Magic Lantern
 

Hey Guys -

How about we chipin and get a 550D to Trammell Hudson - see some Magic Lantern on the 550D would be super cool!

We did something similar on the HV20 forum - all it needs is someone known to be the 'piggyback' holder using ChipIn and we'll have the $800 in no time, buy it off of amazon, and send it to Trammell ^_^

What'cha guys think?

Great idea. I am willing to pay for it if he wants to do it.

Well if more people would be willing to join in so we'd all have to chip in with a small sum, I'd be up for it.

But if we're only two and we have to come up with $400 each, I don't know :P

Well the idea is that many people will chip in small amounts -
Floris - I doubt he can guarantee it, that's why we all take a smaller risk (rather than 1 person taking a big risk)

Go ahead and set up a ChipIn for the 550d Magic Lantern, and me and Alex can be the first two to get this ball rolling :>

I'd be in. I'd like to hear from him about what he thinks the chances are of him being able to do it would be.

Ala, let's not rush into this. I don't even have a 550D yet. :)

I'm all for chipping in and helping the community but are we sure if we raise that money that he will get the camera AND come up with a version for it?

I could be wrong, but doesn't Trammell need to have a firmware update for the T2i from Canon before he can start his work? The T1i just got it's first update and it took nearly a year.

I'm really not sure at all how much work would be involved. There is some belief that the problems porting Magic Lantern to the 7D have been caused by the dual DIGICs; the 550D has only one and might be a straight-forward port.

I'd love to be able to support the 550D with ML since it is the absolute least expensive Super-35 sized camera with a stereo mic jack and 30p/24p modes. The 5D Mark II is an incredible film making tool, but for 1/4 the price the 550D is an incredible deal and I imagine that Canon will sell tons of them to film students and indies. The biggest features of ML are all audio related, so supporting the 500D without an external mic input doesn't make as much sense.

The biggest impediment to even starting on a port is a firmware dump. Allegedly there is one in the wild that might be usable as a starting point, if it is really from the 550D. After the firmware has been acquired, access to a camera for hacking is the next requirement.

what I wouldn't give for...
 

I'd definitely chip in if / when I get one, which is hopefully soon. If anyone wants to sell me a Tokina 11-16, let me know!

An ignorant question for Tramm et al:

the biggest seemingly-fixable setback to ALL these DSLR's, in my opinion (and other people who seem to hate these cameras for this reason) is how difficult it is to get sharp focus while recording. Now, if that magnification button that works so beautifully could be invoked DURING recording, all of these cameras would be instantly kicked up into a new class, and focusing on the run would be a breeze.

Is this something that just might possibly maybe could be invoked via firmware? Or is there a real-world, physical reason why you can't magnify and record at the same time? Tramm, if you could make that happen, I think we would all be happy to buy you not only a camera but as lifetime supply of Brooklyn Lager as well...

The zoom while recording does have issues. First, if you are trying to shoot anything that moves, the zoom is worthless. You'll never follow in that mode. Second, If it's stationary, you really shouldn't need it while recording. Set it once before and you're done. I would prefer to fix the 1080 out the HDMI to use an external monitor and follow focus so you don't touch the camera while recording. The 480 is not bad but obviously 1080 would be that much easier!

well, if you're doing a locked-down, pre-planned shot, it's fine. If you're walking around, hand held, documentary stuff, and you turn from shooting something close to something far away (for example), invoking that magnification for a second, focusing quickly, and and returning to a normal view is easy and invaluable. It works great when I'm not recording, not sure why it would be worthless otherwise. I'm not trying to use it to rack focus, simply to reset my focal length. Though it works great when rack-focusing stationary objects.

Adding monitors and other gear starts to remove what makes a camera like this so great for this shooting scenario- it's simplicity and portability.

I just meant any time I'm shooting, I don't want to bump the camera in the slightest. Even if I handhold, fiddling with anything other than the focus seems to show up in footage. I agree it works just fine if you're not shooting. I use it all the time.

This is just a new way of working that those of us with years and years of experience on video cameras have to get used to. That's why we're trying to turn them into video cameras with all the attachments! :)

Thank you for chiming in Tramm! Where can we contribute towards a T2i/550D for you? I'm ready to purchase an audio solution for mine, either a JuicedLink or a BeachTek DXA-SLR, strictly because they defeat the agc. But I've got two other XLR adapters already that I could use if ML can work on the T2i.

sorry- HDSLR newb here, but if this ML firware is possible for the 550D, is it possible to:

use the AV out for headphones
see a UV meter or level indicator
disable the AGC

that would be....so....very.....cool

ML for the 5D Mark II was designed primarily to provide a way to disable AGC. In process Tramm Hudson added some nifty things and he is developing others. The current ML 1.6 for the 5D has audio level meters, manual gain control adjustments, zebras, a form of automated rack focusing. Some of the new stuff is less than perfect, and considered in development, but they may be portable to the T2i, if someone makes the attempt.