The first thing you will notice is that not much has changed. Once you install the firmware and restart your camera, you are pretty much ready to go. The installation procedure is quite simple and, in general, it is the same procedure that you would follow in order to update the firmware of your camera. To install the firmware follow the simple instructions given on the ML website. Notice that the available features might differ from one camera to the other. I used ML on a Canon 500D/T1i and, for this reason, all the different features I mention in this post will be related to that specific model. Since different cameras have different processors and functionalities, ML is not available for all the cameras manufactured by Canon. For this reason, only install this (or any other third-party firmware) at your own risk! Canon itself is not involved at all and does not endorse the use of ML, meaning that installing the package will void your warranty and you might find some issues while using it and, more importantly, in an extreme case, your camera might stop to work. Luckily, a group of developers have been building a variety of new and extended functionalities for Canon cameras under the name of Magic Lantern (ML) and you can download this for free and upload it to your camera.Ī word of warning is necessary here, though.

Of course, to do this, you need to know how to program and you also need the time to do it.

However, it is not uncommon to stand in a situation in which you wish your camera could do a bit more.Īs a Canon user myself, a few years ago I found out that Canon does indeed provide a library for you to add new, or change existing, functionalities of the built-in software (so-called firmware). Extending the functionality of your Canon with Magic Lantern Modern cameras, specially DSLRs, have so many different features that it actually takes a while to go through all of them after you buy them, and sometimes you even find yourself discovering new functionalities years after you started using yours.

Magic lantern canon firmware