magic lantern on 5d mkii - DPChallenge Forums

01/06/2013 08:09:16 AM · #1

anyone using magic lantern on 5d mkii for 9 shot bracket hdr images, im going to try it

at the mo im using c1 as 3 shot bracket with compensation set to -2 giving me -4 -2 0 then c2 as aeb +2 giving me 0 +2 +4 to get 5 shots for HDR

though it was worth giving it a go though, ill try loading it on tonight off out walking now for the day

01/06/2013 10:19:34 AM · #2

The trouble with that is that 2-stop gaps are really too large for effective HDRI. Plus, minus-4 to plus-4 is a far greater range than is usually called for.

The rule of thumb: your DARKEST exposure should be the one that has your bright areas properly exposed, and your BRIGHTEST exposure should be the one that has the dark areas properly exposed, and the rest of your exposures should be distributed evenly in between. By "properly exposed", we mean "looking the way we want them to look in the final image." If you do an HDRI with the darkest/lightest images putting the highlights/shadows both on zone 5 (middle gray) you'll get a very muddy rendering, very hard to work with.

Likewise, if your gaps between exposures are too large, the program has to interpolate too many values and the transitions get blocky.

For the most part, folks that use 9-exposure blends are working with half-stop increments. There ARE, of course, exceptions where one important area of the image is very bright or very dark, but in those cases it's often better to do your merge just to cover the main areas, and have another, outlier exposure for the extreme area that yuu then blend in by hand after the HDRI merge and tone mapping have been accomplished accomplished.

None of this has anything to do with the magic lantern, btw. A 9-exposure bracket would be very nice to work with if it could be tweaked to do them in half-stop increments. Is that how it works? Or is it LITERALLY a "9-stop" bracket, as you wrote, that can't be adjusted?

01/06/2013 11:21:32 AM · #3

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

ML kicks HDRI ass! My 50d can be set to shoot at whatever stop interval you desire, and will auto evaluate the scene and cover the entire range automatically... Dont really want to do HDRI any other way now.

01/06/2013 12:17:47 PM · #4

Originally posted by Cory:

That sounds good. How do you install it?

01/06/2013 12:31:32 PM · #5

only because it so dull and grey up here at the mo robert,

you just have it on a cf card then load it up when you are done battery out and its back to normal

Scapeshots

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM II

01/06/2013 12:45:31 PM · #6

I had some issues with it draining my batteries even though the camera was off...so make sure you yank your batteries out when ML is loaded.

01/06/2013 12:48:32 PM · #7

Originally posted by wizardry:

I had some issues with it draining my batteries even though the camera was off...so make sure you yank your batteries out when ML is loaded.

it does say that in the readme though.........

01/06/2013 01:04:49 PM · #8

So, ML is on a card that has to stay in the camera while you shoot, or it's on a separate card and you load it up each day, then put in your regular card for shooting, and when packing up at the end of the shoot you yank the batteries and ML goes away?

Cuz if you keep ML on a CF card that has to be in the camera at all times for it to work, that obviously could be an issue...

01/06/2013 01:13:34 PM · #9

you can copy it to all your cards root directory, but im only going to use it for hdr not for general photography so ill just have it on a 16gb card say

its on the card you dont upload it like you would a canon firmware, im only just starting with it but it look promising

01/06/2013 01:33:11 PM · #10

Originally posted by wizardry:

I had some issues with it draining my batteries even though the camera was off...so make sure you yank your batteries out when ML is loaded.

And it futzed with my shutter lag too. *shrug*
Worth it.

01/06/2013 02:06:50 PM · #11

Well, one of my issues is that I reformat my cards every time I use them...

