# Magic Lantern; innovative software or an expensive brick maker?



## Frodosbigtoe (Jan 16, 2013)

New to Magic Lantern, can someone give me their experience with the software?


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## gjones5252 (Jan 16, 2013)

Magic lantern is an awesome additional software to your camera. It has some extremely useful features to your camera that are absolutely indespensible. I have used it one t3i,60d and 5d mark ii. I won't use it on my 5 d iii yet as its still in beta. There are a few gimmick settings but as usual you only have to use the ones you need. Haven't had a single problem. Read their website thoroughly as it will probably answer all your questions including the reliability as they(he) are very open. If you have a more specific question feel free to message me.


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## gigabellone (Jan 18, 2013)

Magic Lantern is an awesome piece of software, it greatly extends the features list of the camera. Some of its features made some works a lot easier, like recording a stop motion movie: the ghost image overlay is mandatory in that case. I'm also into long exposure stills and time lapse videos, and the built in bulb timer/intervalometer and the countless video tweaking options made everything possible, and fun. You just can't do these things with the stock firmware.

I read in your signature that you have a 500d: try installing ML on that body first, get familiar with the software, and see if it fits you (i'm pretty sure it will).


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## syder (Jan 18, 2013)

Unless you have, or know of people who've had their cameras bricked by ML (the OP suggests you hyaven't) can i suggest changing the title of this thread.

A lot of people are put off using their really useful software because of the (practically non-existent) threat of bricking their camera. So long as you are able to follow simple instructions there really is absolutely no problems with their stable releases. Their alpha/betas in my experience (about half a dozen cameras including 500ds 600ds 5dm2's 5dm3) are also fine.


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## tron (Jan 18, 2013)

I use just a subset of MLs capabilities in my 5DMkII and I am happy. The thread title is misleading...


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## RichardTHF (Jan 18, 2013)

Yeah, the Title is wrong change it as Magic Lantern is Fantastic, i have tried it on a 500D, 550D, 600D, 5D Mk2, and 7D and have had no problems what so ever, as far as i am aware there has never been a brick on any of there stable releases (or even Unstable Releases) //Rich


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## Marsu42 (Jan 18, 2013)

syder said:


> Unless you have, or know of people who've had their cameras bricked by ML (the OP suggests you hyaven't) can i suggest changing the title of this thread.



+1 ... this thread is just spreading FUD, ml is stable if a release is marked as such, and as every software there are bugs in the alpha and beta versions.


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## paul13walnut5 (Jan 18, 2013)

Lots and lots of happy users. It's not for me, but that doesn't mean it's not for you.

There was reports that Philip Bloom bricked a 550D which was running ML, but I don't think anything was pinpointed to ML as being the cause (probably more like the wear and tear of timelapse on the camera)

Marsu42 is a great advocate of it and I think has written some of the code, if he says it's alright to use then I'd go with that.


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## Marsu42 (Jan 18, 2013)

paul13walnut5 said:


> Marsu42 is a great advocate of it and I think has written some of the code, if he says it's alright to use then I'd go with that.



Well, I added focus bracketing to get my name is on the dev list  ... all I can say is that ml has been running on my 60d for 1.5 years now w/o problems and the ml is also bare of any severe issues that cannot be resolved by removing the battery.

Ml might be rather video centered in its tradition, but I understand paul13walnut5 that you can also do video w/o ml just fine. I use the still shooting features that (only) ml has: untethered focus stacking and peaking for macro shots as well as the very convenient bracketing and bulb timer.

Also now in the latest dev builds:
* enhanced auto-iso (lock f in tv and t in av mode!)
* exposure lock (modify f/t/iso w/o changing exposure in m mode)
* exposure presets (quickly switch between two f/t/iso/wb settings)


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## PixelReaper (Jan 18, 2013)

Can someone post the correct download link for the 5D Mark II current final version of ML? I am never sure which one to download, i.e. unified or other?

I have been considering using ML for the Bulb timer feature. From what I understood, the software resides on your CF card, so you can even have one CF card dedicated to ML. Can anyone confirm this?

Also do you lose any of the normal menu features when you install ML?

+1 to changing the unnecessarily dramatic name of this post. Clearly ML is a great addition / option for some Canon shooters.

Thanks in advance


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## Marsu42 (Jan 18, 2013)

PixelReaper said:


> Can someone post the correct download link for the 5D Mark II current final version of ML? I am never sure which one to download, i.e. unified or other?



5d2 is the unified branch and stable, and it's not really that hard to find  ... http://www.magiclantern.fm/download



PixelReaper said:


> From what I understood, the software resides on your CF card, so you can even have one CF card dedicated to ML. Can anyone confirm this?



Correct. Just be sure never to have a card with the bootflag and without the ml files (autoexec.bin), so either flag+files or nothing.



PixelReaper said:


> Also do you lose any of the normal menu features when you install ML?



nope, ml has a seperate menu.


