[Magic Lantern](https://magiclantern.fm/) is an open source third party firmware for a variety of [[Canon]] cameras.
- [Website](https://magiclantern.fm/) (not updated)
- [Forum](https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php) (most development happens here)
- [MagicLantern Simplified](https://github.com/reticulatedpines/magiclantern_simplified) (active fork)
- [Reddit](https://old.reddit.com/r/MagicLantern/)
# Notability
I use Magic Lantern on my [[Canon 5D mkII]] cameras to get RAW video.
# Workflow
The way I had been using it was:
- Record Compressed RAW in 1:2 aspect ratio, 980p
- Use MLVFS to mount the data files
- Export to DNG sequence
- Load into Resolve
- Stretch to 1080p
Resolve should allow the ML files to be converted to Blackmagic Film which allows advanced raw features like highlight recovery.
# Tools
```cardlink
url: https://github.com/davidmilligan/MLVFS
title: "GitHub - davidmilligan/MLVFS: Magic Lantern Video File System"
description: "Magic Lantern Video File System. Contribute to davidmilligan/MLVFS development by creating an account on GitHub."
host: github.com
favicon: https://github.githubassets.com/favicons/favicon.svg
image: https://opengraph.githubassets.com/ae2abbf82ed8b598ab9e971eb7b2c0b3940f0fa3fa29dcd96d29705e86b03f17/davidmilligan/MLVFS
```
# References
```cardlink
url: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16cgnRivbUv7nA9PUlCLmLdir3gXdIN3pqzCNAAybepc/edit#gid=5
title: "[ML] Canon EOS Features Comparison"
description: "Available menu keyss,Q,Joystick (UDLR),Navkeys (UDLR),Upper Wheel,Thumb Wheel,SET,MENU,INFO,Zoom In,Zoom Out,Zoom,Play,Trash,LiveView btn5D classic,using Jump,no LV40D,?,?,?,?,Canon uses SET5D Mark II,using PicStyle,same button code as halfshutter,top left7D,top left,top left50D,using FUNC..."
host: docs.google.com
image: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/docs/ADP-6oFVPb3q8Efl7R5fxPwbOBWOp1hiaGFNIJat18zEOkLPkLruWCHN3Zja0GmueBFJtjbHgMRulQI1lNy_UICp6_nAjnDJgUJc07ztr4buCQFb=w1200-h630-p
```
# Issues
The official project site and repos are abandoned. Absolutely ancient official builds from 2018 or earlier. Even the experimental builds are from 2020 at the most recent. However, there are active forks floating around Reddit, Github, and various forum posts.
The documentation is terrible and their source code organization is abysmal.
Settings can be fragile and require very precise combinations in order to get the results as specified in the forum posts and it may not be clear when it is not working with no errors and having to go through the whole ingest process before realizing it never worked.
As a result, many of the capabilities it has *in theory* are essentially impossible without many days or weeks of additional research and experimentation. The barrier to entry is very high.
# Threads of Interest
DIGIC 5 builds:
```cardlink
url: https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=26851.0
title: "Crop mood - WYSIWYG Edition (650D / 700D / EOS M / 100D)"
description: "Crop mood - WYSIWYG Edition (650D / 700D / EOS M / 100D)"
host: www.magiclantern.fm
```