Unified Magic Lantern - new release (now with 50D support)

* 50D compatibility

The 50D port is ready for a first alpha version (let's call it Alpha
0). There are still problems, bust most essentials should work; at
this point, I believe it's a good idea to be tested by more users.

Since I don't have a 50D, the port is still quite far from what's
available on 550D and 60D. Use it at your own risk!

What works:
- Movie recording (1080p, 30fps, no audio)
- Almost all LiveView tools (exposure tools, focus peaking, magic
zoom, cropmarks)
- Most still photo functionality (bracketing, intervalometer, motion
detection, mirror lockup)
- All items in the Focus menu
- Most important tweaks (e.g. quick zoom in playback mode, night vision...)

What doesn't work:
- Setting bootflag from ML installer (you have to use EOSCard/MacBoot)
- Keeping ML after formatting the card
- Manual exposure controls for movie
- You may have to assign AF to * button to use bracketing or focus stacking
- You can't take pictures while recording (it crashes, but this also
happens with standard firmware)
- Probably a lot of not-so-often used features (or making them work
may be tricky)

Also follow the development thread:
http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=6161.msg74469#msg74469

Warning: this camera was NOT designed to record movies. This is only a
nice addition, not a serious filmmaking tool. Video function in
550D/60D/600D/5D2 is much better.

* Other new features (for all cameras):

- Flicker-free installer
- Experimental auto ISO in Liveview, M mode only (warning: it may be
counter-intuitive, but it's something I would use) -- check the Tweak
Menu
- Menu: when a ML item has a red dot icon, there is an onscreen
explanation below
- Flash EV goes down to -10EV again (can be used to trigger external flashes)
- Startup logo enable again (100% option, you can disable it by
removing logo.bmp from your memory card)
- Beep on start/stop recording (you can disable it from Canon menu; if
it's too obtrusive, let me know)
- LCD backlight (550D only, sensor + up/down): if you need more, ML
increases display gain

* Bug fixes (all cameras):

- Powersave during record
- Intervalometer with bulb timer on Rebel cameras
- Slowed down bracketing a bit (should fix issues with missed frames)
- New method for catching half-shutter press in HDR shots (should no
longer set 10-second timer when you press the shutter quickly).

==========
DOWNLOAD
==========
http://bitbucket.org/hudson/magic-lantern/downloads/magiclantern-2011Oct14.550D.60D.600D.50Dalpha0.zip

Works on 550D 1.0.9, 60D 1.1.0, 600D 1.0.1 and 50D 1.0.8. Please unzip
ALL the files on your card.

Overall, it seems pretty stable for non-HDMI use. I'll do some more
serious testing this weekend.

TODO for the the release:
- Better HDMI compatibility (it's already much better than in the
August release, but further improvements require major rewrite for
most graphics functions).
- Fix major bugs in 50D (and in other cameras, if you find them)
- Move most ML files in subfolders (I'll keep autoexec.bin, FIR files
and magic.cfg in the root folder)
- More small suggestions from the previous thread, which I didn't
address yet (but I didn't forget them).

I've also started a draft page where you can vote for future
developments in ML (inspired from Vim):
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified/Vote_for_Features

Since a few users have asked me to add the 5D Mark II to the Unified
branch, I've also added this item to the list.

Enjoy!

Menu will become less cluttered when the new layout will be done (with
submenus). For now, items in that menu will become red when the value
is zero (so there's no much info lost).

I'll make the exposure warning to be displayed only once. It's there
because there were a lot of users saying "I can't change ISO in video
mode!" (obviously, they were in Auto exposure mode).

Auto-rotation: I still don't know how to implement it.

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For continuous recording I have a few ideas to try (this is actually
based on Trammell's 1080i code). I hope it will work (but then, the
main problem will be overheating).

For auto-rotation, the main problem is how to tell Canon's firmware to
rotate a photo. Sensor is half-way solved (the address from the wiki
works, but only in LiveView, not in playback mode, so probably it
should be similar to the LCD sensor).

Regarding this, I've seen a nice implementation in an older Konica-Minolta:
http://www.steves-digicams.com/camera-reviews/konica/minolta-maxxum-5d-slr/konica-minolta-maxxum-5d-slr-review-12.html

By the way on the 5D the only useful stuff was that by rotating the info
screen rotated too (and without liveview and external LCD you had to
read those values). Unfortunately the play menu got really weird when
you held the camera on it's side: There was an option whether you want
to autoratate the pictures or not. I always used autorotate on, so
portrait pics would be rotated during playback, although it didn't
really look good (there wasn't enough active pixels on the screen, and
there was too much black area). When I rotated the camera sometimes the
pictures got rotated twice, instead of being "perfect".
Another feature was useful though: when you pressed the zoom in button
during play mode, it initially zoomed all the way in, so you could check
focus instantly. I really miss this function on the Canon.

SztupY

The code referencing the address from the wiki (0x1DB2 in 550D) seems
related to face detection, and to decide the value (0, 1 or 2) it
compares something with round numbers like 45 and 315 (those can be
degrees). In 550D, the key location is ff039364. That "something"
should be the gravity sensor, and I believe its output is in degrees.

