Magic Lantern & Image Quality

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Absolution_Films

Hi Guys,

I have used Magic Lantern on my 600D for a while, but recently I have felt I am getting a worse image from magic lantern than I have from the normal firmware, I have noticed this when editing work I have done.

Is there any instances or articles on if magic lantern causes a loss of quality?
 
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I can't think of what it would do to the footage to make it worse, as it's primarily designed to enable usability features rather than change the recording itself (other than the recent raw functionality of course). On the 600d does it enable additional ISO settings? That's the only thing I can think of - it's possible that the in-between settings are not optimized in the same way they are on a camera intended to have them.
 
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Hi Guys,

I will try and do some test footage today and post it online...

To be honest it may be me looking into things too mixh or just my eyes! Haha.

I just feel i get a cleaner/sharper image from the canon firmware... It may be likely i need to play with settings on magic lantern or something.

Philip Bloom made an interesting point saying he would nevervuse magic lantern when doing a job for a client as its too ustable and could cause problems at some point.
Has made me thibk do i rely on magic lantern tol much.... I mainly use it for the focus peaking
 
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Doesn't Magic Lantern offer the ability to change data bitrates? Is it possible you've lowered the bitrate to less than optimal accidentally and haven't changed it back?

My advice would be to shoot a shot/scene using ML, then shoot the same shot using the normal firmware, put it through your normal post pathway and check it on a large(ish) HDTV. Do a side-by-side and see what you like better. It's possible that you felt you'd be getting a much better picture with ML, so when you're getting the same picture as with the normal firmware, you actually think it's worse than it is because you were expecting an increase in quality.
 
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Absolution_Films said:
Philip Bloom made an interesting point saying he would nevervuse magic lantern when doing a job for a client as its too ustable and could cause problems at some point.
Click to expand...

It's gotten better over the years, but I actually agree with this - I've had instances where the camera crashed or locked up, always comes back after shut down, battery removal, etc. But I wouldn't want to count on it for something critical (anything 'live' where you can't retake it) and I've never used it on a paid gig. It's great for the indie filmmaker world where it's a minor risk compared to the benefits (and getting more so now with the raw features) but I don't see it as a good idea for the professional world.

This is also where all the "OMG Blackmagic's dead! RED & ARRI will have to slash their prices!" rhetoric over the raw features comes up short; when there's money and/or careers on the line most (smart) people won't mess around with hacks like these.
 
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I worked recently for a DP who wouldn't even use any batteries other than originals from the manufacturer on paid gigs for clients, so using a hack like ML would be totally out of the question.

It's all well and good, but on the day if you're getting paid and half your shots don't record properly, they won't be asking you back, even if it was a camera fault.
 
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Absolution I think I agree with you. Recently I've attributed it to moire but it has crossed my mind once or twice that it is ML. Tomorrow I will do a series of tests with ML and without. I particularly notice it when my focus is at infinity, or metres away from me, when there is a bit more denial in what I'm shooting (which is why I blamed moire). Seeing someone else say this makes me want to get to the bottom of it though!
 
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jax_rox said:
I worked recently for a DP who wouldn't even use any batteries other than originals from the manufacturer on paid gigs for clients, so using a hack like ML would be totally out of the question.

It's all well and good, but on the day if you're getting paid and half your shots don't record properly, they won't be asking you back, even if it was a camera fault.
Click to expand...

That's why I have a backup SD card that doesn't have the firmware on it... just in case it messes up, cuz I've heard it has
 
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