# Magic Lantern Firmware - Good or Bad?



## JumboShrimp (Sep 9, 2012)

The new issue of Pop Photo (Oct 2012, top of p.98, "Don't Go There") highly discourages owners from installing third-party firmware modifications. I have just become aware of Magic Lantern's add-on firmware and wonder if anyone has any feedback on camera damage, etc.


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## JumboShrimp (Sep 11, 2012)

After a bit of research, I just answered my own question. The answer is, yes, there is a strong possibility that it will damage your camera. Those interested, visit ML's own website, where you will find an over-abundance of issues and problems with the firmware mod.


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## AAPhotog (Sep 12, 2012)

Sounds to me like someone who is trying to sabotage a damn near perfect reputation of magic lantern. Seems a bit like a troll to me


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## Drizzt321 (Sep 12, 2012)

AAPhotog said:


> Sounds to me like someone who is trying to sabotage a damn near perfect reputation of magic lantern. Seems a bit like a troll to me



Agreed. Especially by now, unless you're living on the bleeding edge, should be just fine.


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## verysimplejason (Sep 12, 2012)

Probably some Nikon user or 7D user who can't use ML.


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## dirtcastle (Sep 12, 2012)

Can't you (or a Canon service center) reinstall the original software/firmware if something goes wrong?

Sure, there's always a risk with 3rd party software, but there are also rewards. You do the research and weigh the pros and cons. Anyone who says all 3rd party software is bad is making uneducated assumptions.


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## c3hammer (Sep 12, 2012)

JumboShrimp said:


> After a bit of research, I just answered my own question. The answer is, yes, there is a strong possibility that it will damage your camera. Those interested, visit ML's own website, where you will find an over-abundance of issues and problems with the firmware mod.


Well that is a bunch of nonsense. I've been using Magic Lantern for over a year and a half and it's a major wonder why Canon just doesn't put these features in them selves.

You can't point to a single camera that can be documented to have been damaged by the software.

The list of incredibly useful features it brings is so extensive that it's impractical to list them all here.

http://www.magiclantern.fm/
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki
http://vimeo.com/groups/magiclantern
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?248171-Magic-Lantern-Firmware

Don't know where you're getting your information, but it's completely false.

Cheers,
Pete
http://vimeo.com/petecarney
http://www.youtube.com/user/c3hammer


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## Matthew19 (Sep 12, 2012)

plenty of pro video dslr users out there shooting with ML.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 12, 2012)

JumboShrimp said:


> The new issue of Pop Photo (Oct 2012, top of p.98, "Don't Go There") highly discourages owners from installing third-party firmware modifications.



Don't know the article, but the conclusion is plain nonsense. The latest, stable version of Magic Lantern is as likely to brick your camera as it is being damaged by a satellite falling of the sky and hitting it. Btw you can uninstall it anytime and even if not Canon service never refuses a warranty due to the boot flag set, they acknowledged the right of users to extend their camera.


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## marekjoz (Sep 12, 2012)

ML team warnes using their software as this is a usual practice. I'm a big fan of Magic Lantern and if you want to be the one as well, you should accept it's limitations, no warranty and no responsibility for it's use. Current version is stable although it can hang on anyway. You are warned, that in the case the camera stops to respond, you should remove the battery immadietaly. This is the only case I see, that something wrong could happen if it's in LV mode - sensor may be active, may heat up but nothing would prevent it from overhitting. I haven't broken my camera, neither have heard, that anybody did although s..t happens.
Maybe this add on software is simply just not for you?


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## Nick Cp (Sep 12, 2012)

Ive used ML on 2 cameras and never had an issue. It provides so many helpful features, if you serous about it, its definitely worth the risk.


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## albelphotography (Sep 12, 2012)

I am loving it


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## gkaefer (Sep 12, 2012)

JumboShrimp said:


> After a bit of research, I just answered my own question. The answer is, yes, there is a strong possibility that it will damage your camera. Those interested, visit ML's own website, where you will find an over-abundance of issues and problems with the firmware mod.



even for a forum dealing with rumors this is so what of nonsense...


