Another Magic Lantern queery
 

Sorry to post another thread on ML, but nothing I've seen really addresses this question.

I'm aware that ML is in pre-alpha. I know it's not possible to firmly answer the question 'is it safe?', but I thought maybe someone could give their risk analysis here, and let us know if, for someone without particular technical skill, would be better advised to wait until the firmware is in Beta before attempting to install.... Any seriously bad experiences/ bricked cameras? Any thinking on this v.welcome. Jx

I have installed every version since 19 December, no problems whatsoever. I have not heard of anyone bricking there camera. It is so worth it to install Magic lantern, it transforms the cameras usability beyond belief. I am not particularly technical, but it is so straightforward to install, I didnt think twice.

"I am not particularly technical, but it is so straightforward to install...."

Colin, your statement above means that you download the software, connect your camera via USB to your PC and then double click the .exe ML software that you downloaded and voila!!! Is it like this? because if it's not I would not risk destroying my 1000 Euro camera.

Stelios

No, just overwrite the Autoexec file on the card, with each new release.

I can tell you that it's not THAT straight forward to install. It can get confusing if you don't read the instructions carefully and do all of the steps that are required. However, once it's done, you will like the features.

Go here. Magic Lantern User Group on Vimeo In the right sidebar there are easy to follow video instructions. It's really pretty simple when you watch the video. The written instructions are confusing.

It's easier than you imagine...
 

The instructions are very straight-forward.
The only change to the camera firmware itself is to toggle boot instructions from the SD card. This is completely reversible.

The current builds are actually release candidates, so probably not alpha anything at this point.

At least you're not risking a 5D.

I've shot several projects on it over the last two months, with only minor issues that have been addressed in the latest builds. It will transform your camera, well worth the effort to learn how to do it.

What is the mostly used (and practical) features that ML provides; and why Canon did not include it in there cameras.

Stelios

I assume that Canon's engineers are busy, busy, busy. It's no surprise that they aren't spending more time than they need on features for this generation of cams. Expect more/better features when the 5D3 is introduced. (There are no announcements, but I'd guess that it will be here in late 2011 or early 2012. And, yes, that's just a guess!) Yes, we want the video features today, but these cams are mostly sold to pro and amateur photographers.

The best features to me are 1) exposure aids, 2) guides (safe area, 2:35:1 aspect...), and 3) audio control.

ML's audio control allows less noisy recordings than Canon's in the 5D2. It's a "must have" for doing serious audio into the camera. The guides are critical when shooting 2.35:1. Exposure aids (zebras, histogram, false colors) can be useful on every shot.

Shooting in narrative films, the sound features, unless I am covering everything, have been reduced in importance to me with the advent of Plural Eyes and Dual Eyes. However, AJ Newmans development of false colors for exposure evaluation, and especially for getting you facial tones properly exposed, that was promptly ported by Alex to the 550D/T2i, is a big deal.

Note, those of you who are trying to use False colors in the T2i, must become aware that it takes a little trick to get the colors reporting back properly. Once you start Magic Lantern in that model, you have to start the playback button once and then exit-- and thats it, the false colors will be reported properly.

Also in AJ Newman version of ML for the 5D, he has a nifty focusing aid that magnifies a portion of the LCD screen to allow better focusing as you are shooting.

Magic Lander for the T2i also offers a continuous recording feature, though it does cause a small 1 second gap, means that you can have a camera running attended in an event situation.

Qsale adjustment actually can be used to adjust the maximum recording length at the expense of quality reduction. Thus far, at least for me, it looks like attempts to increase recording quality by using Qscale, are not meeting with meaningful benefits.

In the latest Magic Lantern build from Alex, there is a first crude version continuous auto focus.

For the future, one thing that the latest anouncement about the Ti3 has encouraged me about is that the engineering of HD digiital zoom proves that the chip can be instructed to sample only a portion of the chip. This opens the potential that the chip could be instructed to, for instance, sample a cinemascope size portion of the chip, while skipping less lines ! This is an amazing potential, in my mind.

Exposure assistance

Configurable zebras, false colours, (colour, yay) histogram, spot meter

Focus assistance

Peaking filter (awesome), trap focus (awesome for stills for manual lens lovers), hoping for AJ's 5d focus overlay to get ported

Audio control

Makes the camera just about usable for audio, although I still prefer to record audio separately and sync in post, as the noise floor is not quite there for serious stuff.

In a word, money. Companies like Canon operate within a virtual oligopoly. They only have to marginally exceed the offerings of their immediate competitors (talking DSLR video, Panasonic and just about, Nikon) with each iteration, to get people to part with their money for the latest model.

By spreading the release of new features over a series of hardware releases, they maximise their profit.