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Magic Lantern Is Back

magiclantern.fm

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Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#11

Post by Mistletoe »

cassonmars wrote: post #2

From a security mindset, I was thinking this had made a return: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_(spyware) I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was something very different.

I thought it was Magic Leap, the AR scam company.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Leap

> As of December 2024, the Magic Leap One is no longer supported or working, becoming end of life and abruptly losing functionality when cloud access was ended. This happened whilst encouraging users to buy a newer model.

Ah, that’s about how I thought that would end up.

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#14

Post by shrx »

Thanks to all contributors to the project, ML is an amazing feat of work. I've been running it on my Canon 6D since I got it in 2016, very useful for timelapses.

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#16

Post by Cthulhu_ »

Mistletoe wrote: post #11
cassonmars wrote: post #2

From a security mindset, I was thinking this had made a return: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Lantern_(spyware) I was pleasantly surprised to find out this was something very different.

I thought it was Magic Leap, the AR scam company. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Leap > As of December 2024, the Magic Leap One is no longer supported or working, becoming end of life and abruptly losing functionality when cloud access was ended. This happened whilst encouraging users to buy a newer model. Ah, that’s about how I thought that would end up.

Its demise seems to have completely passed me by; I read about its enormous funding and unrealistic expectations, then a v1 came out which was mediocre/disappointing, then... nothing. Apple's thing overshadowed it, but that too has passed - unless they're going to announce a new model at a fraction of the price soon, supposedly their UI redesigns follow its concepts so it's not buried yet.

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#17

Post by ioma8 »

freeqaz wrote: post #7

I was trying to understand what this project is. It's some sort of open firmware for Canon camera that you put on the flash card (SD). The home page has info: https://www.magiclantern.fm/

Yes its truly noteworthy project. They exploited Canon cameras by first managing to blink red charging LED. Then they used the LED blinks to transmit the firmware out. Then they built custom firmware which boots right from SD (thus no posibility to break the camera). The Magic Lantern firmware for example allows many basic cameras to do RAW 4K video recording (with unlimited length) - feature which is not even in the high-end models. But it has much more features to tinker with.

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#18

Post by slacktivism123 »

andrewstuart wrote: post #12

[flagged]

The linked page explains:

    Magic Lantern is a free software add-on that runs from the SD/CF card and adds a host of new features to Canon EOS cameras that weren't included from the factory by Canon.
I also found this concise, human-written readme on the project page. Since it's not AI slop churned out by a startup, it's worth reading! :-)))

https://github.com/reticulatedpines/magiclantern_simplified/...

    Magic Lantern
    =============

    Magic Lantern (ML) is a software enhancement that offers increased
    functionality to the excellent Canon DSLR cameras.
      
    It's an open framework, licensed under GPL, for developing extensions to the
    official firmware.

    Magic Lantern is not a *hack*, or a modified firmware, **it is an
    independent program that runs alongside Canon's own software**. 
    Each time you start your camera, Magic Lantern is loaded from your memory
    card. Our only modification was to enable the ability to run software
    from the memory card.

    ML is being developed by photo and video enthusiasts, adding
    functionality such as: HDR images and video, timelapse, motion
    detection, focus assist tools, manual audio controls much more.

    For more details on Magic Lantern please see [http://www.magiclantern.fm/](http://www.magiclantern.fm/)

    There is a sibling repo for our patched version of Qemu that adds support
    for emulating camera ROMs. This allows testing without access to a physical
    camera, and automating tests across a suite of cameras.  
    https://github.com/reticulatedpines/qemu-eos  
    https://github.com/reticulatedpines/qemu-eos/tree/qemu-eos-v4.2.1 (current ML team supported branch)

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#19

Post by ZiiS »

This news is probably my excuse to buy my forth EOS; the first three were 100% only because of Magic Lantern. Can't understand why manufacturers make this hard as it sells hardware.

Re: Magic Lantern Is Back

#20

Post by dsmurrell »

Magic Lantern is amazing... I used it with a custom C script to do auto ISO in Av mode (setting minimum shutter speed based on focal length) before that was built into the newer camera models. It's good to see it back!
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