01/06/2013 02:33:38 PM · #12

me too but i figure a delete all will do if i just have a HDR card for when i deliberately go out shooting HDR, and be good if i start doing bit more video

its worth playing with though

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/06/2013 02:38:02 PM · #13

Originally posted by Giles_uk:

me too but i figure a delete all will do if i just have a HDR card for when i deliberately go out shooting HDR, and be good if i start doing bit more video

its worth playing with though

Anyway, it'd be easy enough to keep the ML as a copy on your desktop, and every time you download pics then reformat the card, just pop it back in the reader and xfer the ML in again...

Art Roflmao

Canon EOS-6D Mark II

01/06/2013 02:43:42 PM · #14

For those (like me) who never heard of Magic Lantern (other than one of these): //www.magiclantern.fm/

Stiger

Canon EOS-60D

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

01/06/2013 04:04:45 PM · #15

If you format the card in the camera you'll be asked if you want to keep the Magic Lantern software on there or not. So you don't have to keep reloading it on the card.

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

01/06/2013 07:07:21 PM · #16

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:

For those (like me) who never heard of Magic Lantern (other than one of these): //www.magiclantern.fm/

Originally posted by Magic Lantern User Guide:

And, remember that this software can damage or destroy your camera.

Fun stuff!

01/06/2013 07:32:51 PM · #17

Originally posted by yanko:

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
For those (like me) who never heard of Magic Lantern (other than one of these): //www.magiclantern.fm/

Originally posted by Magic Lantern User Guide:
And, remember that this software can damage or destroy your camera.

Fun stuff!

also says they had over 3000 people install it and no bricks yet.....

a quick google shows no problems apart from one guy who didnt read the instructions and posted saying it had killed his camera and all he had to do was remove the battery and it was fixed

01/06/2013 07:35:55 PM · #18

Originally posted by Giles_uk:

Originally posted by yanko:

Originally posted by Art Roflmao:
For those (like me) who never heard of Magic Lantern (other than one of these): //www.magiclantern.fm/

Originally posted by Magic Lantern User Guide:
And, remember that this software can damage or destroy your camera.

Fun stuff!

also says they had over 3000 people install it and no bricks yet.....

a quick google shows no problems apart from one guy who didnt read the instructions and posted saying it had killed his camera and all he had to do was remove the battery and it was fixed

I had it hang once on an alpha build while flashing the firmware. Scary moment!! Pulled the battery and re-did the install on the card, and all was well!

Frankly, this is just CYA bullshit, don't let it worry you - they just don't want five people a week claiming their dead camera (that was soaked in salt water) is dead because of ML.

01/06/2013 07:37:42 PM · #19

Well, the ML site told me I needed upgraded firmware on my 5D2, so I've done that. And I've downloaded ML. Now I just wait for my courage to peak, I guess.

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

01/06/2013 07:39:23 PM · #20

going to try mine this week once ive sent my classic 5d off, my mate runs ml on his toy canon for filming work not sure which one but it only takes sd cards

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

01/06/2013 07:50:45 PM · #21

Originally posted by Giles_uk:

I'm sure you're right. I just found that disclaimer interesting especially since I don't seem to recall them admitting that on their site before, at least not when i first came across it several years back. Just the usual "use at your own risk" message that is typical of mods in general.

Message edited by author 2013-01-06 19:53:49.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

01/06/2013 08:55:41 PM · #22

Originally posted by Bear_Music:

Well, the ML site told me I needed upgraded firmware on my 5D2, so I've done that. And I've downloaded ML. Now I just wait for my courage to peak, I guess.

Just go for it... You'll be thrilled. (and we are screwed now that you have auto-HDR...) ;)

DrAchoo

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5

01/06/2013 09:12:57 PM · #23

Will have to check this out although I think a 9-exposure HDR is crazy talk! ;)

bohemka

Nikon D700

Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 EX Aspherical DG HSM for Nikon

01/06/2013 09:58:06 PM · #24

I would like to see some of your examples that have you talking about it, if you don't mind sharing. Looking at the user-submitted galleries on their site wouldn't convince me it's worth the time or effort. Ghosting, soft, grainy, often cartoony. Nothing Photomatix can't do. Maybe in the right hands...