7d-teddy-bitrate-224x149As we approach midnight in most places around the world (with some already celebrating the new year), the hardworking team over at Magic Lantern has delivered more updates to the trusty Canon DSLRs. We now have a second alpha for the Canon 7D -- a camera that we previously thought was unhackable -- and more updates are on their way with support for the Canon T4i, 6D, and 40D. 

Pretty much everything, except for FPS override, HDR video and a few smaller tricks.

We didn't try it in the field, but we ran some testing scripts that select random items from the menu. After 8 hours of burn-in test, our 7D is still alive, so it shouldn't be that bad. Check out the video ;)

If you don't have a Canon 7D, it's not the end of the world, as Magic Lantern is also being ported over to other cameras, like the Canon T4i (650D), 6D, and 40D:

  • 650D, 6D and 40D will be able to run Magic Lantern :)
  • There's already an alpha port for EOS-M, including touch screen support.
  • The oldie, but goldie 5D classic already runs ML quite well - of course, with a limited feature set, for photo users only.
  • The 1100D port is almost finished, give it a try in the nightly builds.
  • For the veteran cameras - 5D Mark II, 550D, 60D, 600D, 50D and 500D - try the nightly builds to preview the latest feature set and help us polish it for the next stable release - v2.4.
  • 5D Mark III users are encouraged to try the third ML alpha, which seems to be quite usable. For the advanced features you will have to wait a bit, but we hope that recent Digic V ports will help us find the missing piece from the puzzle.

It's pretty remarkable that a small team of people can do as much as they have for the DSLR world. Many of these features would probably have been thought impossible by even Canon themselves, and now we have them working in stable releases for many of their cameras so far. Panasonic has their hack, Canon has their hack, but Sony and Nikon have been somewhat left out so far. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2013 if any of the more advanced cinema cameras get any hacking time -- if so there could be some very interesting additions.

Either way, head on over to the Magic Lantern site to read more about the update and download it for the Canon 7D.

Link: Second Alpha for the Canon 7D and More -- Magic Lantern

[via planet5D]

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Cinematography & Cameras