Comparing 24P and 4P in very low light using
Magic Lantern v 0.2.2 5D Preview Beta.

Canon 5D mkII
Nikkor 50mm f1.4
VAF-5D2
Cinestyle Profile

Scene: Exterior of houses with trees at past midnight
with street lamps, clear sky and full moon illumination.

ISOs 800-HI 12800

2nd part is a comparison between different profiles in low fps / low light
Neutral, Marvels 3.4, Technicolor Cinestyle

Exposureroom link:
5D Magic Lantern LOW FPS Test # 1 http://img1.exposureroom.com/thumbnails/getassetthumbnailimage/df33178158df4fb295fe7b3ee5afbbe2/sm/ (http://exposureroom.com/df33178158df4fb295fe7b3ee5afbbe2/)

Vimeo link:
5D Magic Lantern LOW FPS Test # 1 on Vimeo

Impressive, Ted.

On the settings, you show 1/48 shutter for both 24p and 4p. Isn't the shutter 1/8 at 4p?

Also, I'm curious about your opinion and analysis of the picture style results.

Jon,

The current magic lantern can only go as low as 1/31 shutter so I just retained 1/48 for consistency.

So yes, at 4P I was at 1/48 (according to ML menu)

As for the pic styles, I had my concerns at first with Cinestyel as it was mentioned to be noisy in the blacks and clipped both ends of the curve so some recommends the new Marvels Cine 3.4 instead.

I have a separate test on this using color charts at conventional 24P 1/48shutter settings. I will post that soon.

However, in these scenario using low framerate at lowlight it clearly shows cinestyle to be a better option.

I do some cityscapes and landscapes for corporate and tourism promotional work, this feature could come in real handy at dusk or night scenes in lieu of timelapse stills.

Very cool Ted. I just starting messing around with the different frame rates last night. I haven't had a chance to mess with it much. I am thinking of playing around with some frame rates just below 24. Perhaps around the late teen range. You might be able to find a nice balance between improving your low light performance with a lower frame rate and still being able to capture shots with actors etc.. as long as their motion isn't too quick. Then slow it down to 24.

I'm confused. If you shoot at 1/48, the exposure should stay the same, regardless of the frame rate. My guess is that at 4fps, the shutter speed also became longer - even if the UI says "1/48". You could test it with some motion in the frame.

Jon,

I got an email by the new ML developer Alex fixing the UI on the low FPS and it now indicates
360 degree shutter, 1/4 when 4P is engaged.

I received it a couple of days ago but wasn't able to update this as I was out of town.

That makes sense. Nice!

There has been some questions as to the uses of such a low framerate, for me its useful for low noise in low light shots for landscapes and cityscapes, in locked down shots this also offers motion blurring of moving objects like water or vehicles weather its night or day.

The January 26 version of ML Unified lowered the framerate further to 3P.

Here's a comparison between 24P and 3P.

5D Magic Lantern LOW FPS Test # 2 http://img1.exposureroom.com/thumbnails/getassetthumbnailimage/85b3c3148cd64f83bfecb1c22f22d698/sm/ (http://exposureroom.com/85b3c3148cd64f83bfecb1c22f22d698/)

5D Magic Lantern LOW FPS Test # 2 on Vimeo