Is Magic Lantern worth it?

J

JaredSMark

Active member
I stayed away from it up until now. I took a look and I can't find exactly what it offers that's better than just using the camera itself, but I think I did see that it offers more histogram or waveform monitor stuff, so that would be good to have in getting the exposure right. I usually ignore the exposure meter since it's all over the place when shooting a subject on a really dark background.

Is it worth checking out, or should I just stay away from it?
 
It's incredible !!! There is no risk other than that you don't know what you're missing if you don't give it a whirl. Just for focus peaking alone it is invaluable. The idea that Canon doesn't simply add these features in firmware updates is mind boggling. On board time lapse. FPS override to effectively get time lapses directly to a video encoding. Histogram overlays. Intermediate ISO's. Oh, and did I say Focus Peaking !!! It's a no brainer.
 
I'll check it out tonight, that sounds cool. I'm mainly interested in getting better exposure metering. I remember the exposure meter telling me that the shot was underexposed when shooting a well-lit subject on a black background, even if the subject was overblown by a mile. I'm guessing that the standard exposure meter takes the entire composition into account and not just where you've focused on. Maybe the exposure meter can actually do that, but as far as I know the meter is usually wrong unless you're shooting something where the entire composition is lit evenly. I guess I'll take a look at the manual again and see if it says anything about exactly how the exposure is metered...
 
Is it worth it? Absolutely. Is it necessary? Not strictly. It is entirely possible to shoot great video without Magic Lantern. It's just much MUCH easier to do it WITH magic lantern. With as easy to install/uninstall as it is, it certainly wouldn't hurt anything to give it a try to see if you like it or not.
 
It's absolutely worth it.

I use a t2i so it opens up a ton of features I don't have otherwise.

And it's so simple now, you can try it and delete it if you don't like it,

It's a must try.

Be nice and donate some money to the crew though, it really is an amazing product
 
For me, I feel it doesn't help with the rediculous moire issues, so I don't find it worth it, but then again, I don't really shoot video on my Canons to much anymore for that reason alone. Many people love the extra features, so I would say give it a try.
 
Yes, it doesn't get rid of any image quality issues. But it's definitely worth it: I sold my Canon a few months back, and the only reason I ever miss it is because of the custom cropmarks and waveform monitor that ML was giving me.
 
The ISO settings it unlocks are wonderful. And audio meters are very handy as well. And as already mentioned, the waveform is very useful.
 
Do you still have to keep it on a card and reload it every time you turn the cam off and back on again? That was always my issue...im too dumb and in a hurry to remember to do that every time.
 
you install in on the cards, it does the rest by itself.

You format in camera and operate as usual.

It will stay on the card unless you delete it using a computer, no need to reload it every time.

Honestly, no harm in just trying it out.
 
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