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Magic Lantern enables Canon EOS 50D raw video output

May 28, 2013 at 19:15:04 GMT

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Camera feature modifier Magic Lantern has piqued interest in the now five-year-old Canon EOS 50D by enabling video recording on this previously stills-only camera. The development work is still in early stages, but a user has posted raw video footage at 1592 x 720 resolution at 24p. The EOS 50D was announced less than a month before the ground-breaking EOS 5D Mark II, but offered no video recording capability.

Early reports of the camera's video output point towards potentially impressive low light performance. In addition, the EOS 50D has the feature set and handling of an enthusiast DSLR, which makes it stand out even against current EOS novice-oriented video-capable models. Of course, since the 50D did not include video capability, it provides no audio recording or input port. You'll need an external setup to record sound. Users attracted by the low cost of a used 50D must also take into account that recording video requires very fast CF cards, which are themselves expensive.

In addition to Magic Lantern's usual warning that its software has been created by reverse engineering and cannot be guaranteed 100% safe, we stress that Canon never intended the EOS 50D to record video at all. Issues of heat buildup could potentially pose significant risk for those who choose to enable this functionality.

Click here for a sample of the Canon EOS 50D's raw video output.

Click here for the Magic Lantern forum link describing the video capability.

VIDEO NEWS CANON MAGIC-LANTERN RAW-VIDEO VIDEO

Canon EOS 50D

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Canon EOS 50D 15.1 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)	$1,229.99
20 Piece All Purpose Kit with Refurbished Canon EOS 50D 15.1 Digital SLR Camera + Sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DG IF Macro Aspherical Lens + 8 GB Memory Card + Multi-Coated 3 Piece Filter Kit + Premier Holster Case + 50" Tripod + 6 Piece Camera Accessory Kit + 3 Year Celltime Warranty Repair Contract	$1,474.95
22 Piece All Inclusive Kit with Refurnished Canon EOS 50D 15.1 Digital SLR Camera + Sigma 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 DG IF Macro Aspherical Lens + Rokinon 500mm Lens with 2x Converter (=1000mm) + 8 GB Memory Card + Multi-Coated 3 Piece Filter Kit + Premier Holster Case + 50" Tripod + 6 Piece Camera Accessory Kit + 3 Year Celltime Warranty Repair Contract	$1,594.95
19 Piece Super Zoom Kit with Refurbished Canon EOS 50D 15.1 Digital SLR Camera with Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens + Canon EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III USM + Rokinon 650-1300mm Lens with 2X Converter (=1300-2600mm) Zoom Lens + 8 GB Memory Card + Multi-Coated 3 Piece Filter Kit + Extra High Capacity Li-Ion Battery + Back Pack Case + 57" Tripod + 6 Piece Camera Accessory Kit + 3 Year Celltime Warranty Repair Contract	$1,719.95
Canon EOS 50D 15.1 MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)	$1,229.99
Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only)	$699.00
Canon EOS 50D 15.1MP Digital SLR Camera with EF-S 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Standard Zoom Lens	$710.55
Canon EOS 50D 15.1 MP Digital SLR Camera Kit (Black)	$1,700.00
Canon EOS 70D 20.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with Dual Pixel CMOS AF (Body Only)	$1,199.00
Canon EOS 60D 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera with 3.0-Inch LCD and 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS UD Standard Zoom Lens	Too low to display
Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens (Import) for Canon EOS 7D, 60D, 70D, Rebel SL1, T1i, T2i, T3, T3i, T4i, T5i, XS, XSi, XT, & XTi Digital SLR Cameras + 6pc Bundle Accessory Kit	$177.77
Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging with EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens	Too low to display
Canon EOS 60D Body w/ Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Lens + Spare Battery + Canon Bag + 64GB SDXC + Tripod + Filter Kit	$1,125.98
Canon EOS 40D 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)	$1,195.00

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Comments

Total comments: 36

can anyone tell me what this is all about??I know it's about 50D and magic lantern's magic thingy....but what would I need to shoot video with my 50D??software???hardware??firmware upgrade???

0 upvotes

Firmware update from ML.

1 upvote

Ha, ha new that the 50D could do video right from the start. I had to open the cabinet for some reason. I saw there where hardware prepartions for videorecording. Canon is not the only one with hardware/software limiting their camera's. The 5D Mk II was the last one I bought Canon. Thank you

0 upvotes

Any info of audio recording because there's no mic (hardware missing).

0 upvotes

No audio.

