Magic Lantern

[Jason Williams]

Morning everyone.

I recently got myself a Canon 550d. It's my first dslr and I am loving every minute on it. I usually do a lot of video footage mainly for the internet but this camera has me taking more pictures than I would have bargained for.

Here is my question. I have been reading up a lot about Magic Lantern Firmware. Apparently its very stable and really opens up lots of possibilities with the camera. I am just really concerned about bricking the camera which is always a risk. Has anyone here ever installed it. If so what are your feeling about the installation and the performance?

Thanks guys and girls.

Jason

[Forgiss - Sean Nel]

I didn't know the 550D's magic Lantern version was a stable release yet? the 5DmkII has a stable release...

[Jason Williams]

Ok maybe not so stableThis is what wiki says about the pre-alpha release.

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/550D

Is it difficult to install the firmware.? I would love to give it a try.

[SteveG]

A friend of mine is also considering this for his 550D. He's read up on it and decided to hold off for 6 months or so, until is it more stable. If you've only got one camera and can't afford to 'brick' it, then that's probably a wise course to follow.

[Jason Williams]

I tend to agree. Will at least hold out till the warranty is done. (maybe)

[Nicholas de Kock]

I'm sure nothing extreme will happen I haven't heard any horror stories but I'm also waiting for a stable release.

[Jason Williams]

I'm sure nothing extreme will happen I haven't heard any horror stories but I'm also waiting for a stable release.

I also have not heard anything bad about the pre-alpha version. I think the ml guys just cover there back with that little disclaimer. I will just wait a bit longer though.

[Nicholas de Kock]

In depth video on the latest ML.


Embeded video from Vimeo

[Jason Williams]

Awesome find on the vid Nicholas. Thanks bud. This really makes me want to get this now...Decisions decisions...

[Gavin van Dam]

Stable Unified version available http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified

[Phillip.Grobler]

I've been using it - mostly on the photo side -bulb ramping and audio remote trigger

[Phillip.Grobler]

http://groups.google.com/group/ml-de...22f19c97839c28

Today is a big day for Magic Lantern

Exactly one year ago, the original 5D Magic Lantern from Trammell Hudson
was ported on 550D: http://vimeo.com/17786851

So... let's see how Magic Lantern has grown up after one year:

- Currently running on 550D/T2i, 60D, 600D/T3i, 500D/T1i and 50D. Very
soon, it will be working on 5D Mark II and 1100D!
- User interface is evolving to be more self-explanatory and intuitive.
- The most often used essentials have been polished and refined.
- External monitors are working very well, thanks to SmallHD.
- Dedicated playback features such as very fast zoom, HDR preview, and
exposure analysis; in-camera convenience has been taken seriously - check
the PLAY menu.
- And even some things which we thought to be impossible (1/25s and 1/8000s
in video mode, movie recording on 50D, FPS control on 60D/600D, manual
exposure controls on 500D...)

If you are curious about stability:

- I haven't had a crash on my cameras during the last two months, and I've
tested many experimental versions.
- There are built-in stability tests which you can run yourself (I'm
running them before I release every experimental update).
- Unified ML port for 5D2 is reported to be very stable by early testers,
even on HDMI (this port was done without having this camera in my hands!)

Battery life:

- In my tests, ML only draws 5% more power under heavy load.
- Timelapse in silent mode: I shot 3640 photos, 1 every 5 seconds on the
550D, the battery lasted 5 hours (with Powersave turned on).

There are still some rough edges on cameras I don't own (600D, 500D, 50D),
but with your help, these will be ironed out pretty soon.

Thanks to everyone for making this possible!

==========
DOWNLOAD
==========
https://bitbucket.org/hudson/magic-lantern/downloads/magiclantern-201...

P.S. You can help ML development by clicking here: http://goo.gl/79JgB

[EdDuck]

Hi everyone, I have been haunting the CHDK and Magic lantern groups for ages hoping they would bring out a 50D firmware AND lo and behold they did!!!!!!!! Magic Lantern 50D firmware

I have just loaded it onto my 50D and I have already recorded quite a few vids at 1920x1088 30fps. The fps is locked to 30 at the moment and hopefully 24p will be available in a future release. The video quality is very impressive with very little jello effect but the usual moire on diagonal edges is there.

BUT BUT BUT BUT the BEST feature of all of this is the INTERVALOMETER and BULB TIMER!!!!!!!!!!!! WOooohooo at last, I can do timelapses and properly exposed long exposures! I will repost this in the SLR section in case other people don't see this.

PS this is available for 500D, 550D, 600D, 50D, and 60D!

[Gavin van Dam]

One tip if you install and use ML, remember after following the instructions, if you used to shoot in RAW, set the camera back from the default to RAW I wondered why I was getting more shots on my memory card, and yesterday when checking my photo collection, everything post install of ML was shot in JPG

[Phillip.Grobler]

On the 60d it now has custom focus groupings which is realy nice.
And HDR video - it creates 2 video streams of 12 frames n second one stream over exoposed and one under and processes inti a singke hdr videi afterwads

[cagenuts]

On the 60d it now has custom focus groupings which is realy nice.

What exactly does this do for you in layman's terms please?

[Phillip.Grobler]

Normaly you can select either a single focus point or all the focus points. It allows you to select the left 3 or the right 3 or the center 3. It tells the camera to auto select the focus point but then restricts it the points the camsra has to select from.

[cagenuts]

Ah thanks!

[Jason Williams]

Hi Guys. Sorry I have been so scarce. I have been using ml for a while now and have to say that it's pure awesome. A few glitches here and there with the older builds but the later builds are very stable and turn a regular 550d into a monster of a camera.

[HeinrichR]

I'm sure nothing extreme will happen .

I read somewhere (think its the time lapse forum)that on some of the newer canons you can use Magic lantern only so many times and then the camera is blocked/ stuffed/ cant do any more firmware updates/prevented from using it, or canon are going to implement this strategy, might be worth a investigation for those using ML.