It looks like the 5DMk3 has received the most attention in this forum and the feature set that it has received due to the enormous efforts of the developers is incredible. Now, this camera has become a very powerful tool for professional video recording.
Unfortunately, not everybody can afford a 5DMk3 and the question is, are there other alternatives that work well with Magic Lantern, can do most of what the 5DMk3 does and can be obtained at a fraction of its cost. In my opinion, the answer is Yes and the alternative is the classical 7D (Mark I). Here are a few basic features that support this statement:
1) The fast write speed on the CF-card. On 1066x CF cards I get continuous writing speeds in the 90 to 91 MB/s range. This means continuous 14-bit RAW video recording at 1728x972 resolution with sound until CF card is full. This also means quite long RAW video recordings at 10 and 12 bit with sound at larger resolutions (up to 2496x1200) in the 5x zoom mode. I got 2 min. record time in this mode at 10 bit and 24 fps. Finally, it means also continuous 10-bit RAW recording with sound at 2144x1200 resolution (aspect ratio close to 16:9) at the 5x zoom mode which could be quite useful for interviews, high-quality recording of dancers on the scene, weddings and even short events.
2) The EOS 7D is a very solidly built semiprofessional camera with good weather sealing that can stand quite tough working conditions. Battery life is excellent even when shooting MLV video with Magic Lantern. I never managed to get the camera temperature higher than 56 deg. C during RAW video recordings at 35 deg. C on hot summer days.
3) Image and video quality are superb. I especially like the micro contrast, the colors and the dynamic range of the videos and time lapses coming out of this camera.
4) VAF filters for this model that remove moire and aliasing in scenes with lots of straight lines and repetitive patterns are readily available (expensive though, ~300$).
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After playing for several hours with my 7D last weekend I was so happy with the camera performance and results that I obtained with a fairly old build that I decided to write this post in an attempt to revitalize the attention to this fantastic camera. I used the December 01/2016 build from the download link in post 1314 from the following thread:
https://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=5601.1300My overall impression is that the feature set in the above build is excellent and appropriate for serious video work as described in #1 above. I also checked the classical FRSP function in the silent mode which reproduces beautiful timelapses at the full resolution of the sensor. It works very well, also in combination with Dual ISO. In my tests the camera was very stable and there were almost no crashes, except that it is hard to close the aperture of STM lenses in the FRSP mode. Here are a few things that need to be fixed and if the fixes are possible and successful, in my opinion, this will make the 7D second best after the 5DMk3 for Magic Lantern work:
A. I miss the Movie crop mode which allows fast and easy switching from the normal to the 3x zoom mode with preserving framing during recording. In other words you see on the screen what you get. This is extremely useful when working with fast prime lenses. I use the EOS 35/F2 IS which is my favorite for RAW videos and with the Movie crop mode it turns into a 105 mm/F2 lens on a push of a button. In this way, I can quickly zoom to an important part of the scene, make a recording there at 105 mm with a beautifully blurred background and then switch back to the normal mode. Very convenient! I know, I can do this in the 5x zoom mode, however, in that case I see only a fraction of the frame. This makes framing with camera in motion (steadycam work) very difficult.
B. A well known phenomenon is the freezing of the screen when recording starts in the 5x zoom mode. For static shots on a tripod this is not a problem but when camera moves (e. g. steadycam shots) framing is impossible. There is a known temporary work around this, as described in the post 1314 above but switching back and forth between menus takes time and important moments are easily missed.
C. I also miss the "ML digital ISO" function. It was very useful when recording video in bright sunny days where light is too much and even F22 is not enough to get the exposure right. ML digital ISO would allow me to gradually reduce the exposure by up to -2 stops which I used very often as a digital neutral density filter. It worked quite well with time lapses at reduced frame rates as well as FRSP work where shortest exposure times are limited to about 1/25-th of a second. Finally, it provides smoother transitions in the highlights which is useful when shooting contrasty landscape photos (sunsets, sunrises, etc.).
D. The 10 and 12-bit MLV-rec and RAW-rec is broken. Every 2-nd frame is corrupt. This forces the operator to use 14-bit RAW which makes the files too big and expensive cards get full very quickly. I know, this bug is not easy to fix and we can live with it but a fix would be more than welcome.
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These are the issues which make me think that, with the 7D, we are very close to a camera with superb functionality for serious video shooting. If someone else has observed issues that I have missed, comments and further tests are very welcome.
