Gear & Apps
Canon 5D Mark III gets 4K Video In New Magic Lantern Build
Magic Lantern has been providing Canon shooters with the features their cameras are capable of but for whatever reason haven’t been officially supported by Canon for years. If you’re a Canon video shooter, you’re really going to like this one. While many had been waiting impatiently for Canon to implement 4K video in a DSLR up until very recently, Magic Lantern has made it available for a camera released in 2012 – the 5D Mark III. That’s right, Magic Lantern is giving your 5D Mark III the ability to shoot Super 35mm RAW 4k.
Thought our 4K announcement was an April 1st joke? It's real! Download + source available! https://t.co/kinILTU5F7 https://t.co/gc5M9yGMOT pic.twitter.com/8ySUYrgiz2
— Magic Lantern (@autoexec_bin) April 1, 2017
Announced on the first day of April amid a barrage of implausible (and fake) camera news, this advancement looked like just another prank, but it’s actually real. It’s a “very rough proof of concept” at this point, and it’s not recommended to jump into this one just yet if you aren’t the type to go digging around in camera functions with the intent to hack.
[REWIND:] MAGIC LANTERN RAW VIDEO SHINES IN ‘THE WATERS OF THE GREENSTONE’
From the FAQ on Magic Lantern’s forum: “This mod changes some low-level sensor parameters that are not well understood. They were all figured by trial and error, and there are no guarantees about the safety of these changes. As usual, if it breaks, it’s your fault, sorry.” That sounds a little ominous for those who aren’t camera tech experts, but things are looking very promising for future builds.
These are the video resolutions Magic Lantern has added:
• 1920×960 @ 50p (both 1:1 crop and full-frame – 3×3 pixel binning)
•1920×800 @ 60p (same as above)
• 1920×1080 @ 45p and 48p (3×3 binning)
•1920×1920 @ 24p (1:1 square crop)
• 3072×1920 @ 24p (1:1 crop)
•3840×1600 @ 24p (1:1 crop)
• 4096×2560 @ 12.5p (1:1 crop)
•4096×1440 @ 25p (1:1 crop)
•Full-resolution LiveView: 5796×3870 at 7.4 fps (128ms rolling shutter)
For more explanation of what that all means, check out this post from EOSHD.
Here’s some sample footage from a test by Luigi Baccino in 10bit 3.8K mode.
What’s your take on the big news?
This is great but the footage is buggy. Not sure this would be a viable option unless they fix the footage quality.
It’s definitely a work in progress. I’d be wary of installing this build on my camera at this point, personally.