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## pdirestajr (Sep 12, 2012)

dirtcastle said:


> Can't you (or a Canon service center) reinstall the original software/firmware if something goes wrong?



It doesn't replace the Canon firmware. It runs alongside side it off of the CF card. It doesn't install anything "into" your camera, so shouldn't be a problem.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 12, 2012)

Drizzt321 said:


> Agreed. Especially by now, unless you're living on the bleeding edge, should be just fine.



Speaking of bleeding edge: ml alpha for 5d3 is out  ... but this is the kind that can brick your camera, unlike the very stable release versions. Still: "Good news, everyone!" ... http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=2602.0


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## Ew (Sep 12, 2012)

dirtcastle said:


> Can't you (or a Canon service center) reinstall the original software/firmware if something goes wrong?
> 
> Sure, there's always a risk with 3rd party software, but there are also rewards. You do the research and weigh the pros and cons. Anyone who says all 3rd party software is bad is making uneducated assumptions.



Oh my.. Better get rid of photoshop!! It's 3rd party software - on both Mac and pc.


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## syder (Sep 12, 2012)

pdirestajr said:


> dirtcastle said:
> 
> 
> > Can't you (or a Canon service center) reinstall the original software/firmware if something goes wrong?
> ...



This is about as true as the original post. ML involves having to change the firmware on your camera so that it will boot the ML software off the SD/CF card. However, that's the only change to the firmware which is made, so it almost certainly wont cause any problems, I've installed various versions of ML onto three cameras and its always been fine.

If you don't install the software onto the card you're using you'll be able to use the camera without ML if you decide you don't want to use any of the additional features.

FWIW I still have moments with my 5DIII where I get slightly confused as to why it doesn't do something I feel it should before remembering that it's one of the many extra features ML provides, not something built in (the last one was increasing the gain on the headphone output).


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## Ryan708 (Sep 12, 2012)

I put ML on my 60d, and it worked fine, no problems. I have since removed it just because I dont do anything with video, and for stills it is not that useful. Update your factory firmware first even if the version is the same (i had to do this to my 60d)


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## cliffwang (Sep 12, 2012)

Marsu42 said:


> Drizzt321 said:
> 
> 
> > Agreed. Especially by now, unless you're living on the bleeding edge, should be just fine.
> ...


Too bad, a error message on that page. Not much information for ML on 5D3. I really miss ML after I upgrade my 5D2 to 5D3.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 12, 2012)

cliffwang said:


> Too bad, a error message on that page.



You have to be a supporter (i.e. pay some $$$ once) to get early access, or compile it yourself. But if you want a stable, feature-complete ml release on the 5d3 you'll have to wait some month anyway, this one is just the first alpha.


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## cliffwang (Sep 12, 2012)

Marsu42 said:


> cliffwang said:
> 
> 
> > Too bad, a error message on that page.
> ...


Ha! I have paid once for the latest version for my 5D2. I may paid it again when ML has the final (stable) release for 5D3.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 12, 2012)

cliffwang said:


> Ha! I have paid once for the latest version for my 5D2. I may paid it again when ML has the final (stable) release for 5D3.



Create a login in the forum, write them a mail and they'll add you to the "supporter" group giving you access.


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## cliffwang (Sep 12, 2012)

Marsu42 said:


> cliffwang said:
> 
> 
> > Ha! I have paid once for the latest version for my 5D2. I may paid it again when ML has the final (stable) release for 5D3.
> ...



Thanks! I will do that.


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## preppyak (Sep 12, 2012)

Ryan708 said:


> I put ML on my 60d, and it worked fine, no problems. I have since removed it just because I dont do anything with video, and for stills it is not that useful.


