nofilmschool » firmware

Hacked Shootout: Panasonic GH2 vs. 5D Mark III RAW & Magic Lantern Gets Playback/Audio Working

Joe Marine — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:51:55 +0000

I don’t recall in recent memory any sort of software with this many updates in such a short period of time, but the folks over at Magic Lantern have been working around the clock, and we’re getting almost consistent updates thanks to the incredible people working on the RAW video hack. Basic capabilities from regular H.264 video are being ported over, and it looks like both playback and audio are working in at least a basic form with RAW video mode — so we should see those at some point. We’ve also got a great little comparison from Luke Neumann showing the RAW Canon 5D Mark III against the hacked Panasonic GH2. (more…)

How to Get Started with Magic Lantern RAW Video on Your Canon Camera

Joe Marine — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:00:59 +0000

If you’ve been reading these Magic Lantern RAW video posts and watching the clips, and you’d like to get in on the action, we’ve got just the tutorial for you. Luke Neumann, who has been testing the Canon 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern and recently posted a clip of his own, has put together a great video that runs through some of what you’ll need to do to get up and running. We’ve also got another great test video to whet your whistle, so head on down and check everything out below. (more…)

Will the Magic Lantern Canon DSLR RAW Video Hack Kill Your Camera's Sensor? Short Answer: No

Joe Marine — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:21:58 +0000

Long Answer: Nope. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what is actually happening with the new Magic Lantern hack in development that enables RAW Video output on Canon DSLRs. While it seems like some sort of magic on the surface (and it basically is), the reason this is possible is because of the RAW data stream that the camera is already outputting during normal operation. Read on for a clear explanation as well as some words from the Magic Lantern team on how this affects your camera. (more…)

BMCC vs. Canon 5D Mark III: Did Blackmagic Just Get a Full-Frame RAW Video Competitor?

Joe Marine — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:13:25 +0000

Even though Blackmagic announced two more cameras at NAB, the original 2.5K BMCC is still shipping in limited quantities. While the company has been working hard to address the situation, an unlikely competitor has come along thanks to Magic Lantern: Canon’s year-old 5D Mark III. It is now the only DSLR to shoot RAW stills and video, and even though the hack is still in the early stages, it’s becoming clear that it will be a force to be reckoned with at this budget level. The guys over at cinema5D have been working with the hack, and they’ve now posted the first test comparing RAW video from the Blackmagic Cinema Camera and the Canon 5D Mark III. The results are interesting, to say the least. (more…)

These RAW Video Clips Will Make You Want a Canon 5D Mark III (Unless You Already Own One)

Joe Marine — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:45:27 +0000

The Canon 5D Mark III has become a true cinema camera. That’s a bold statement, but some of the footage that is currently being shot with the new 14-bit RAW Magic Lantern hack is absolutely night and day when compared to 8-bit H.264 footage recorded in-camera, and there is no doubt it rivals much more expensive cameras just in sheer image quality. We’ve got some impressive samples from cinema5D, Luke Neumann, as well as a few others below. Click through for the head-exploding videos. (more…)

1080P RAW Video Now Possible on Canon 5D Mark III & Real Anamorphic Shooting with the New Hack

Joe Marine — Sun, 12 May 2013 22:36:53 +0000

Not only do we have news that RAW video at 24fps is possible on the Canon 5D Mark III, but we now know it’s possible to get a full 1920 x 1080 image with 1000x speed cards. The first samples were possible by cropping the image to 1920 x 820, but g3gg0 from Magic Lantern has unlocked a way to get the entire image — the full 1920 x 1080. This makes the Mark III the first full-frame (36mm x 24mm) camera to shoot RAW video at 1080p. Also, now that we’re capable of getting really high-quality custom resolutions, a whole new world has potentially opened up for anamorphic shooting with the camera. (more…)

