Magic lantern 5D3 stills only. Beneficial?

I'm going to preface this buy saying that I know almost zero about Magic Lantern except the little I've googled in the past hour. I use the 5D3 but I never shoot video so I'm wondering if ML is worth getting into for stills only? I'd appreciate hearing from other members who use ML for stills. What features do you find most beneficial and does it run stable? The disclaimers are pretty scary. Anyone ever damage their gear using it?


Thanks in advance!!

I was a little nervous installing it, but after reading so many posts from those that did it successfully, I came to the realization that if I understood what it was doing and followed the method for installing it and knew how to uninstall correctly, I would be OK.

That being said, I shoot mostly stills and don't use it much. I do like the Dual ISO module and the histograms are much more informative than the stock ones. I'm also looking forward to trying out the Dot Tune AutoFocus Micro Adjust module.
There's a few others that I haven't had the opportunity to check out yet.

But yes, it is stable and I have not had a butterfly in my stomach at startup in quite a while.

I do not own mkiii but use ML on my mkii for stills, and especially for tripod work and manual focus I cannot do without it now. I have had zero problems with it, and I think the stern warnings are for their protection, just because. For me (all in LiveView), focus peaking, the moveable magnified view within the full image, histograms are all Very Good Things. I've been using it long enough it's now just part of the camera.

The one thing to avoid, and they warn you about it, is when you open the CF card door, count to 5 before you pop the card it out. Only once did I do it too quickly and I locked up the camera, which battery removal and restart took care of.

I like the Auto DOT Tune and Auto Kelvin White Balance. There is also an option to always default to the CF card which avoids accidentally switching to the SD card when you pull the CF card.

There are lots of other good stuff for still photography too. Things like Intervalometer, Motion Detect shutter, Trap focus, Rack focus, and much more.

Thanks for the responses guys. A few questions of you don't mind...

2ndviolinman wrote in post #17368022
I do not own mkiii but use ML on my mkii for stills, and especially for tripod work and manual focus I cannot do without it now. I have had zero problems with it, and I think the stern warnings are for their protection, just because. For me (all in LiveView), focus peaking, the moveable magnified view within the full image, histograms are all Very Good Things. I've been using it long enough it's now just part of the camera.

The one thing to avoid, and they warn you about it, is when you open the CF card door, count to 5 before you pop the card it out. Only once did I do it too quickly and I locked up the camera, which battery removal and restart took care of.

On the subject of cards I was reading that it lives and runs off the SD card but can't on the CF. Has there been any change to this? I prefer to write to my SD cards VS the CF. On top of having few CF cards and a million SD cards I just find SD easier to deal with when I travel.

msowsun wrote in post #17368264
I like the Auto DOT Tune and Auto Kelvin White Balance. There is also an option to always default to the CF card which avoids accidentally switching to the SD card when you pull the CF card.

There are lots of other good stuff for still photography too. Things like Intervalometer, Motion Detect shutter, Trap focus, Rack focus, and much more.

ThreeHounds wrote in post #17367850
I was a little nervous installing it, but after reading so many posts from those that did it successfully, I came to the realization that if I understood what it was doing and followed the method for installing it and knew how to uninstall correctly, I would be OK.

That being said, I shoot mostly stills and don't use it much. I do like the Dual ISO module and the histograms are much more informative than the stock ones. I'm also looking forward to trying out the Dot Tune AutoFocus Micro Adjust module.
There's a few others that I haven't had the opportunity to check out yet.

But yes, it is stable and I have not had a butterfly in my stomach at startup in quite a while.

Regarding the various utilities/modes mentioned above I didn't find a lot in the way of support or explanations as to what these actually do. Is there any comprehensive list of features and what they do or is it basically trial and error?

Thanks!!

I run it off the SD card, not sure if you can try it off the CF card or not (it runs off the CF card for both my 5DII and 7D which only have one slot). I suspect ML just suggested the SD card because it is so much slower than the CF card so most people use it as a backup, but maybe that is not the case for the 5DIII.

I would recommend doing some more reading before you install it though. Just to get a better idea of what it is and is doing - especially the install threads. You'll also need some time and patience to figure out some of the modules and how they work - for me it was mostly trial and error, not much documentation, but there can be some info in threads on the ML forum. Or you can always ask on the ML forum (but ask 'researched' questions for best results - i.e. have a go first).

