they just need to do is remove the mirror.


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## Frage (Dec 20, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> Bennymiata said:
> 
> 
> > It goes to show how much detail and engineering goes into our cameras.
> ...



Just wanted to point out that X-Sync limitation has nothing to do with the mirror.


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## davidmurray (Dec 21, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> to me it just shows, how Canon is wasting resources and efforts on outdated mechanical stuff rather than developing a kick-ass mirrorless system with a kick-ass global electronic shutter instead of slightly improved mirror slapping.



I for one don't want the decreased battery life of mirrorless cameras. As a result I'm happy with the way the view finder (and related mechanism in my 5D3) functions.


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## infared (Dec 21, 2015)

davidmurray said:


> AvTvM said:
> 
> 
> > to me it just shows, how Canon is wasting resources and efforts on outdated mechanical stuff rather than developing a kick-ass mirrorless system with a kick-ass global electronic shutter instead of slightly improved mirror slapping.
> ...



I think in the near future all serious cameras will be mirrorless. It looks like it's headed that way.


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## Jack Douglas (Dec 21, 2015)

davidmurray said:


> AvTvM said:
> 
> 
> > to me it just shows, how Canon is wasting resources and efforts on outdated mechanical stuff rather than developing a kick-ass mirrorless system with a kick-ass global electronic shutter instead of slightly improved mirror slapping.
> ...



No doubt in time all of it will work out. It made me reminisce about the LED watch my brother showed up with years ago - you had to push a button to see the time otherwise the battery would be dead in no time. Pretty dumb compared to a mechanical watch that displayed continuously but then came the LCD. So one never knows what will ultimately overcome the hurdle; maybe a new invention completely.

Jack


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## AvTvM (Dec 21, 2015)

Frage said:


> Just wanted to point out that X-Sync limitation has nothing to do with the mirror.



100% correct. 
That's why not only flapping mirrors need to be abolished but also mechanical shutters (curtains or iris). 
Any moving parts that produces noise, vibration, delay or are otherwise loitering in the optical path. 
(yes, that also includes mechanical iris aperture blades).


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 21, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> to me it just shows, how Canon is wasting resources and efforts on outdated mechanical stuff rather than developing a kick-ass mirrorless system with a kick-ass global electronic shutter instead of slightly improved mirror slapping.



Yup, Canon must be really stupid for continuing to invest R&D resources in technology incorporated into dSLRs and not MILCs. After all, dSLRs only outsell MILCs by over 3:1, the decline in dSLR sales is leveling off, and MILC sales have basically been flat the last three years. 

Alternatively, I suppose it might...just _might_...be possible that Canon knows more about the market and where they should invest their resources than some yokel posting stuff on the Internet.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 21, 2015)

infared said:


> I think in the near future all serious cameras will be mirrorless. It looks Louie it's headed that way.



Perhaps in the near future the sun will become a red giant star and life on Earth will end. It all depends on how you define 'near future'.

Reports of the death of the dSLR have been greatly exaggerated. 

I think that eventually mirrorless cameras will supplant dSLRs...but that occurrence is quite a ways off.


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## infared (Dec 21, 2015)

neuroanatomist said:


> infared said:
> 
> 
> > I think in the near future all serious cameras will be mirrorless. It looks Louie it's headed that way.
> ...



The Canon God has spoken.


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## AvTvM (Dec 22, 2015)

If canon were to offer the MiLC i want, it would outsell all their mirrorslappers by at least 3:1, that's for sure. Same goes for Nikon. Just met with a group of photo enthusiasts yesterday. Everybody treats their current mirrorslapper as the last one - no matter whether it's a5D3, a 70D, arebel, a D810, D800 or D750. Everybody who's not already switche to Sony A7 just waits for the "real deal" ... FF MILC with their preferred user interface and native adapter for their existing glass. If fully-competitive FF MILCs won't come soon from Canon and/or Nikon then myself and many of my friends will move to Sony as soon as the A7/R III hits the market. And we shall see, if it is only a few yokels like us or a large portoon pf the enthusiast stills photographers.


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## rs (Dec 22, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> If canon were to offer the MiLC i want, it would outsell all their mirrorslappers by at least 3:1, that's for sure. Same goes for Nikon. Just met with a group of photo enthusiasts yesterday. Everybody treats their current mirrorslapper as the last one - no matter whether it's a5D3, a 70D, arebel, a D810, D800 or D750. Everybody who's not already switche to Sony A7 just waits for the "real deal" ... FF MILC with their preferred user interface and native adapter for their existing glass. If fully-competitive FF MILCs won't come soon from Canon and/or Nikon then myself and many of my friends will move to Sony as soon as the A7/R III hits the market. And we shall see, if it is only a few yokels like us or a large portoon pf the enthusiast stills photographers.



Knowing Sony, version III of the A7 line up isn't many months away. However, until some pretty big technical advances happen, the technology isn't ready to supplant SLR's for tracking fast/erratic subjects. It's much more than AF. That viewfinder lag and rolling shutter is a pretty big issue for sports and wildlife photographers. And then once you've got big glass on the front of your camera, what's the advantage of the weight and space saving of binning that mirror?

Besides, adapted glass causes no end of grief. I'd be surprised if many working pro events photographers have an enjoyable and reliable experience using Canon glass on an A7 body, and the Sony glass just isn't there. F4 zooms are no good for wedding photographers, there's only one prime at f1.4, and no super telephotos.

The technology will get closer to the zero lag, zero rolling shutter viewfinder of an SLR, but it can never truly get all the way there.


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## neuroanatomist (Dec 22, 2015)

AvTvM said:


> If fully-competitive FF MILCs won't come soon from Canon and/or Nikon then myself and many of my friends will move to Sony as soon as the A7/R III hits the market. And we shall see, if it is only a few yokels like us or a large portoon pf the enthusiast stills photographers.



I'm sure you're right. Canon and Nikon are *******. 

Yokel.


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## AvTvM (Dec 22, 2015)

I'm sure you're right. Canon and Nikon are *******. 
[/quote]

Absolutely! If they don't repent and change their ways, they are *******, they will go bust as a business, and their CEOs might even burn in hell ... or whatever that translates to in Shintoism.


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