Canon 5D Mark III is Now Shooting RAW Video at 24FPS

Joe Marine — Sun, 12 May 2013 06:38:38 +0000

The team at Magic Lantern has been able to do some amazing things with Canon’s cameras. Late last month, we learned it was possible to get a burst of RAW still images from the camera without the shutter moving at reduced resolutions — which yielded more resolution and dynamic range. Some people working with ML were confident we could get RAW video at usable frame rates (since they were only getting 5-15fps at best) with these images at some point as long as the cards were fast enough, and now that has become a reality: the Canon 5D Mark III is a RAW-shooting video camera. Click through for the first video samples. (more…)

Canon Finally Releases Firmware V1.2.1, Enabling Clean HDMI on the 5D Mark III

Joe Marine — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 17:25:27 +0000

With everything going on with the 5D cameras over the last few days, you’d think the clean HDMI firmware had already been released — but today Canon finally took the wraps off the firmware update they announced all the way back in October. While the headline feature is definitely the clean/uncompressed HDMI, they have introduced a number of other fixes as well. Click through for more from Canon about the update. (more…)

Blackmagic Cinema Camera V1.3 Audio Improvements & New Issues, Optimization Update from juicedLink

Micah Van Hove — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:54:44 +0000

The latest firmware update for the current Blackmagic Cinema Camera only officially included one new feature, mainly for broadcast professionals who needed interlaced video in a TV environment. However, according to Robert Wolzak from juicedLink, it seems they also snuck in some audio functionality changes, but not without additional idiosyncrasies. Get all the details in the video below:
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Canon 5D Mark III Clean HDMI Firmware Leaks, Plus More from Magic Lantern Regarding RAW Video

Joe Marine — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 04:25:32 +0000

It seems like it’s been all about the Canon DSLRs over the last day or so, but we assure you there are plenty of other things happening. Even though it’s not set to be released for another few days, it looks like an official firmware update for clean HDMI on the Canon 5D Mark III has leaked to the internet, version 1.21. We wanted to make sure this was the real deal and wouldn’t brick any cameras, but it definitely looks like this is an official update — but whether this will be the final release is unclear. We also have some more information about the RAW video hack that the guys are working on over at Magic Lantern. (more…)

First RAW Video Sample DNGs from the Canon 5D Mark III with New Magic Lantern Firmware

Joe Marine — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 04:26:41 +0000

We just told you about what Magic Lantern is doing with the RAW liveview image, and now we’ve got some of the first samples for you to play around with. Luke Neumann has been testing the new firmware with A1ex over at Magic Lantern, and he has produced a spectacular sample that really gives you an idea of what this firmware is capable of. First, here is a video from Luke walking you through the process he went through to get these samples: (more…)

Magic Lantern Unlocks RAW Video on the Canon 5D Mark II and Mark III

Joe Marine — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 23:43:59 +0000

Every day it seems things get more and more interesting with what these Canon cameras are actually capable of. It would be interesting to know if Canon is actually aware of what their cameras can do, or if some of these are happy accidents for the team over at Magic Lantern. They have made significant discoveries trying to enable full uncompressed HDMI, and not only do we have RAW still images from the liveview video stream, but they’ve actually managed to get RAW video working on Mark III. (more…)

Canon 5D Mark III Uncompressed HDMI Coming at the End of April, but is It Too Little Too Late?

Joe Marine — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:29:59 +0000

Canon announced all the way back in October 2012 that they had worked out what we had previously thought impossible: uncompressed HDMI (which really just involves making the output fill the screen and removing overlays). While it’s not necessarily going to be a magic bullet for better image quality, there are plenty of uses for clean HDMI, including better workflow options. Unfortunately for those who were looking at the beginning of the month for the firmware update, Canon has now pushed it all the way until the end of this month. Click through for more. (more…)

Canon Announcements: C300 Push Autofocus, C500 ACES Support, & New 35mm Cinema Prime Lens

Dave Kendricken — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 20:02:41 +0000