Do you have a movie showing this? With ML it takes one second or so,
with quick zoom feature.

SztupY

Sent from my iPad

ML works on my monitor just like in all recent versions (i.e. zebra is
OK, cropmarks OK... others may have trouble).

Sent from my iPad

- Fixed audio missing on 600D (it was caused by the beep feature on
recording starting)
- Fixed bottom bar missing from external monitors (actually, on
external monitors, ML bar is always displayed, even if Canon bar is
active)
- Fixed issues 728 and 726
- Disabled digital zoom shortcut on 600D (it's causing problems for some users)
- Movie exposure warning is only displayed once
- Restored old method for intercepting the shutter in bracketing (new
method wasn't as reliable as I thought)
- Bracketing now works with 10s self-timer (not only 2s)
- Trap focus: when you hold the shutter half-way, the card LED will be
on (just to let you know that trap focus is enabled, when you shoot
with display off).

And the bleeding edge change: reworked the functions for taking a
picture and assigning AF button to star or half-shutter. This should
fix ML not properly restoring AF button setting (for example, after
selecting new focus patterns).

Possible side effect: it might cause lockups. Let me know how to
reproduce if you get any.

Side note: during the weekend I took around 2000 photos with the 60D
(used trap focus, AF patterns, a few brackets, exposure checking in
playback mode, a few long exposures). Zero crashes (the only issue was
that switching AF patterns too fast did not properly restore AF button
assignment because I was pressing the buttons too quickly).

But for today's version I didn't do any extensive testing, so there
may be surprises.

On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 2:05 PM, Ash McKenzie <a...@pov.co.nz> wrote:
> Seems solid, on quick test!

I'm sorry, but since I can't test it myself, I'm relying completely on
user feedback for the 600D port. So if users say things like "no way
to record at 3x digital zoom" (not only in the issue tracker, but in
other forums too), I'm assumming it doesn't work...

Here's a binary with digital zoom shortcut enabled again (otherwise
it's identical to the previous one). If you have problems with
recording stopping after using the shortcut, try enabling it from
"don't click me". This will do the same thing, but called from a
different context (the shortcut operates in the main GUI task, while
"don't click me" does this from a dedicated task).

Great work ! Thank you Alex !
Is there another way to buy you a pizza ? :) In my country we can't use paypal yet :(

LV-off cancelation by triggering the sensor is really helpfull, no periodic body shakes anymore !

Some more thoughts on how to make power saving mode more efficient and usefull (in terms of use-case). Some of this cases are already implemented, though (just to summarise). So, here they are:
- When any external event occurs (from any button, chipped lens, dial, sensor) - LV turns on;
- When no external events - after predefined amount of time LV goes off.

Now something new :)

- When sensor is covered - LV turns off more quickly (3 seconds ?) ignoring the parametrized time-out. That is usefull when the camera is carryed on shoulder or neck and the sensor is covered by the body, so there is no need to wait a second and waste precious energy. This functionality simulates already existing behaviour of LCD switching (auto on/off) in non-LV mode.
- When sensor is covered - LV turns off quickly, UNLESS an associated shortcut button is pressed. In this case 3 sec time-out resets into a common one, giving the user oportunity to use LCD.

This behaviour can be explained more simplier:

- When a non-sensor input is triggered - parametrized timeout resets and LV turns on (if it was off).
- When sensor is covered AND LV is on - timeout resets into the smaller one, ignoring parametrized value
- When sensor becomes uncovered AND LV is on - timeout resets into the parametrized one. Thus we keep the ability to cancel LCD from switching off using "wave" gesture in front of sensor.

Hope I didn't complicate it too much :)

- 600D issue with 3x shortcut (the problem was only for 30fps)
- 600d: hopefully fixed issue 688 (problem with rode videomic) - not
tested, let me know if it works
- 50D: you should be able to select all possible ExpSim values in
video mode (maybe it helps with manual controls)
- all cameras: globaldraw issue from
http://groups.google.com/group/ml-devel/browse_thread/thread/1a37bf1f18e140cc/
- all cameras: fixed issue 730 (focus info is hidden if the lens does
not report the distance)

Experimental: electronic level indicator (bubble). Only works on...
60D, which already has it. But at least it doesn't cover the subject
completely :)

I'm 99% sure the sensor is present in 550D too, but so far I wasn't
able to read it directly.

> <autoexec.bin>

Hints:
- it was mentioned in this thread
- it's only for photo mode
- I didn't find it on Canon USA, but it's mentioned on Canon Japan and
on some blogs (not all)

It was only tested on 550D and 60D.

Other features:
- shortcut key for protecting images quickly (LV button). Tested on
60D, might work in 600D too; in older cameras it's much more difficult
to implement.
- feedback when toggling trap focus with the shortcut (LED flash +
optional beep)
- level indicator tweaked as suggested by Malcolm

For other cameras, the sensor value must be requested via SIO3/MREQ
interface, which isn't fully understood yet. I've added it to the
"vote for features" page; if there are users interested in it, I'll
look at it again.