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## tortilla (Jan 18, 2013)

Marsu42 said:


> Well, I added focus bracketing to get my name is on the dev list  ... all I can say is that ml has been running on my 60d for 1.5 years now w/o problems and the ml is also bare of any severe issues that cannot be resolved by removing the battery.



Hey, that's cool! That's a feature I miss most on canon cameras. I will give it a try when a stable version for the 7D will be released.


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## preppyak (Jan 18, 2013)

Marsu42 said:


> Ml might be rather video centered in its tradition, but I understand paul13walnut5 that you can also do video w/o ml just fine. I use the still shooting features that (only) ml has: untethered focus stacking and peaking for macro shots as well as the very convenient bracketing and bulb timer.


Yep, not to mention it's worth it for the bulb timer and intervalometer alone for the night photography I do. Saves me the trouble and hassle of that.

The focus peaking and video features are a nice addition


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## cliffwang (Jan 18, 2013)

syder said:


> Unless you have, or know of people who've had their cameras bricked by ML (the OP suggests you hyaven't) can i suggest changing the title of this thread.
> 
> A lot of people are put off using their really useful software because of the (practically non-existent) threat of bricking their camera. So long as you are able to follow simple instructions there really is absolutely no problems with their stable releases. Their alpha/betas in my experience (about half a dozen cameras including 500ds 600ds 5dm2's 5dm3) are also fine.



Agree! If you have basic computer knowledge and know how ML works, you should know ML will never brick your camera. We need to stop giving this kind wrong information.


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## Rienzphotoz (Jan 18, 2013)

cliffwang said:


> syder said:
> 
> 
> > Unless you have, or know of people who've had their cameras bricked by ML (the OP suggests you hyaven't) can i suggest changing the title of this thread.
> ...


+1
I use ML in my 60D and never had any problems ... although I must admit that a lot of the features offered by ML are quite advanced for me, so I've never used some of its features ... but it is a fantastic piece of software.


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## Ryan708 (Jan 18, 2013)

I had an older version of ML on my 60D that didnt do alot for still shooting, so I removed it, but it was quite a neat set-up. all menu's were normal, and there was a seperate menu system for the ML software. Im thinking about adding it again now that it has the advanced Av/Tv/M stuff.... that could be useful for me.

Side note: My 60d had the latest firmware version when I installed ML and I thought I bricked my 60D. A re-install of the latest canon firmware (same version I was already running from factory) fixed it. The M.L. website states this might happen. So I SUGGEST updating your camera to the latest firmware, even if you are already running that version.

Other than that my ML worked great, no issues.


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## Frodosbigtoe (Jan 18, 2013)

Sorry guys but I haven't put out any wrong or disinformation about ML. All I've done is ask a question about software that I'm unfamiliar with(did you notice the question mark?)


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## Marsu42 (Jan 18, 2013)

Frodosbigtoe said:


> Sorry guys but I haven't put out any wrong or disinformation about ML. All I've done is ask a question about software that I'm unfamiliar with(did you notice the question mark?)



Because the word combination "brick maker" shows up in searches and on the main CR site, you might want to read about psychological priming. It's just like asking "Is Obama the new Hitler?", such a question cannot be asked w/o an (intended or unintended) tendendcy. So you might want to change the thread title if so many people ask you for it.



hjulenissen said:


> I have tested the focus peaking feature, but it made my camera restart after 60 seconds or so.



Well, that's why it called "alpha" - the ml devs are nowadays very conscious when labeling releases.



hjulenissen said:


> I work as a software developer, and I have learned that "never" is a famous last word just before badness tends to happen...



The change from 2+ years ago is that now the main ml devs have access to the actual hardware because they get it sponsored, so 2-3 people use ml all day long and try to provoke bugs - so if there should be a serious bug hidden in a stable release it'd rather a freak accident to find it. 

Last not least: Even if a camera is "bricked" it can be recovered most of the time, see the ml site on this - it's mostly because Canon variables in the nvram were set to bad values. The only possible hardware damage is overheating when ml goes into a tight loop, in this case just pull the battery in time and restart. But the possibility of this is extremely small since so many people use the unified release so the "early adopter's days" are over.


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## Dukinald (Jan 18, 2013)

Have installed/used ML in my T2i with no issues. The fact that the software just resides in the SD/CF card and the simple installation convinced me that bricking my camera is unlikely. It is not like jailbreaking a smartphone where you access and overlay the firmware in ROM.

More power to the ML community !


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## cliffwang (Jan 18, 2013)

hjulenissen said:


> cliffwang said:
> 
> 
> > Agree! If you have basic computer knowledge and know how ML works, you should know ML will never brick your camera. We need to stop giving this kind wrong information.
> ...


You are right. I shouldn't use "NEVER". As an IT guy, I can clearly say an application should _not_ damage a system if the application is not going to deal with the firmware/hardware directly. ML is just an application, not a real firmware.


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