The days when Canon made its prized quality lenses separately for either its bizarre HDV psuedo-progressive imaging camcorders (remember those?) or its high-res digital stills cameras are gone — having bled into the present day. Now, its lenses have a significant stake in the production of 4K digital cinema, and its Cinema CN-E EF-mount line of compact prime lenses will be fully rounded out by a just-announced 35mm prime, due out before the close of the year (that makes six lenses now: 14, 24, 35, 50, 85, 135). Furthering the same professional motion picture mission, Canon has also announced free firmware/software upgrades for automated functions such as Push Autofocus, as well as professional-grade ACES pipeline support for color management. Some updates apply to different cameras than others, so check below for more details. (more…)

Nikon Fixes 95% HDMI on D600 with Firmware 1.01, Also Updates D800 and Other Cameras

Joe Marine — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:31:32 +0000

The Nikon D600 is currently the only full-frame camera in its price range to offer uncompressed HDMI, but a huge issue prevented it from being usable — that is, until now. Nikon has just released a firmware update that corrects the HDMI output, and instead of only filling 95% of the screen, it will now fill 100%. While many were hopeful the update would also include a fix for the ability to change the aperture in live view, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Nikon also released updates for the Nikon D800 and a number of other cameras, so click through for more details and links to the downloads. (more…)

Panasonic Releases New GH3 Firmware V1.1, Will We See a Hack Soon?

Joe Marine — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:17:06 +0000

The Panasonic GH3, if you’ve been looking to buy one, has been out of stock many places pretty consistently. While it began shipping in November of last year, there have been quite a few shortages over the past few months — not too dissimilar from the launch of the GH2. That hasn’t stopped Panasonic from improving the product, however, as they’ve just released a new firmware update, version 1.1. Check out the details below. (more…)

4K Comparison: Canon 1D C vs. Sony F55, and New Firmware V1.10 for the F5/F55 is Out

Joe Marine — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:31:14 +0000

Hot on the heels of the unscheduled recent firmare update, V1.03, Sony has issued V1.10 for the F5 and F55, which addresses a number of issues. Since the AXS-R5 recorder has its own internal processing and is considered part of the camera, it also needs the same firmware update to be applied separately. We’ve also got a recent 4K test done by the guys over at cinema5D that intercuts Canon’s 1D C with the Sony F55. Click through for more on both. (more…)

F5/F55 Cameras Continue to Ship Out & Shape Up as Sony Issues Bug-Fixing V1.03 Firmware Update

Dave Kendricken — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 04:37:29 +0000

In the midst of some tension and even some quite literal (and legal) contention, Sony’s RED/Alexa-aimed F55 and its less feature-rich sibling the F5 are in-stock at B&H and shipping out order to order. We’ve previously mentioned the comprehensive firmware update timeline released by Sony for the F5/F55 family, which also sees eldest little brother the FS700 rejuvenated with RAW support using Sony’s R5 recorder in July. Meanwhile, Sony is urging F5/F55 owners to update their cameras to firmware release 1.03, a previously unscheduled update which corrects a “black edge on highlights issue” in S-Log2 or HyperGamma modes. (more…)

Canon Finally Releases Official Firmware Update to Correct C300 Color Fringing

Joe Marine — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 20:00:39 +0000

It’s looking like this strange and random problem might finally be no more (or at least so minimal that it won’t be noticed). If you’re a C300 owner, it’s certainly possible you haven’t even noticed it. The issue was related to extremely high contrast scenes where green or purple fringing would appear on edges. I originally wrongly assumed it might be a sensor issue, but it’s clear now that it is probably related to the debayering or processing in the camera. (more…)

Canon 1D C Firmware Update Possibly Coming Next Week with 4K 25FPS

Joe Marine — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:07:13 +0000

Canon has been notoriously slow on firmware updates, let alone anything that improves their current products in a major way. Thanks to Magic Lantern, their DSLRs have seen major improvements, but it’s possible we may see the tide beginning to turn on support for their products. While it’s not due for another few months, the firmware update for the 5D Mark III to enable clean HDMI is one of the first signs that they feel a bit of the pressure from the rest of the market, and they want to match specs with cameras like the Nikon D800. Now it looks like an update may be coming for the $12,000 1D C DSLR to enable 25fps at 4K, and there is word they may be working on addressing some other issues with the camera. (more…)