I dunno, I actually still like the focus peaking in my stills work, especially for tougher landscape shots. And if I did more macro work, the focus stacking feature is awesome.

Kinda curious how the latest release improves the timelapse/bulb-ramping. The tests I saw were great


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## cliffwang (Sep 12, 2012)

cliffwang said:


> Marsu42 said:
> 
> 
> > cliffwang said:
> ...



Hey Marsu,
Thanks man! They add me to supporter group in a minute after I PM Alex.


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## Drizzt321 (Sep 12, 2012)

cliffwang said:


> Marsu42 said:
> 
> 
> > Drizzt321 said:
> ...



Sweet! Great news =D I think I'll wait for it to move to beta before trying it out. I still have my 5d2 around with ML on it, which I really need to play with a lot more.


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## JumboShrimp (Sep 13, 2012)

Wow, I just had an innocent enough question followed by some website research ... but had no idea some folks out there would be so spiteful in return for no apparent reason. Sheeesh.


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## Drizzt321 (Sep 13, 2012)

JumboShrimp said:


> Wow, I just had an innocent enough question followed by some website research ... but had no idea some folks out there would be so spiteful in return for no apparent reason. Sheeesh.



Who's spiteful? I read a bunch of people chiming in saying "I haven't seen a problem" and "Works great for me" and "Stability is just fine" as well as a fairly reasonable set of positives about it.

Spiteful would be more saying you're a troll looking to bash something you haven't tried out or researched well, and just want the attention and we need the smite back simply for users like you.

But I'm not saying that, nor really meaning it. Just simply noticing you've had 3 posts, all in this thread, and all in the negative about a single 3rd party firmware that, while it has had problems in the past and undoubtedly in the future, generally doesn't brick or permanently damage the cameras users try and use it on. Oh, and Canon's firmware isn't perfect either. Virtually every update includes fixes to bugs that affects a small number of users that can be a real problem.

Personally, I haven't read anything anywhere that there is a *strong* possibility it will damage a camera with the exception of possibly some early, early builds for newly supported cameras. But they do warn you multiple times about those releases. For the rest, they simply say something to the affect of "By the way, this isn't officially Canon sanctioned, and while we haven't had any trouble, nor hundreds of other users for this release, it's at your own risk."


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## akiskev (Sep 13, 2012)

Custom firmwares is the best thing that ever happened to Canon cameras!
I absolutely love ML 2.3 on the 5d2.
I even love 400plus on my XTi. It gives PROPER auto-ISO and a bunch of other cool stuff like spot metering, fully customizable intervalometer, bracketing (3-9 shots), long exposures from 15 seconds to 100 minutes.. the list goes on and on...

Plus ML is open source and constantly evolving.


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## yli (Sep 13, 2012)

It works very well on my 500d. You can find a lot of features.
But I am not sure I will install it on 5dMkII.


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## CanonCameraFan (Sep 13, 2012)

Magic Lantern is, well, just magic although I prefer the Christmas edition. Had a couple of glitches after upgrading to v2.3 though nothing specific enough to call a bug. So reverted to 2.2 which is brilliant (550D). I use it for stills. As long as the installation instructions are followed exactly there should be no problems. To remove all traces of ML just disable the boot flag.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 13, 2012)

CanonCameraFan said:


> Had a couple of glitches after upgrading to v2.3 though nothing specific enough to call a bug.



Please report all problems to the forum and help development, even if you cannot pinpoint the exactly. If a couple of people give a vague impression, the devs can triangulate the real problem. You can post feature requests, too, if you fell there are regressions in the feature set.


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## Orangutan (Sep 13, 2012)

JumboShrimp said:


> Wow, I just had an innocent enough question followed by some website research ... but had no idea some folks out there would be so spiteful in return for no apparent reason. Sheeesh.



Personally, I'd like to thank you: I was thinking about installing ML, and the flood of positives + lack of negatives has sealed it for me. If you were trolling you failed.  

