Magic Lantern is a firmware add-on for various Canon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and the EOS M.Unlock hidden features on your Canon dSLR
. Lexy Savvides, CNET, 12 December 2014. Accessed 31 August 2017 It adds features for DSLR filmmaking and still

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...

, and is free and open-source. Magic Lantern was originally written for the

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Transform Your DSLR into a Supercharged, Professional Video Camera
. Adam Dachis, Lifehacker, 1/10/2011. Accessed 31 August 2017 by Trammell Hudson in 2009 after he reverse engineered its firmware. He ported it to the

Canon EOS 550D The Canon EOS 550D is an 18.0 megapixel digital single-lens reflex camera, announced by Canon on 8 February 2010. It was available since 24 February 2010 and to US dealers from early March. It is known as the EOS Kiss X4 in Japan, and as the EOS ...

in July 2010. There are now versions for many other Canon DSLRs and the current principal developer is known as A1ex. Since installing Magic Lantern does not replace the stock Canon firmware or modify the ROM but rather runs alongside it, it is both easy to remove and carries little risk. The camera checks a " boot flag" in its re-writable memory, and if set, reads from a

memory card A memory card is an electronic data storage device used for storing digital information, typically using flash memory. These are commonly used in digital portable electronic devices. They allow adding memory to such devices using a card in a so ...

to get the additional firmware routines. Each time the camera is started, there is an option to disable Magic Lantern.

History

Magic Lantern firmware was originally written for the

Magic Lantern Firmware Supercharges Canon 5D MkII
. Charlie Sorrel,

Wired (magazine) ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fr ...

, 24 June 2009. Accessed 31 August 2017 by Trammell Hudson in 2009 after he reverse engineered its firmware. He ported it to the

Magic Lantern team finally cracks the Canon EOS 7D
Gizmag. Accessed 31 August 2017 in July 2010. Starting in September 2010, a person using the name "A1ex" on the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) website forum and other people ported Magic Lantern to the Canon EOS 50D, 60D,Magic Lantern firmware adds HDR video to Canon DSLRs
. T.C. Sottek,

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts. The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media ...

, 21 December 2011. Accessed 31 August 2017 500D and 600D. As of August 2017 support for the Canon EOS 5D, 5D Mk III, 6D, 7D, 60Da, 650D, 700D, and 1100D DSLRs and the mirror-less EOS M had also been added. Later mirrorless cameras are not supported because they use a codebase similar to

Canon PowerShot The PowerShot products is a line of consumer and prosumer grade digital cameras, launched by Canon in 1996. () In 1996 a model of PowerShot was introduced to the market, The Powershot 600. The production of The PowerShort came shortly after Can ...

cameras rather than Canon EOS cameras; therefore CHDK ports are planned. Originally developed for DSLR filmmaking, Magic Lantern's features have expanded to also include those for still

Features

* Firmware and source code is released under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was the first copyleft for general ...

. * Audio controls, on-screen audio meter, audio monitoring via A/V cable * HDR video,

bitrate In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction ...

control,

FPS FPS may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "F.P.S." (''Law & Order: Criminal Intent''), an episode of the TV show ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' * '' fps magazine'', a defunct magazine about animation * ''The Fabulous Picture Show'', a televi ...

control, auto-restart * Precise ISO, White Balance, and Shutter Speed controls *

Zebras Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

false colour False color (or pseudo color) refers to a group of color rendering methods used to display images in color which were recorded in the visible or non-visible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. A false-color image is an image that depicts ...

, raw histogram,

waveform In electronics, acoustics, and related fields, the waveform of a signal is the shape of its graph as a function of time, independent of its time and magnitude scales and of any displacement in time.David Crecraft, David Gorham, ''Electro ...

, spot meter,

vectorscope A vectorscope is a special type of oscilloscope used in both audio and video applications. Whereas an oscilloscope or waveform monitor normally displays a plot of signal vs. time, a vectorscope displays an X-Y plot of two signals, which can r ...

* Focus peaking, 'magic zoom', trap focus,

rack focus A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers to ...

follow focus {{unreferenced, date=September 2008 A follow focus is a focus control mechanism used in filmmaking with film cameras and in television production with professional video cameras. It is ergonomic rather than strictly necessary; in other words it d ...

, motion detection *

Automatic Exposure Bracketing Autobracketing is a feature of some more advanced cameras, whether film or digital cameras, particularly single-lens reflex cameras, where the camera will take several successive shots (often three) with slightly different settings. The images may ...

focus stacking Focus stacking (also known as focal plane merging and z-stacking or focus blending) is a digital image processing technique which combines multiple images taken at different focus distances to give a resulting image with a greater depth of fiel ...

Intervalometer An intervalometer, also called an interval meter or interval timer, is a device that measures short intervals of time. People commonly use such devices to signal, in accurate time intervals, the operation of some other device. The intervalomete ...

, bulb timer (up to 8 hours), bulb ramping * Custom cropmarks/on-screen graphics * On-screen focus and DOF info, CMOS temperature, clock * Customizable menus and scripting * Customizable "P" Program mode * 14-bit raw video on some DSLRsYou Can Now Record 4K on a Canon 5D Mark III
. Photo District News, 4 April 2017. Accessed 31 August 2017 * Dual-ISO for increased dynamic rangeMagic Lantern firmware boosts dynamic range of Canon 5D III, 7D
.

Digital Photography Review ''Digital Photography Review'', also known as ''DPReview,'' is a website about digital cameras and digital photography, established in November 1998. The website provides comprehensive reviews of digital cameras, lenses and accessories, buying g ...

, 17 July 2013. Accessed 31 August 2017 up to about 3 EV, with trade-off of somewhat less resolution and more complicated post processing involving cr2dng * Auto-Dot-Tune on some DSLRs for automatic micro-focus-adjustment to calibrate lens and body (5D Mk II, 6D, 50D, 5D Mk III and 7D)

Original Canon warranty

Because installing Magic Lantern does not replace the stock Canon firmware or modify the ROM but rather runs alongside it, it is both easy to remove and carries little risk. Canon has not made any official statements regarding the add-on firmware, either on the subject of warranty or on the features. In response to emails Canon has stated that while their warranty doesn't cover damage caused by third party firmware it will cover unrelated issues such as malfunctioning buttons even if third party firmware has been installed.

References

External links

* {{Official website, www.magiclantern.fm Canon EOS DSLR cameras Camera firmware Free software Custom firmware

History

Features

Original Canon warranty

See also

References

External links