1 upvote

The article is somewhat misleading. Magic Lantern added video capability to 50D long time ago (probably more than a year ago; I did some shooting with my Samyang 8mm fisheye - pretty cool). Compressed video could be shot all the way up to 1080/30p. It is the RAW video recording which is the news.

0 upvotes

Hence the big news headline:

"Magic Lantern enables Canon EOS 50D raw video output"

Comment edited 19 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

Why did they use a Nikon Lens for the video?

0 upvotes

aperture control? better manual focus?

1 upvote

Great an option for my 1ds3 too, would be great!

0 upvotes

Price of 50d is been going up almost $500 now.

0 upvotes

How much would it cost to purchase this add on product?

Is it offered FREE?

Serious video consumers can buy new video featured DSLR's for around $400 these days...

...and still keep their warm 50D's by their side.

1 upvote

>>Serious video consumers can buy new
>>video featured DSLR's for around $400 these days...

Not ones that are capable of 14-bit RAW video, they can't. Not in this universe.

5 upvotes

And yes, it's FREE.

2 upvotes

1D Mark III .. that would be interesting. :) No sound too I think..

0 upvotes

Last week I sent my 50D in to be turned into an IR camera ... wonder what type of video footage I'm going to be able to get out of that package?!

0 upvotes

That could be something amazing. Let us know once you got it back. Anyway depends on the exposure time you need once they changed the camera. If you can take photos with 1/30s then you can also make videos, if you need longer times you can always make some fast timelapse with the silent shutter.

0 upvotes

For those of you who are using Magic Lantern, consider donating to them, Magic Lantern deserves it!

12 upvotes

Great, even the 5 years old 400$ worth 50d takes better video than my d800. Guess it's time to get some adapters for my nikkors and some used 50d.

3 upvotes

Crack 6D and make it a 1D X? Could happen but Magic Lantern always focus on video. A 7D firmware update type improvement would be great.

0 upvotes

That's funny. What could they possibly do to a 6D to make it a 1DX? 6D is a toy compared to the 1D X,, it doesn't even have a CF slot

2 upvotes

Thank god it doesn't have a CF slot. I agree CF cards are faster than SD, but a broken pin is game over until it gets repaired.
Broken pins are so common that in the 5D mkIII they put the CF slot in a different board to make it easier to replace.
http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/04/5d-iii-strip-tease

0 upvotes

I think Magic Lantern is rockin' it lately. Bravo to organizations like this.

2 upvotes

This is interesting. I do wonder how much of a problem heat will be. Nice work though.

1 upvote

This is like some urban legend,,,, dunno why it keeps coming up. Why would heat be a problem? All the processing is done in post,, that's kinda the point of RAW video.

Magic Lantern never overclock as far as I know,,,, so If anything the camera would run cooler.

Comment edited 34 seconds after posting

3 upvotes

The image processor was probably never designed for video capturing, so it might overheat in this case.

Probably similiar levels to when you do long exposure on bulb, but as it's constantly writing to the CF and purging the buffer, I'd imagine the heat would build up pretty quick.

0 upvotes

The image processor is the same as the one found in the 5DII, T3i & 60D,, it was designed to handle 14 bit RAW. Absolutely no reason whatsoever for this camera to heat up.

2 upvotes

14 bit RAW in 3 fps. If you ever record a video, DSLR heats up pretty fast. I'm far from saying this hack is useless, but there's a reason for a camera that was not designed for video to heat up in video mode. Maybe not the processor, but other things like heat sinks or whatever.

0 upvotes

"14 bit RAW in 3 fps"

Huh?

>>If you ever record a video, DSLR
>>heats up pretty fast.

Absolutely no reason this body will run hotter with this hack.

3 upvotes

My utter respect. Where can I still get this camera?

0 upvotes

eBay

1 upvote

wait before getting to exited : the EOSHD users report serious frame dropping.

1 upvote

Serious frame dropping at insane resolutions. Seriously,, a 5 year old, $400 camera producing 1280x960 and 1592x720 14-bit RAW video without dropping frames,,, that's completely mad,, anyone with brain #1 can see that.

This hack has been around a week,,, it's already amazing,,, give it time,,, it'll improve.

I sometimes think that if Canon gave everyone on this forum a gold brick for free,,, half of you losers would complain, genuinely upset, that your gold brick wasn't shiny enough.

Comment edited 3 times, last edit 14 minutes after posting

7 upvotes

Well said Juck!

2 upvotes

Juck, it's too heavy!

3 upvotes

Sorry, was double-post

Comment edited 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

Total comments: 36

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