Magic Lantern 2.3 is here – and it looks pretty good

The testing phase for Magic Lantern 2.3 is over. Magic Lantern 2.3 release version is now here and the creators say it’s no longer a “hack”.

We can safely say it’s no longer a hack, but it’s strongly heading towards a solid piece of engineering that you can trust.
We have worked a lot on bug-fixing and usability improvements and we sincerely hope you will find it a great companion for all your shooting sessions – from hobbyist to professional.

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Magic Lantern 2.3 RC1 testing just started

Some promising news comes from the Magic Lantern website today.

Feature highlights of the upcoming version:
- First full support for 5D mark II
- Supports latest Canon firmware for 5D mark II, 60D, 600D and 50D
- Advanced ISO control (ISO 80, improved highlight rolloff, ISO 51200…)
- Advanced FPS control (24.000 FPS and 0.2 FPS possible)
- High speed operating through shortcuts (read more)
- New menu design
- Much improved stability (read more)

This is what they wrote:
As promised last week, we are very close to the 2.3 release. We’d like to run a release candidate testing first (RC1), so we’ll start this today.

As a special gesture to the donors and contributors to the ML project, we would like to thank them by giving them access to the release candidate in the forum section accessible to contributors and supporters. Currently we match donors and forum members by hand, so if we miss any of you, please contact me or Bart via PM.

For providing testing feedback, you will have to complete a small quiz. Your feedback will help us fix any remaining problems and announce a release date for the stable v2.3, which will be available to those who donate at least 10 euro to keep us running. After three weeks, this version will become free for everybody.

ML 2.3 RC1 works on Canon 5D Mark II 2.1.2, 550D 1.0.9, 60D 1.1.1, 600D 1.0.2, 50D 1.0.9 and 500D 1.1.1.

via MagicLantern.fm

Canon T4i / 650D – video samples / noisetest

The just recently announced Canon EOS 650D will hit the shelves pretty soon. We just received a beta version of the camera and I went out to take some video samples to see how the sensor performs.

This was all handheld with the $200 Canon 55-250mm IS lens and there was no color correction applied.

The beta firmware version had some limitations like I couldn’t adjust the white balance or had wrong exposure at times. This should be resolved in the final version.

The handling of the camera was nice, although I didn’t find the button layout perfect for video (having to reach with the wrong hand to the wrong side of the camera).

I didn’t test audio or autofocus with the dedicated STM lenses (see announcement: LINK).

Thanks to themusicbed.com for providing wonderful music. Check out their licensing database, it’s a great website.
The song used here is called “Arrows Fly” by “Afterlife Parade”: LINK

There is a kit version with Canon’s new Video-AF lens the EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM for $1199.

Europeans get the Canon 650D here

[UPDATE:] Noise Test
This is a comparison between the noise on Canon EOS 7D and a beta Canon EOS 650D.
All internal noise reduction was switched off, same picture profile.

Night Shoot.

Based on demand for higher sensitivity cameras, Canon claims that it is technically possible to shoot beyond the 1D mark IV’s ISO 102K.

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