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Sorry, should clarify:

1568x940
MLV
23.976
FAT32 (didn't know the 50D supported ExFAT)
Camera drops frames consistently after around 4.5 min, which is roughly half the 32GB card.

What's the longest take anyone here can get out of their 50D while shooting 1.66:1? I'm running on the Sandisk Extreme Pro 32GB and I get around 4.5 minutes.

Just took a look at DPreview's analysis and Andy600's post totally checks out.

The EOS 50D produced a fairly consistent dynamic range of about 8.5 EV from ISO 100 to 1600 dropping to 7.6 EV at ISO 3200 and to a minimum of 5.5 EV at ISO 12800 (due to shadow noise). However, highlight range is consistent (around 3.5 EV) up to ISO 6400.

As I understand it, Canon DSLRs work very differently than other cinema cameras with regards to ISO; rather than shooting at a "native" ISO and then adjusting the middle grey point (Like the BMD or RED cameras), there is an analog gain stage at the sensor level, which means that changing ISO changes the response of the sensor. Therefore, for best latitude, noise, and colour response on the 50D you're going to want to shoot at the lowest possible ISO. (ISO 100)

I've never had pink pixels but I have had some dead ones. Have you worked with the MLV files in any other apps to see if it's just a debayering problem with MLV Converter? ML Raw Viewer works well too as I understand.

When you're recording H.264 your only options are 1080p and 480p. You can override the encoder and shoot at 23.976 FPS, and for that you have to go into the FPS Override menu. I just wrote up a guide to that, so I'll quote it here:

If you're on the August 8th nightly this is easier, so I'd recommend installing that.

- First, enable movie recording (you know where and how to do that).
- Farther down the page is the FPS override. Enter the Q menu for FPS override by pressing the FUNC button.
- There should be a variable called "Desired FPS". If you have live view on it'll say "X (from 30)", where X is the default; if you don't have live view on it'll say "X (from 0)".
- Adjust the desired framerate to either 23.976 or 24.
- Set the "Optimize for" variable to "Exact FPS".

And that should do it. You're now recording video at a framerate of 23.976, which is a version of 24FPS that is compatible with NTSC/ASTC 59.94Hz displays.

NOTE: If you play an H.264 file made on your 50D with these settings, it will look like it was sped up. This is normal. Find a way to conform these files to 23.976 in your NLE of choice and it will work exactly like regular old 23.976 footage.

As for the resolution, 1568x882 is what you'd record in if you were recording .raw or .mlv footage. To use either of those formats you have to install the latest nightly build and enable the mlv_rec or raw_rec modules. From there, restart the camera and head into the Q Menu for those modules. If you get there and you're still not too sure what to do, come back here and ask more questions.

You've got a good setup there; that is a bargain for $220. ML was a little intimidating to me at first but you're going to have a blast discovering everything that it can do.

I'm able to record the max resolution of 1x mode with 16gb Sandisk Extremes. The Pro versions will be more than enough for what you're looking to do.

@A1ex

I'm a professional in the camera department of a local IATSE union. While I haven't yet been able to convince union shows to install your software on DSLRs that we've used, I have used your software extensively on smaller productions. I cannot tell you how elated my colleagues are with your work. It really is humbling to see what you've done and I'm working with those same productions to ensure that you and the ML team are credited appropriately, and that any owner/operators lend a helping hand. I recently bought a 50D to experiment with ML on my own time, and I'm really looking forward to participating and helping out the community.

Sadly, I will admit that I bought RAWMagic. I'd used 5DtoRGB and simply hadn't really considered were the code was coming from or how releasing commercial products like this affected the ML community. It is helpful software but I believe that the philosophical implications of what Thomas is asking are troubling. While I can't imagine the frustration you're going through, I want you to know that I regret purchasing RAWMagic. 

@Thomas
I think you're a talented developer. I paid for 5DtoRGB and RAWMagic, and both can be tremendously helpful. With that said, I have to side with A1ex on this one. You are standing on the shoulders of giants. Yes, it does help ML users to have software that smooths out their workflows but asking a developer to relax a licensing scheme so that you can include that code in your commercial product is appalling. I do not agree that any of the ML code should be anything other than GPL. I know that I'm not a saint--I haven't contributed much of anything to this community, and one of my early posts was actually pretty inflammatory--but I hope you're going to take the time to consider the ramifications of what you're doing.

Considering the tumultuous nature of this issue, and the value of ML to artists everywhere, I will not be using RAWMagic any more and I will be recommending other applications to my colleagues from here on out. I hope that this isn't always the case but, until I can be sure that I am not hurting the community by using your software, I am going to avoid it like the plague. Convenience is not worth exploiting these guys.

If you're on the August 8th nightly this is easier, so I'd recommend installing that.

