Magic Lantern just made another awesome announcement via their Facebook page. One of their coders has implemented double buffering–which therefore results in less frame tearing. For those not in the know, frame tearing is when artifacts from a previous frame carry over to the next. It can be quite unsightly if you can spot it. However, the company has made great strides since first announcing that they found the CineDNG RAW video codec. Just the other day, they found a way to record the video output.
The footage above is from a 5D Mk II, and the footage looks buttery smooth. Way to go guys!
It’s here, finally! Magic Lantern announced previously that they found a CineDNG RAW Live View output on the Canon 5D Mk II and Mk III. However, they couldn’t record it for more than 10-12 frames per second at 1080p because the buffer was too large. They recently announced though that they figured out a way to do it at 1920 x 820–which is 2.35:1 aka anamorphic native on the 5D Mk III. Of course though, it helps to have a CF card at 1000x speed. Apparently from the post, 720p HD video is no real issue at all–but 1080p is. They can achieve 1928×902 recording for up to 700 frames before it stops; which equates to around just under 30 seconds of footage.
And from the samples that they’ve shown off, they really do seem to have that RED and Black Magic look to them. Unfortunately, after reading through their forums, it doesn’t seem like there is a solution for the Mk II yet. Take a look at two comparison videos after the jump.
Timelapses are some wonderful things as we discovered earlier on from Google today, but this recent one put together by Lake Superior Photo is quite a beautiful take on the sights of Michigan. We not only see the Northern Lights, but planets, stars, and meteor showers.
Photographer Shawn Malone put it together by using Canon 5D, Mk II, and Mk III bodies. Over on the Vimeo page he talks about seeing sparring moose and howling wolves while trying to document everything. More importantly though, Shawn’s galleries are breathtaking.
Take a look at this timelapse, but you may be also be interested in this one about the change of seasons.
We’re still following the story and it is continuing to develop. Earlier on we reported on Magic Lantern finding RAW DNG video output via Live View with the Canon 5D Mk II and Mk III. The only thing is that they can record maybe around 10-12 frames for only a very short time. But according to Planet 5D, Neumann films has been experimenting with the files in editing software and clearly shows off just how much better they are. Originally, Canon users always needed to shoot a totally flat video with the Technicolor profile and then edit from there. But there wasn’t much dynamic range or room for error so they always needed to get everything totally right in the camera. With the new DNG files though, the Neumann is saying that the dynamic range is almost like that of the RED Epic and Black Magic Cinema Camera.
This is super exciting news, and if Magic Lantern can figure out a way to make this a better option for filmmakers then it will probably rock the industry a bit more by giving more life to older cameras. We’re personally wondering how it is against a Nikon D800E still though. Check out Neumann’s findings after the jump.
Years ago, the Canon 5D Mk II revolutionized the cinema industry with its full frame sensor and HD video output at 30p. Then a firmware was added to allow 24p. Afterwards, the Canon 5D Mk III offerred more improvements over video and at the end of this month, an uncompressed video option will be coming via a firmware update.
But the Magic Lantern team has announced via their Facebook page today that while going through the firmwares on the cameras that they discovered a 2K RAW DNG function Live View Output that was previously not known about–but it cannot be recorded. The team is currently researching more into it, but both cameras are capable of recording a 2040 x 1428 DNG stream. And at this point, we’re really wondering why it wasn’t allowed natively on the camera.
Further, they’re saying that the image quality is very good. If the team can figure out a way for it to be recorded, this will be some extremely exciting news. As it is, DSLR footage isn’t as versatile as actual camcorders.
When you’re down to the macro focusing range, it is almost never recommended to shoot wide open. The reason for this is because you’re focusing so closely to the subject, very little will be in focus at any given aperture. So you’ll need to stop down the lens. But in order to also minimize your post-production, we recommend putting a flash on your camera to get it right the first time around. Set that sucker to TTL, and put a Rogue FlashBender on it and hover the modifier over the subject. The flash output will bathe the subject in beautiful soft light that will look extremely natural–perfect for shooting the rings at a wedding. Flashes can be affordable too, just take a look at this list! And when you’re ready for more, take a look at our lighting modifier guide.
Need extra help? Here’s a demonstration of how flash and apertures work together.