On the serious side, be aware that your posts had the hallmarks of a troll, even though you may very well not have intended that. For example: it was your first post with a new account (you have no history of legitimate participation). Second, you asked an "innocent" question but in a leading way. Third, you answered your own question in the negative, rather than leaving it open for replies. 

If you weren't trolling, you might want to be a bit more careful with your posts.


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## Drizzt321 (Sep 13, 2012)

yli said:


> It works very well on my 500d. You can find a lot of features.
> But I am not sure I will install it on 5dMkII.



I've put it on my 5d2 now (after the final unified build came out). Very quick and easy, and gives me a ton more controls and features such as timelapse with exposure ramping. Now I just have to figure out how to use it properly


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## cliffwang (Sep 13, 2012)

I would also suggest people donate a few money to ML if you can. ML is really help us to extract the limitation of some Canon camera. Give them some motivation to do better jobs.


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## emag (Sep 13, 2012)

ML was the deciding factor in getting the 60D vice 7D and I have no regrets. I'm enjoying the learning curve and spent the past two days playing around with FPS override and Bulb Ramping. 'twould be nice to enable MFA for cameras that don't have it native, mayhaps it will be incorporated someday.


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## Marsu42 (Sep 14, 2012)

emag said:


> ML was the deciding factor in getting the 60D vice 7D and I have no regrets.



I also got the 60d because of Magic Lantern (and the then big price gap to the 7d) but I admit I'd like to have the 7d af ... but not having zebras, focus peaking, focus stacking, unlimited bracketing? No way.


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## ejenner (Sep 14, 2012)

I tried it again several weeks ago for my 5DII after trying it a few years ago on my T1i and not feeling comfortable with it.

I really don't shoot much if any video. Originally I thought I'd want another CF card so I could have 2 with ML and 1 without 'just in case', but decided just to have it on my 2 cards. It just works.

Totally great so far. Features I use regularly:

one-touch zoom to 100% in preview
Focus stacking (totally awesome for macro, useful for landscapes)
Bracketing (not only good for more than 3 exposures, but automatically takes all 3 without having to be in LV)
zebras (over and under exposure in LV - much better than the Canon software and adjustable. Now I can see what is really overexposed vs. what I can actually recover from a raw file.

That's mostly it. Unless it totally and permanently bricks my camera (and for me it is worth the risk), I'll be keeping it just for stills. Just have to decide how much to donate now.

The only issue I found is that you have to be careful not to take out the CF card too quickly after opening the CF card door (like wait 2-3 seconds) or it will drain your battery. One you get used to that, all is good.

There are still a few thinks for stills I'd like to see, but it's still very useable/useful as-is.


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## mws (Sep 14, 2012)

I like it, I put it on my 50D just so I could record video with it, granted there is no sound, but it was just for fun. Works great.


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## skitron (Sep 14, 2012)

ejenner said:


> The only issue I found is that you have to be careful not to take out the CF card too quickly after opening the CF card door (like wait 2-3 seconds) or it will drain your battery.



I think I remember reading this in their info now that you bring it up. I was just about to buy a new battery for my 50D but I'll try charging/storing one more time because I was most definitely yanking the card immediately after turning off. Thanks for the reminder!

As for ML with respect to Canon warranty, according to US law, Canon cannot refuse to warranty the camera just because the 3rd party soft was installed. They can only refuse to warranty if they can show the 3rd party soft caused the problem. 

So, for example, if you have a mechanical problem with a button or knob or whatever, Canon cannot refuse to warranty according to US law just because you installed ML, or even if you send it to them with ML installed.

Of course this is according to US law, not according to the _economics of going after them _ in the legal system when they refuse to warranty in contradtiction to US law.


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## skitron (Sep 14, 2012)

mws said:


> I like it, I put it on my 50D just so I could record video with it, granted there is no sound, but it was just for fun. Works great.



LOL, my initials are also mws and I also put ML on my 50D just so I could record video and it also works great for me too!


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