BIG NEWS - Hands on with CONTINUOUS raw recording on Canon 5D Mark III

[Germy1979]

does anybody think, a similar hack might be developed for the c100? and how likely is it that somebody invests time and money in it?
 
it would be a very nice to combination of handy tools and a good picture quality (raw output or at least with 10bit 422).

Dude trust me, I feel you. I bought one because I didn't feel like waiting on a BMC. I had sh-t I wanted to do this summer. I bought a Ninja 2 with it and everything I'm doing looks great to me, but damn... Sitting back and watching my $7k purchase become irrelevant by the month is starting to get a little hilarious. I'd be happy with 10 bit... Seriously. 1000 + colors per channel vs 256 is still a big damn difference.. I don't care if it is the right 8 bits. (Lol)..

Alas, we're in the demographic of "if you know what you're doing, it doesn't matter what camera you're using!" To which I say, "Hugo was not shot on an iPhone."

Hopefully Canon tosses us some change.

[Andrew Reid]

Blackmagic still offer us Resolve 10, 4K and global shutter.

 

But the Pocket Cinema Camera and 2.5K Blackmagic Cinema Camera are history now.

 

I had my first proper shoot with the 5D Mark Raw today and the image is astounding.

 

Fine detail at C300 level, but raw. 14bit smooth gradation and tones. Colour out of this world. Dynamic range and latitude like a raw still. It is unbelievable.

 

Rendering footage now. Workflow involved converting to ProRes 422. The good thing is the raw is just SO GOOD out of the camera it only needs very minimal touching in After Effects before converting to ProRes for editing. I feel very comfortable deleting the raw masters as the resulting ProRes is just so good!

[Shawn_Lights]

Dude trust me, I feel you. I bought one because I didn't feel like waiting on a BMC. I had sh-t I wanted to do this summer. I bought a Ninja 2 with it and everything I'm doing looks great to me, but damn... Sitting back and watching my $7k purchase become irrelevant by the month is starting to get a little hilarious. I'd be happy with 10 bit... Seriously. 1000 + colors per channel vs 256 is still a big damn difference.. I don't care if it is the right 8 bits. (Lol)..

Alas, we're in the demographic of "if you know what you're doing, it doesn't matter what camera you're using!" To which I say, "Hugo was not shot on an iPhone."

Hopefully Canon tosses us some change.

 

It's only irrelevant if you make it irrelevant. Several situations can be thought of where the C100 will be the better option than the 5D Mark Raw.

I don't understand the one camera to rule them all mindset.

[Andrew Reid]

Depends on your needs, but I don't care about yours, only mine - and for me, that rules it all is the image.

[Shawn_Lights]

Depends on your needs, but I don't care about yours, only mine - and for me, that rules it all is the image.

 

For my personal projects I have the same mindset as you. However I do shoot events, music videos, etc for clients. Sometimes clients needs calls for a different camera.

[Hunter]

This whole progression is obviously really awesome, I just am wondering how possible it would be to incorporate SOME of these features into an enclosed movie format. Like extending the dynamic range, and more resolution (not in terms of frame size like 1920x1080, but like sharpness and detail) and putting it into the already existing format of the ALL-I coming right out of the camera, (ProRes would just be amazing but probably not doable). That way you sacrafice FULL control over RAW for ease of use.

I also wonder what kind of abilities we would have of streaming this RAW feed live over HDMI and recording it to a Ninja 2, which would solve a LOT of these problems.....already would enclose the frames as ProRes 1080p and in a .MOV ready to edit...sure you lose extreme image manipulation and the ability to record at 2k+ but for a lot of people (like me) who've been shooting on the 5D3 for a while, we're used to working with 1080p footage as it is, just would be an increase in quality in that movie file.

[QuickHitRecord]

Lol each week a new cow is chased through the village. just like people were all freakin out when the bmcc was announced, just to find out it wont be available for ages, jello etc. and then everybody jumps on the next bandwaggon.

 

This was a much-needed bucket of cold water over my head as I caught myself contemplating selling my brand new FS100 to buy a 5D as I ate my cereal this morning.

 

There is ALWAYS going to be something better on the horizon. That is a certainty. The uncertainty is whether we are going to do anything with what we have RIGHT NOW. Granted, many people here probably already own a 5D. They are probably having a pretty good day and I am happy for them.

 

In terms of ownership, I am checking out of the image quality rat race for a few years or a few festival entries, whichever happens first.

[Sean Cunningham]

 

 

But the Pocket Cinema Camera and 2.5K Blackmagic Cinema Camera are history now.

 

 

 

Really?  I don't see it like that at all, or are you just speaking you've put them out of your mind as a purchase option?

 

I don't see this being any sort of BMD Pocket Camera threat.  Someone with $1000 to spend isn't in the same market as a $3500 camera they can then hack.  The Pocket Camera is going to be so versatile and useful in situations where this thing is not, they're not going to be able to keep them on the shelves.

 

Likewise, if you didn't already own a 5DmkIII (like me) I don't see this as a definite better option for a new purchase.  There are caveats to the BMD Production Camera that convince me the original BMCC is still a compelling choice in several ways.  As much as I love the aesthetic of Full Frame I also know that I can get that look on a M4/3 camera with Voigtlander or SLR Magic glass (and in a truer raw too).  Jello cancels each other out as they both have it.

