Breakdown of Pros/Cons for MLV vs DNG Full Res Silent Pictures

[kamranjon]

I'm using Magic Lantern FRSP (Full Resolution Silent Pictures) to scan 16mm film. I've found that using MLV I am able to more quickly trigger another photo (2-3 seconds) - whereas with DNG it has a longer turnaround (5-10 seconds). I am curious what the quality trade-offs are between the two - and any tips you might have on increasing my turnaround time between taking photos. Happy to answer any questions on my process if you're curious. And one other question - are Silent Pictures able to take advantage of sensor cropping? and if so - how do I go about it, hitting zoom and taking a photo seems to render the full frame in silent picture mode.

Thanks!

[miket]

Hello kamranjon
I have built a system that uses the crop_rec_4k build from the experiments page to capture film frames into high resolution MLV files. The main advantage is speed.  I have captured 16mm film at 12 frames per second with a 5d3 so far and I think full projector speed is possible with some further tuning (at less than full sensor resolution).  You can search my previous posts for the details. 

Several other list members have also built systems for movie digitization based on ML so search the forum to learn about them, and also search for keyword telecine.  Good luck with your project!

[kamranjon]

Thanks miket! I'll definitely browse your post history to see if I can pick up some tips. I am using a 7D - so I think I am a bit more limited in that regard. I am able to scan a 100ft roll in 2-3 hours currently, but the nice thing is that the scans are 5k - so I can crop down to 4k. I guess what I was mainly curious about was the quality difference between using MLV to shoot FRSP and using internal DNG. With the DNG setting it takes closer to 10 hours to do a 100ft roll, but I am unsure if there is a difference in quality. The MLV setting seems to produce DNG's that are 8-bit (according to the info on the files) but I am wondering of the DNG setting outputs files at 14-bit or if it is essentially equivalent. It's pretty amazing to be able to shoot a roll, develop it, and scan it in a single day!

[DanoKrnac]

Hello kamranjon
I have built a system that uses the crop_rec_4k build from the experiments page to capture film frames into high resolution MLV files. The main advantage is speed.  I have captured 16mm film at 12 frames per second with a 5d3 so far and I think full projector speed is possible with some further tuning (at less than full sensor resolution).  You can search my previous posts for the details. 

Several other list members have also built systems for movie digitization based on ML so search the forum to learn about them, and also search for keyword telecine.  Good luck with your project!

Hi,

could you please elaborate a bit about the settings in the experimental crop_rec_4k? I use a 70D (or 600D if it's sufficient) but I can't seem to find a setting that would trigger a picture by shutter halfpress. Only start/stop video but no "frame advance" setting or something like that. I've tried silent pictures, which work exactly like I would like it to work (makes a mlv with all the pictures I've taken by halpressing the shutter). Sadly, it's only like 1 fps at best.

Also, anyone has a link to working crop_rec_4k for 70D build? Thanks in advance

[dfort]

...anyone has a link to working crop_rec_4k for 70D build?

What's wrong with the one on the experiments downloads page? If there is a problem please create a bug report.

[Walter Schulz]

There can be nothing wrong with it because it is not there ...