But you're going to need fast cards. The software hack that has seen many developments over the last few months, including the resurrection of the Canon 50D, a camera that didn't even shoot video until recently, is pushing even further. Now it's looking like 30fps continuous is definitely possible, which is great news for those looking to match broadcast footage, but it's going to take some special cards to do it. Check out the proof below.
Jojo in the Magic Lantern forum posted this picture showing continuous recording at 30fps with a Transcend 1000x 64 GB card on the Canon 5D Mark III:
If you're wondering how to tell, you can just take the number of frames (1590) and divide by the time recorded (00:53) which gives you 30fps. As far as card speed, that is seriously fast, but it's hit or miss whether you'll be able to get anything to keep up with those speeds, even with the fastest and most expensive cards. Right now I am using the Komputerbay 64GB 1000x cards, which are probably the fastest cards you're going to get on a budget. Those cards are actually rejects from other manufacturers, so it's not always clear whether you're going to get a speed demon or a dud. What is interesting about those cards is how much their prices have risen in the last month or two. At one point they were retailing under $100, and now they've hit as high as $130 recently.
So where do we go next with the hack? At the moment it's still pre-Alpha, but if you are hoping for a stable release, I think you're going to have to wait a while. There are so many variables to work out with the code, and so much more testing needs to be done. The 5D Mark III is still the king when it comes to getting the most resolution, as it uses CF cards, so the bottleneck becomes the speed of the card, not necessarily the speed of the controller -- which is the issue with the cameras that use SD cards. We have seen some advancements getting those cameras recording higher resolutions for longer periods, and that is where we are still seeing a lot of development and testing, trying to squeeze every last bit out of the lower-end cameras.
Not everyone will get to 30fps with their cards, but 24 and 25 is very realistic on many cards. If you want to check what's possible with your camera, the chart available here is current. To read more about the card compatibility on the Mark III, head on over to the Magic Lantern Forum.
What have you guys been able to do with your cameras? Feel free to share your experiences shooting RAW in the comments below.
Link: CF-Cards fast enough for 1920x1080p24/25 5D3 MLraw video -- Magic Lantern Forum
[via Magic Lantern Twitter]