 

For projects where I'm a controlling producer as well as the shooter the potential for catastrophic failure that using a hack brings to the table doesn't scare me.  I've been around this stuff well enough to know that potential is there in everything given the right circumstances.  Still, there are other productions where this camera, however neat it just became, wouldn't even be up for discussion because it involves too many dollars of other people's money and I'd just be a for-hire above-the-line rather than one with veto power.

 

This thing doesn't change how all those adjectives used to describe the 5D in "Bankai" form have already been said many a time about the existing BMCC footage.  I've de-moired a whole movie's worth of 7D mush so that part doesn't scare me.  Moire wasn't a deal breaker that prevented anyone from buying the Canon cameras they owned before a couple days ago.

 

I see this as an amazing gift to everyone that already owns one of these cameras.  As someone who doesn't, it's just really neat on a geeky level.  I don't anticipate it affecting my future camera purchases, however.

[Germy1979]

So the only thing I've really seen that looks weird is the motion. The cars in the raw footage split screen video looked pretty choppy. Everything else looked pretty damn sweet!

[Andrew Reid]

I'm only speaking for me really. Pocket Cinema Camera will find many pockets. I am keeping my pre-order open. The thing is, the 5D Mark III has stolen the Pocket Cinema Camera's whole reason to exist. Unfair as it might be, it also has a full frame sensor and very good stills.

 

Raw was the BMCC. No other reason to use one but image quality. 5D Mark III now gives us that and better.

[Germy1979]

I'm only speaking for me really. Pocket Cinema Camera will find many pockets. I am keeping my pre-order open. The thing is, the 5D Mark III has stolen the Pocket Cinema Camera's whole reason to exist. Unfair as it might be, it also has a full frame sensor and very good stills.
 
Raw was the BMCC. No other reason to use one but image quality. 5D Mark III now gives us that and better.

I posted this above, but you've been playing with it so you'd know. On the split screen video the cars looked like they were dropping frames every 3 seconds or so & it looked kinda choppy. Is that an issue you've seen? That's pretty much the only thing that concerns me. Because honestly... A full-frame 14 bit raw hybrid will cover a lot of shit, lol..

[Sean Cunningham]

I don't get the "and better" apart from the Full Frame aesthetic, something which already didn't convince me to buy a 5DmkII versus a GH2.

 

It's not a better raw and it has, just going on spec sheets, a stop less DR.  It's (5D) 14bit versus 12bit, but it's also 4:2:2 versus 4:4:4.  The variable aspect ratio isn't interesting to me.  Better low-light sensitivity, that is nice, I will agree there, raw or not I'm sure the 5D is going to be the best thing outside a Dragon to see into the shadows...but then so was the 5DmkII versus the GH2.  

 

Several of the reasons why I chose the GH2 over the 5DmkII are still valid comparing this new development and a BMCC.  At least at this stage of the game, for me.

[Jenkly]

I might still hold on to that bmpcc pre-order. That promise of CinemaDNG Raw later is really something.

[iamoui]

I still thought the Pocket Cinema Camera would hold up.... Is there specific reasons it is down for the count?

It is not down for the count. Just because one person won't have a use for it doesn't mean you won't have a use for it. 

 

Also, has anyone entertained the idea that this RAW hack can do long-term damage to the camera/sensor? Overheating, etc.?

[Andrew Reid]

I really need to get back to Berlin tomorrow and compare to the Blackmagic.

 

I honesty think I prefer this image though.

 

Blackmagic is great but this - wow - it is silky smooth, much cleaner detail, no false detail or micro moire, hardly any noise at all. And still early dev code!

[AaronChicago]

Does this mean ill have to break out a slate? Pluraleyes is just so darn convenient.

[avrofilmvideo]

Huge thanks go to A1ex, g3gg0, 1% and the whole Magic Lantern team.

I have no other words to describe it - this is huge news.

Magic Lantern have done the seemingly impossible and given us a continuous raw recording mode on the Canon 5D Mark III. Once activated in the menus the 5D Mark III becomes essentially a full frame Blackmagic Cinema Camera and amazingly mine has not yet exploded. No more short bursts of raw, this is the real thing.

Read the full article here

 

Where do you get DOWNLOAD LINK to this latest Firmware from ML for Canon 5d markiii?

I can no longer use ML old software with latest Canon 1.2.1 Firmware.

Please advice what to do ;-)

[avrofilmvideo]

Where do you get DOWNLOAD LINK to this latest Firmware from ML for Canon 5d markiii?

I can no longer use ML old software with latest Canon 1.2.1 Firmware.

Please advice what to do ;-)

[Sean Cunningham]

It is not down for the count. Just because one person won't have a use for it doesn't mean you won't have a use for it. 

 

Also, has anyone entertained the idea that this RAW hack can do long-term damage to the camera/sensor? Overheating, etc.?

 

The sensor isn't doing any additional work.  It's generating this information already.  What's happening here is that work isn't being wasted, disappearing into the ether, it's being diverted to the CF.  It's generating this image and then destroying it, in stock form.

 

The sensor doesn't handle I/O.  I would be really surprised if this isn't actually less work than the heavy lifting of even the crummy MP4 encoding it was doing on the fly, in stock form.  It wouldn't shock me if the camera ran cooler.  This is an I/O bound task more than a processor bound task.

[matt2491]

My eyes have been glued to EOSHD and the Magic Lantern forums all day. So damn excited. Looking forward to seeing Andrew's findings.