I would try checking some more, but try it first on the SD card. You can still write stills and video to the SD card, but you will have to have ML on all the SD cards you are going to use (you can just copy the files) - this is how it works with non-dual slot cameras anyway. I think you can also format the SD card in-camera with the latest ML version. Just be sure to use the version for your current firmware (1.1.3 or 1.2.3).

If you are feeling brave, then try installing it on the CF card and see what happens. I'm not quire bored enough to try that yet.

Finally, if you do something 'wrong' don't panic. I've been using ML for years and so for instance when I got to loading it on the 5DIII I got complacent. Long story short I did my best to mess up the install (which was also more tricky at the time) and still did not harm the camera. Just don't take the battery out during a firmware update - that's not good. If you have a problem, switch off, take the batter out, take out cards, put batter back in, switch on. If everything works put in a card without any ML files on it. However badly you mess up the install, that will give you a useable camera until you can figure out how to recover (you will be able to, but may need some help from ML depending on how badly you messed up the card and install). I've always recovered by myself, but have some years of experience.

Worst heart attack I nearly have myself was putting a ML 7D card into the 5DIII and the 5DIII would not even turn on. Camera not even blinking or turning on is not so good and removing the battery and re-inserting didn't help. I now have fancy duct tape marking my different CF ML cards.

As far as what I use:

1. DualISO (increased dynamic range without bracketing). You need other (free download) executables to create DNG files that can then be read my LR/ACR or your raw converter.
2. Raw histogram (actually gives you a histogram of the raw data - good for ETTR)
3. DOF preview lock (locks DOF preview so you can pan around at 10x mag in LV and check focus without having to keep you finger on the button)
4. Preferred card use. This stops the 5DIII from switching say to the SD card permanently if you take out the CF card while the camera is on. As soon as you put a CF card back in it switches back to the CF card. You can make it prefer the SD card, so it will always write to the SD card if it is in the slot (you may or may not have experience this 'problem' depending on your use).
5. Auto Exposure (you can basically set ISO, SS and Aperture and determine how each vary with light - complex but powerful)
6. Focus stacking (for macro shots on a tripod)
7. Bulb timer (so you can set SS > 30s without having to use a watch and flashlight to time the bulb setting). Good for nightscapes.

Several features I only use in the 7D and 5DIII like bracketing more than 3 shots and one-touch zoom to focus point that are all in the Canon 5DIII firmware now anyway.

I probably have other things set that I forget about. I do use the video functions a bit, but I mostly take stills and would not consider a current Canon model without ML. Just for DualISO it is work it for me.

BTW did you know that with a Lexar x1000 32Gb CF card (or better) you can double the number of raw shots you can take in a burst before the burst rate slows (like having a buffer of 24 shots instead of 12). A good reason to use CF cards? They are not that expensive now either.

Also do you might linking to where it says you cannot load ML from the CF card. I'm having a hard time believing that and suspect it is more of a recommendation, but I could be wrong.

It might also be the current 'easy to install' version needs to be on the SD card. The original releases were more complex to install on the 5DIII (and could not be entirely reversed either).

Great thread.
Ejenner can you tell us more about 'BTW did you know that with a Lexar x1000 32Gb CF card (or better) you can double the number of raw shots you can take in a burst before the burst rate slows (like having a buffer of 24 shots instead of 12). A good reason to use CF cards? They are not that expensive now either'......I missed that about ML on the 5Diii.

ejenner wrote in post #17368351
Also do you might linking to where it says you cannot load ML from the CF card. I'm having a hard time believing that and suspect it is more of a recommendation, but I could be wrong.

It might also be the current 'easy to install' version needs to be on the SD card. The original releases were more complex to install on the 5DIII (and could not be entirely reversed either).

I started this thread so admittedly I'm no expert but here is a link to some install vids for the 5D3. The first video is very well done and he mentions that he can't even install ML on the 5D3 with a CF inserted in the camera let alone run ML from it. I'm not sure if he is referring to the latest version.

http://www.magiclanter​n.fm/forum/index.php?t​opic=6099.0

I've also found a lot of threads of people not being able to completely uninstall ML from the 5D3.

