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The greatest enemy of image sharpness is vibration. One of the best ways of beating vibration is through the use of mirror lock-up (MLU). But, there are a range of tools and techniques involved in achieving the sharpest possible images, and we'll look at each of them in detail.
The Weakest Link
Let's look at the things that happen when you take a photograph with an SLR;

— the mirror flips up
— the aperture closes to the predetermined F stop
— the shutter opens for the pre-determined amount of time
— the film or sensor is exposed to light
— the shutter closes
— the aperture returns to wide-open for viewing
— the mirror returns to the viewing position

The items above that are in red happenbeforethe film or sensor is exposed, and therefore can each contribute to image unsharpness. The items in green happenafterthe exposure takes place and therefore have no effect on image sharpness (unless shots are being taken in rapid succession).
Of the th...

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Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
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