Wow, does it feel that fast? :)

If zooming feature will be added as option in menu entry, maybe it would be better to make it more flexible: to give the posiblity to chose the amount of zoom factor ?

Cheers
Dave

Would love to see t3i 3x digital zoom ported to other cameras, is this possible though alex ?

Cristian Paradiso

https://bitbucket.org/hudson/magic-lantern/downloads/magiclantern-2011Oct21.550D.60D.600D.50D.zip

- new installer, which is able to make cards bootable on 50D (just
like with all other cameras) and also fixes some problems like issue
698 and flicker during sensor cleaning
- new install tutorial here: http://vimeo.com/30803116
- 50D is now able to format cards and restore ML
- 60D: fixed Q menu navigation when level indicator was active (oddly
enough, enabling this sensor disables menu navigation)
- 100% zoom is now optional
- custom recording notifications (perfect if you forget to press record)
- quick erase shortcut (SET+erase, be careful)
- fixed issue 738
- refactored custom functions
- minor tweaks here and there

Meanwhile, Coutts is making significant progress in porting the
unified ML to 500D; follow the development thread from CHDK for more
info.

Did you have any stability problem in last two weeks? I didn't have
any crashes since fixing the ERR70 problem, and I'm not aware of any
stability problem in current versions. The current stress test
exercises a lot of functions and passes without any problem (at least
on my cameras).

There are two kind of bugs: those introduced by a new feature (solved
by simply disabling that feature from the menu) and backend bugs
(which may affect stability even if ML only displays audio meters).
The one causing ERR70 was a backend bug (in the clearscreen routine),
and it was found because recent versions cleared the screen more
often. Also installer bugs (which affect maybe 1% of all users) were
found because more users tried this software and reported them.

The version listed as "highly recommended" is because it received
positive feedback and no major problems were found. It's usually one
day or two (sometimes more) behind the latest version.

Tell me the button code for Q when Canon menu is active (because in
photo mode, ML menu sits on top of Canon menu). It seems it's neither
0x1C nor 0x13 (what I'm using now).

> Brilliant idea to zoom to focal point

Could be possible, but this requires another round of reverse
engineering (to find the focus point). If that's not possible, the
focus point may be guessed with the focus peaking algorithm (and this
will also work for manual lenses). But this is very hit-and-miss.

For now, I'll leave this feature as is. If you need more advanced zoom
options, you may vote here:
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified/Vote_for_Features#More_zoom_options_in_playback_mode

Can you explain what is the problem with this? I've searched a bit and
found nothing (for example, in this thread, they are recommending 3rd
party flashes for t2i:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1031&message=37008497&changemode=1

What I know is that it's difficult to trigger them in LiveView
(workarounds: take 2 pictures or use ISO 25600).

Short answer: no.

P.S. I was able to navigate the menu in LiveView with the wheels (but
it's not yet usable and not implemented in this version).

That's it for today, enjoy!

I didn't mean absence of ERR70 but absence of other bugs. There are several bugreports in the group and new ones appear regularly.

And now some cool tricks:
- flashlight function (with the front self-timer LED or by making the
screen bright white)
- half-shutter button can be made sticky (like the DOF button);
- some tricks with half-shutter button documented here:
http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Unified/UserGuide#Debug
(front led as AF-assist light, disable powersaving in LiveView, trap
focus without having to hold the shutter...)

The front LED tricks didn't work on 60D (at least with my settings).

Can you find a way to reproduce the problem with movie mode switch?
The stress test doesn't reveal it (and it does a few mode switches).

It is possible that front LED can't be triggered on 60D/600D with the
current method. Maybe 50D and 500D users will be more lucky.

On 60D, if I pop the flash and enable red eye manually, it works. But
I have to keep my finger on the shutter button (with sticky
half-shutter doesn't work, but in 550D it works).

FYI: here's what's going on:
- ML enables red eye, goes to auto mode, pops the flash, sets drive
mode to single
- Then it holds shutter pressed half-way (via software) => LED turns on
- After you press the shutter, it restores things back.

There's no easy way to drive this LED (unlike the card LED). It only
works in certain modes.

With bulb mode I've only ran bulb timer once and seems to work as before.

Just noticed that flashlight doesn't work when HDR is enabled.

Очень понравилась функция - "rec/stby notif red crossout"
Очень удобно, надеюсь, что теперь не буду пропускать нужные моменты
при видео съёмке.
Огромное вам спасибо.
Мой Canon 60D пока работает отлично. Пока нет никаких замечаний.
Больше всего я использую видеорежим.

2011/10/23 Johnby <admintir...@gmail.com>:

Cristian Paradiso

Q Menu on lastest bulid fixes 600d errrors very tidy

Cheers
Ash

> > 2011/10/23 Johnby <admintiraspoli...@gmail.com>:

> >> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/ml-devel?hl=en