This has been an informative thread so far but I'm not sure if I feel more or less confident about it now. LOL.

msowsun wrote in post #17368264
I like the Auto DOT Tune and Auto Kelvin White Balance. There is also an option to always default to the CF card which avoids accidentally switching to the SD card when you pull the CF card.

There are lots of other good stuff for still photography too. Things like Intervalometer, Motion Detect shutter, Trap focus, Rack focus, and much more.

Do they have auto-ISO while flash is enabled yet? That's one of the most annoying things about apparent Canon philosophy - the belief that anyone who wants to use auto-ISO obviously doesn't care how much of the exposure is flash, and how much is ambient, or even how much absolute ambient exposure there is. You can only simulate flash+auto-ISO on the newer cameras by setting a fixed ISO at the top of the range you wish to use, and then set the custom function for ISO safety shift (to avoid over-exposure), and use Av or Tv mode. Unfortunately, there isn't precise control of the range of the floating values in the 7D2 (one-stop granularity - pathetic), and ISO safety shift does not work in M mode at all. If ISO safety shift worked in M mode, it would provide what is needed.

nqjudo wrote in post #17368668
I started this thread so admittedly I'm no expert but here is a link to some install vids for the 5D3. The first video is very well done and he mentions that he can't even install ML on the 5D3 with a CF inserted in the camera let alone run ML from it. I'm not sure if he is referring to the latest version.

http://www.magiclanter​n.fm/forum/index.php?t​opic=6099.0

I've also found a lot of threads of people not being able to completely uninstall ML from the 5D3.

This has been an informative thread so far but I'm not sure if I feel more or less confident about it now. LOL.

I would disregard all of those videos as I don't believe Magic Lantern still loads that way on a 5D3 with the latest 1.2.3 Firmware.

Try this video instead. https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=f0Egk16x5EU

This one is in German but is also current for 1.2.3 Firmware: https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=UJk50ODNKPE

One thing no one has mentioned yet. ML on the 5d3 seems to drastically slow down the wake up ... So if you are action shooting don't let the camera sleep or you will miss the shot. I also feel that it reduces battery lifetime

Ed

ECC233 wrote in post #17369454
One thing no one has mentioned yet. ML on the 5d3 seems to drastically slow down the wake up ... So if you are action shooting don't let the camera sleep or you will miss the shot. I also feel that it reduces battery lifetime

Ed

I read this in several forums. Apparently wakeup is as much as 2 seconds.

Yes, I forgot to mention that.

Personally I prefer not to turn off the camera and take extra batteries (I usually have 2 spares). The amount of batter ML uses depends on the features you use - nearly all are for video. I also have always turned off the auto power off option because it messes with me when I am in a C mode taking landscapes and waiting for the light. Seriously having the camera on does not use that much battery. You can also turn off the LCD info display to help.

Also regarding the other points:

The CF card 'speed' is not a ML thing. It is a card thing - I was just pointing out why using (fast) CF cards is a lot better than SD cards. ML guys just spent quite a bit of time figuring out what are the fastest cards so they could record raw video. Point being that on the SD card you will get 12 shots in a burst before the frame rate slows. A 'fast' CF card will clear the buffer quickly enough that you will get more than 20 shots (plus the buffer will then clear much more quickly as well). There are a number of cards now that are as fast as the Lexar 32Gb, but make sure you get a card that has actually been tested (don't trust what is written on the card - that is usually read speed anyway, not write speed). For instance the Lexar x1000 32Gb card is significantly faster than the same card but the 16Gb version.

On the price - I take that back they were relatively inexpensive, now they are on to the x1066 at $80 each or so. There are other brands that are as fast or faster now though. BTW I just had a quick search and maybe the 'Lexar thing' is out - some insanely high prices on ebay and Amazon.

Not being able to uninstall ML on the 5DIII has been solved and is not an issue anymore. It was with the old Alpha version (which I first used).

On Auto-ISO and flash, I would have to test properly. I did use ML auto exposure with flash recently which should be the same. It seemed to work just fine but I didn't fully test it - I also had it changing the SS after the ISO got low enough. I must admit I've never even tried using Canon's auto ISO implementation.