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Next-gen Magic Lantern in crowdfunding


QuickHitRecord
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EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

Looking forward to it and to your findings! @QuickHitRecord

 

3 hours ago, QuickHitRecord said:

I dusted off my EOS-M today and loaded the new ML. It's feeling a lot more user-friendly than before. 2.8K with accurate monitor display? Heck yes. This is potentially an acceptable level of 'frustrating' and I might actually shoot something with it.

 

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On 4/16/2023 at 1:19 AM, QuickHitRecord said:

I dusted off my EOS-M today and loaded the new ML. It's feeling a lot more user-friendly than before. 2.8K with accurate monitor display? Heck yes. This is potentially an acceptable level of 'frustrating' and I might actually shoot something with it.

dope

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I own two C70s, a Red One MX, and even a 5D iii that also runs ML with more stability and at higher resolutions. I keep asking myself why I even care about this cheap little camera that I have never shot an actual project with, and why I haven't sold it yet. On the surface, it's because I think that once the ML firmware gets straightened out, the EOS-M has the potential to be one of the few raw-capturing cameras that can work with 16mm lenses. But it's dawned on me that it's not so much the camera as it is the community collaboration around this camera.

The "movement" (mostly happening in the FB group) is reminiscent of the early days of DSLR and mirrorless video, when people were all trying to squeeze every inch of quality out of these cameras that were never intended for cinematography. Nowadays, every camera has great IQ and a pleothera of custom-fitted accessories and perfected workflows. But 10-15 years ago, there were no dedicated cages or practical battery solutions and the cameras were full of quirks. You had to lean on the community for workarounds if you wanted to have a chance of creating anything worthwhile with these difficult cameras. Despite all of the hurdles, some people were able to do it and it always felt like a team victory.

I think what's going on with the EOS-M reflects the evolving hacks for the GH1 and GH2 in lot of ways. There is no dedicated cage for this camera either. Plug it into a battery and you have to find a place to hide the unruly adapter cable. Moire and aliasing abound in the lower resolutions. Rolling shutter is horrendous in the higher ones. The ergonomics make the GH cameras look like a dream. And it just doesn't make sense to throw a lot of money at a defunct $150 camera, which really ups the ante for DIY solutions. People share their rigging experiments freely (with lots of 3D printed parts), as well as their footage since the software is constantly being tweaked and improved.

That group is experimenting, tinkering, and collaborating like it's 2011. It's the fun side of camera geekery all over again.

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  • Super Members

Mentioned this in another EOS-M thread but for anyone who missed it, Meike do an EF-M converter which has the drop in filter system.

 

 

MeikeM.thumb.jpg.682d86fb288b11f888781195964db3b8.jpg

The standard kit with the Variable ND and Clear filter is €145 and I think really gives this kit an extra boost as a compact powerhouse.

Albeit at almost the full cost of the camera 🙂 

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5 hours ago, PannySVHS said:

What are your findings with this ML build? How does it compare to Dantes builds which have been held in high regard by our friend and Eos M artist @ZEEK ?

I haven't tested it extensively, but I do get a fullscreen view on my little monitor when in 2.8K (that and 2.5K are really the only modes that I care about) whereas before the image was tiny and jammed up into the corner, or low res and stuttery. I was able to record for 90 seconds before I stopped recording. The buffer indicator went into yellow a couple of times, but never red. And the footage looked really nice. I didn't see any pink frames or anything.

Bilal is releasing new versions of this new build every other day or so, trying to meet the community's requests. It's progressing a lot faster now than when it was a couple of unpaid devs putting in a little time in here and there.

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To me it seems the new build works almost flawlessly, atleast for my use. Supposedly there have been some issues in photo mode, and with AF, but I never use those things on the Eos M (I think it is one of the worst cameras for photography ever made, especially when using af). I get continuous recording in 2.8k raw (2.9 crop as the bmpcc original), 11bit 25fps, 2.39:1. In overexposed areas the timer turns orange (indicating that it can not go on forever), but when going back to normal exposure it goes back to green (continuous). If I would use 24fps I guess I could maybe go up to 12 bit. In 10bit it is always clean. Haven't tried it though, and probably won't do any extensive testing, as I have what I need now. The same settings as above are ok for continuous recording at 5.2k raw for me. Haven't tried dual ISO as I see no need for it. The preview is full screen and real time for both modes. Rolling shutter is an obvious issue in 5.2k mode (which is a 1.6 crop from full frame), a bit less so in the 2.8k raw mode. Good rolling shutter in the standard, almost fhd, raw mode, but that mode has a lot of aliasing. I would say the eos m is perfectly useable now, especially as a super-16 camera. I also really like the mlvapp. You could look at it as a cheaper alternative to the BMPCC original, but with better battery life and manual focus aids.

Watch the build walkthrough if you are interested in trying it out:

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished a passion project shoot where I went with an R5C and two 5D MKIIIs with ML. It had been a minute since I'd used the 5Ds, and for some reason, today was the shoot they decided to act up - and boy was it ever painful. Enough for me to get the message - so while I'll keep the 5Ds for ever and ever, I will prob never use them in a talking head interview capacity again. 

I'll always have a soft spot for the 5D/ML combo but in 2023, it seriously is not worth the hassle anymore, imo.

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