Magic Lantern demo on the 550D
 

I am very proud to announce that we have started support for the Canon 550D / T2i in a branch of the Magic Lantern tree. Thanks to the assistance of arm.indy and an anonymous contributor, we were able to sign an initial Magic Lantern firmware image and port the existing code to work with the version 1.0.8 firmware in the 550D.

The first version will have audio meters, lens data and maybe manual audio gain plus monitoring on the A/V jack. I haven't found the liveview video ram device yet, so zebra stripes and histograms won't work for a little while. There might also not be a menuing system initially since there are no "spare" buttons on the 550D in movie mode and we still do not have a way to integrate with Canon's menus.

Even more than the 5D Mark II, I'm very excited about the possibilities that these cameras open up for independent film makers. Such inexpensive cameras, with such high quality sensors and lenses, coupled with good on-camera audio and film making features, are an unbeatable combination for everyone who wants to make a movie.

Whoa... nice to see it up and running Tramm.... !!!

Very nice work Tramm! Now I'm thinking I need a 550D (as well as the 7D that I already have!)

I have three T2is, so this news is phenomenal!

OHHHHHH MAN .... this is awesome!!! I ran CHDK on my A640 and can't wait to see how this turns out.

Thank you!!!!

Amazing! It will be like getting a new camera. And it will save me some serious syncing headache. Thank you so much!

Thank you!!!

Sweet.

My T2i has been gathering a bit of dust since I got a 7D, this will make me pull it out again! Looking forward to the release.

This is fantastic!!! Can't wait!

thank you !!!

Beta installation
 

I've posted installation instructions for those who are willing to risk it. It is a little more complicated than the 5D installation and there aren't that many features yet (only audio meters and lens data), but you're welcome to give it a try.

EDIT -- it isn't even close to beta yet; this is really pre-alpha level.

Thanks Tramm,
I use the 550D as a B camera along with an EX3. Although the resolution is higher in the EX3 I'm finding the 550D picture quality is better with the larger sensor so your upgrade will really help moving it into the A camera roll. I also got a call on a shoot in the middle of the night for a 6am shoot, and didn't have time to pickup the Sony. This time the audio was not critical, but the next call may be. I look forward to giving your upgrade a shot!

It's amazing to hear about that! Thank you very much. I would like to see beta version soon.

Wow big news, cant wait!

Thanks Tramm, is there any chance that your hack will allow running scripts like CHDK does? For timelapse, hdr exposures etc.

Tramm,

You rock! Looking forward to pulling my MKE400 out of the bag!

Thank you!!!

Brad

Awesome! This is great!

Fantastic!

Wonderful! Can't wait for that manual control of audio gain and also the zebra functionality!

Thanks Tramm, a zebra function will be the ultimate for that camera !

Tramm, thanks for all your brilliant work. Is there a technical, or othe reason why you skipped over the 7D?

I spoke up before in another thread, so now I guess I'll have to pony up.
If Tramm wants it (and indicates where to send it) I'll gladly Paypal $20 to assist in the development.
If you're reading this Tramm, let me know where you want it sent.

Thanks, and god speed in this wonderful "Melty" (i.e. ML-T2i) endeavour.

Big thanks for your contribution to the community and everyone who has helped you achieve this. This will have a big impact, as you say.

Thanks is good -- but let's pony up some cash! Where can we contribute?

Absolutely fantastic news!!

On the last page (as of today) of this discussion:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eo...c-lantern.html

There is a way to contribute to the effort.

Here is the link:

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/websc...ton_id=5743101

Or if you prefer, you can find the paypal button on the wikia page:

Magic Lantern Firmware Wiki

I think it would help if you mention you are interested in the 550d/t2i port to help them guage response.

I just donated some, but I didn't see where I could mention the T2i.

When I did it, there was a link somewhere in the top left half saying something like "special instructions" which opens a text field.

Don't worry, I get the impression Tramm is ideologically committed to the camera. I think he recognises how big this could be in opening up possibilities for shoestring film makers.

Donating!!

What can we expect for the work flow with the changes to 24p?

Just sent a donation -- Come on everyone!

I would love to do it. But how much donation should I give? It's always a tricky question =) any suggestions?

Just give what you can afford without making any great sacrifices. I'm sure every little is appreciated. Whether it's 5, 10, 20 or 50, it doesn't matter, you made a gesture.

I just made a donation. This is awesome!

Would be great to eliminate the 12min recording limit!

Peter

Thats a file size limitation on the file system, that limits the recording time. Basically, you get 4 gig max for Fat file system, as I understand it. I think in SD, you can get as high as 29 minutes on the 5D. That cuts off becasue European time limits and taxes on video cameras that record more that 30 minutes.

What you want to ask for is for the Camera to automatically continue recording after reaching the file size limit.

If Tramm can identify an flag or interrupt that occurs when the file limit is reached, he might be able to automatically start a new recording. There would probably be a slight gap, but it would allow hands-free operation.

Many of the features that people request (eliminate aliasing and rolling shutter and record RAW) would require hardware changes and/or reprogramming of the DIGIC IV signal processor, which isn't practical for Magic Lantern. The "auto renew recording" feature, however, could be done within the normal CPU, assuming that Tramm or some other programmer could discover the hooks.

Is it possible to activate the magnifying function X5-X10 while the camera is recording ? even if it is for 5 seconds, that will definitely give you a better edge on focusing !!
what about activating the viewfinder while recording instead of LCD !

That's my wish list :)

Viewfinder wont work because the mirror would have to drop down which would block the sensor, so its a mechanical impossibility to do both.
Not sure why you would want to anyway, the viewfinder is tiny and awful to use for manual focusing.

Ok, I understand the 4Gb file size limit explanation. Auto continue record would be ok but probably still not solve my problem where I am using one unattended 550d to record a 40min gig as it would drop a second or so in the changeover resulting in a break in continuity of the audio & video recording. Unless of course it can happen in milli or microseconds which I somehow doubt.

At present I usually stop start after 2 songs which usually run about 3.5 to 5 min each. I just have to remember to do it whilst I am shooting closeups on my second 550d.

Another incredibly useful feature would be a flashing Tally lamp so I can look at the camera from a distance and see if it is recording. You would have to program the LED on the front to for some low output short pulses, I would love this!

I note that when I operate my Canon RC-6 remote that the front LED flashes a single short orange flash, if we could keep that going every 3-5 seconds I would be happy, provided it does not get recorded as well.

Peter