- First, enable movie recording (you know where and how to do that).
- Farther down the page is the FPS override. Enter the Q menu for FPS override by pressing the FUNC button.
- There should be a variable called "Desired FPS". If you have live view on it'll say "X (from 30)", where X is the default; if you don't have live view on it'll say "X (from 0)".
- Adjust the desired framerate to either 23.976 or 24.
- Set the "Optimize for" variable to "Exact FPS".

And that should do it. You're now recording video at a framerate of 23.976, which is a version of 24FPS that is compatible with NTSC/ASTC 59.94Hz displays.

NOTE: If you play an H.264 file made on your 50D with these settings, it will look like it was sped up. This is normal. Find a way to conform these files to 23.976 in your NLE of choice and it will work exactly like regular old 23.976 footage.

Hey guys! I noticed that the "Fix Black Level" option in the MLV plugin isn't enabled by default on my 50D. If I'm recording the full width of the sensor in RAW mode do I need to enable this for the best image quality? Sorry if this is an obvious question.

Stupid question, but is your power switch all the way up? clicked towards wheel.

Yeah, just checked. I even reset the ML config settings and the back wheel still does not function in the ML menus when I have Live View activated. It still changes the aperture when the menus aren't up but it's useless once I hit the trash button. Still works fine in the Canon menu though. Using the build from 8/8.

[Edit] And like that, it works now. So weird!

Maybe it's supposed to work like this, but is there a reason why the quick wheel on the back of the 50D becomes unresponsive in menus after activating Live View?

Probably not, no.  It'll be hard to ever show conclusively that such resolution non-multiples that cause problems on some cameras do not cause any subtle problems on the 50D, and thus it's hard to justify the minor increase in area.

Totally understand. I'd rather have a stable camera than an extra percent or two of image area.

Completely off topic; does anyone else wonder where Magic Lantern goes from here? What is left to improve on the 50D besides stability, power use, etc.? I'm not saying that every avenue has been exhausted but does anyone know what the devs are working on at this point?

I picked up a 50D on a lark and I am extremely impressed with what the ML developers have accomplished. I'm shocked by how beautiful the RAW footage looks and that it records to reasonably priced CF cards. I don't know if I'll ever wind up using it in a professional context but I will say that if I had explored this option sooner I would have seriously reconsidered some other purchases I made earlier this year. Big thanks to a1ex and the team for their really, really hard work.

I have a question though; I know that the maximum width of the 50Ds RAW recording had to be decreased from 1584 to 1568 for ML codebase portability concerns, but will this restriction ever be lifted? I know it only amounts to a 2.3% difference when you're recording 16:9, but I was just curious if we'd ever be able to squeeze that last drop of performance out of this camera.

Firstly lets deal with the pretenders, the Black Magic pocket camera, the sensor is smaller (3/4) and it has 12 bit colour depth. If you compare to 12 bit depth and bigger aps-c sensor (I realize this is new ground for aps-c users who keep getting put in our IQ place by FF users) then you realize size and depth both matter.  Personally I would rather buy a used 50D and shoot in 14bit raw with dual iso, then a 12 bit Black magic 3/4 sensor anything camera.  I mean if you are going to wait that long to process your film then why stop at 12 bit blah!I think some H264/MOv of the 70D can match 12 bit raw blah adequately.  Its in the physics 14bits beats 12bits, so sorry BMPC users suck it up.

I own a BMPCC and a 50D and I'm calling you out on this post:

- The sensors in the BMD cameras are 16-bit. The hardware in them encodes that 16-bit linear signal into a 12-bit log CinemaDNG, which maintains all the information through the post chain. It works seamlessly and provides just as much information as MLV 14-bit, if not more.

- BMD cameras use the entire sensor rather than line skipping or pixel binning, which means you get a really accurate image at the full resolution of the sensor. I'd put a BMPCC against a 5D Mk.3 in resolved detail any day and I think you'd be surprised at how well the BMPCC performs.

- What's wrong with smaller sensors again? There are wide angle lenses for the Micro4/3 mount, the glass is fast and sharp, and the MetaBones Speedbooster gives you a ridiculous amount of options. Besides, the Super16 image circle has a long and storied history in cinema and creates beautiful images.

- Dual ISO is a great idea, no doubt about it, but there are very real tradeoffs with high frequency detail in your images. It's good to have in an emergency but I couldn't see myself using it unless I had no other option. It's also only available on two cameras as far as I know (the 5D Mk.3 and 7D).

- The BMD cameras are a stable, proven platform to work with in a production setting. With all due respect to all Magic Lantern developers, ML is experimental. The BMD cameras aren't perfect but when I use them I know I am using a camera that was explicitly designed to record RAW footage for motion picture cinematography. It shows in the workflow, the stability of the software, and the camera interface design.

Once you get some more experience under your belt I'm sure you'll realize that cameras are tools and this whole dick-waving competition is pointless.

EDIT by SDX: Watch your tone!