Major Magic Lantern 550d update!

[Jergling]

I know I made a big deal about the initial pre-alpha of the hack, but this new release is 10-times more important

But seriously, the latest update (found at the ml-devel Google Groups site) to the ML firmware for the 550d is now available. Be absolutely sure NOT to update your camera to official firmware 1.0.9, or this won't work... yet. There is no way to reverse an official firmware update.

Anyway, the big deal with this release is working in-camera menus, which means users are now able to change gain settings on-the-fly. This was the one missing feature that was keeping the T2i from being a fully effective run-and-gun machine, in my opinion, so this is really a huge step.

On top of that, here are some recent additions included in the latest release:
Cropmarks (4:3, Anamorphic, Fisheye)
Full-Manual, realtime gain control over both preamps (analogue and digital)
Accurate audio-meters
Zebras for over- and under-exposure
Realtime histogram
Spot-meter
Automated rack focus (like the XL, XH, and XF pro lines)
Mixed input (internal mic, ext. mic, l ext, r int)
Headphone output (through USB)
Plus a host of other bugfixes.

[Daniel Rutter]

Headphone output (through USB)

That one is quite interesting. How the heck are they able to use USB headphones on a camera?

[Janke]

I think because the USB connector on the T2i has several more pins (on the other side); even Canon's own video cable connects to the USB port!

[redfalcon]

I'm really scared to try it, but I really want those features too!

[Kostas]

These are really important features.
Apart from the sound I would particularly like to have the zebras, live histograms and cropmarks. But I have firmware 1.0.9. And I am not comfortable with the idea of hacking my camera... Anyway, good news!

[Lawrence189]

Doesn't the t2i have "restore to factory settings," or something?
I want these features!!!
If some dude can make these features happen why doesn't canon?
Also just read the article, 1.0.9 is still pre-alpha for the same line of features, and zebra apparently is working.

http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/550D
also read that it is possible to downgrade to 1.0.8.

[Jergling]

Redfalcon, I totally understand your worries. I installed the original prealpha only a few months after purchasing the camera. I hope nothing goes wrong with my software in the next 6 months, because I don't have a warranty anymore

Lawrence: The nice thing about Magic Lantern is that it's composed of two parts: The on-camera firmware and the on-card program. When either of those two parts are missing, the camera boots into "standard" mode, and operates as it would without a hack installed. The "Hack" part is a actually just a very small code segment added to the camera to tell it to boot add-ons from the SD card.

The reason Canon doesn't support this kind of thing is because hacks makes their other options look less attractive. If the features now being made available were there from the start, and officially supported, no one would even consider buying Canon's mid- to high-end consumer camcorders, and some would even be turned away from pro-cameras like the XH-A1. In my opinion, this is very short-sighted, since the hack is going to proceed anyway. They're just losing business to more developer/DP-friendly companies like Panasonic. Canon insisted that they had no idea the 5DmkII would be so successful as a film tool. They can't claim ignorance this time and just be let off the hook.

[HV20_Likeable]

isnt there any hack out there for a DSLR that rids the crop factor of the image sensor?

[redfalcon]

I don't think so, but I've read that the current hack is stable at 66mbits under "normal" shooting conditions. That's a huge improvement!

[Janke]

isnt there any hack out there for a DSLR that rids the crop factor of the image sensor?

Technically impossible, not hackable. You need a larger sensor for that.

[koolpenguin89]

isnt there any hack out there for a DSLR that rids the crop factor of the image sensor?

There is, but it's kind of pricey.

Dylan

[Janke]

LOL !

[dWyZaK]

WOW!
This is the lalalala!

[redfalcon]

Final release for firmware 1.0.9 is coming soon!

[Jergling]

I think what redfalcon meant to ask was whether there was a hack to fix line-skipping. The answer is no, without cropping, the only way it would be possible is with 9x the image-processing power, which simply isn't available.

And yes, 1.0.9 fix is coming soon. If you have 1.0.9 already on your camera, don't try/bother downgrading.

[HV20_Likeable]

Technically impossible, not hackable. You need a larger sensor for that.

I dont quite understand, because on DSLRs like the GH1 the crop factor or the 'Multi Aspect ratio' prevents it from using the whole image sensor, like the newly GH2 which is an 18MP camera but it 16MP effective because of the crop factor or the 'Multi Aspect ratio', I was wondering IF there could be a hack to use the full image sensor? that is all I'm asking

[koolpenguin89]

I dont quite understand, because on DSLRs like the GH1 the crop factor or the 'Multi Aspect ratio' prevents it from using the whole image sensor, like the newly GH2 which is an 18MP camera but it 16MP effective because of the crop factor or the 'Multi Aspect ratio', I was wondering IF there could be a hack to use the full image sensor? that is all I'm asking

Are you referring to stills or video?

Dylan

[HV20_Likeable]

Ummm...video is always whatI was referring to

[Dillonp23]

I have tried this for a while now and cannot get it to boot automatically. I am running on a Mac and also have windows 7 but the bootCF doesn't seem to work for me on Windows 7, it opens command prompt then closes instantly. So I tried the mac script and it looked like it worked, but after I update the firmware to the magic lantern and turn it off, it won't boot magic lantern.

Any help would be great Thanks

[krewcial]

I have tried this for a while now and cannot get it to boot automatically. I am running on a Mac and also have windows 7 but the bootCF doesn't seem to work for me on Windows 7, it opens command prompt then closes instantly. So I tried the mac script and it looked like it worked, but after I update the firmware to the magic lantern and turn it off, it won't boot magic lantern.

Any help would be great Thanks

It probably didn't work then and your SD card is probably not bootable yet.

I'm trying the same thing here, also on a Mac. Could you let me know what script you used and the exact steps you took ?

Thanks in advance.

[redfalcon]

Here's a great YouTube video on how to install ML on the T2i.......

[Dillonp23]

It probably didn't work then and your SD card is probably not bootable yet.

I'm trying the same thing here, also on a Mac. Could you let me know what script you used and the exact steps you took ?

Thanks in advance.

I just followed the steps until Cardtricks which intead I used this code:

dev=`diskutil list | grep FAT_32 | awk '{ print $6 }'`
diskutil unmount $dev
echo EOS_DEVELOP | dd of="$dev" bs=1 seek=71 count=11
echo BOOTDISK | dd of="$dev" bs=1 seek=92 count=8

I think that worked, using terminal but not 100%. I can't get it to boot automatically.

[Dillonp23]

Here's a great YouTube video on how to install ML on the T2i.......

Thanks a lot for that, I have windows 7 followed that video carefully and finally got magic lantern working properly and automatically booting. But now I have a different problem, If I turn the camera off at the switch, I can't turn it back on unless I remove the battery and put it back in. Anyone else have this problem?

[BLP88]

What is Automated rack focus exactly?



also what does "pre-alpha" hack mean


is the hack ready to use?

[Dillonp23]

What is Automated rack focus exactly?

Yes I was wondering that too, I could not figure out how to use it. I assume that you set a start and end point to focus and it will pull it for you.