Magic Lantern is free software that runs on Canon DSLRs to give them enhanced features with more control for shooting video. It’s like custom firmware, but it runs directly from a memory card without altering the camera’s software. This video from Jake Coppinger shows how to get started using the powerful tool.

Oct 29, 2018 On the Magic Lantern wiki it says not to install ML on a 64gb card for your 1st install. Later, it says to install it on a 64gb card you can instead install a. This guide will help you install and update your Canon EOS 600D/Rebel T3i to the lastest Magic Lantern Nightly builds. Magic Lantern is not approved nor endorsed by Canon in any way, and using it will probably void your warranty.

It’s all pretty simple to get going: First, make sure your camera’s firmware is up to date, set the camera to manual mode, clear all your camera settings, and format the memory card. Then you can head to the Magic Lantern site and download the software that matches your firmware version exactly. Once you copy it to your SD card, you can put it in your camera, turn it on, and navigate to “update firmware.” This will cause it to boot the new software. Then you’ll be up and running with Magic Lantern. We dove into the software years ago but it’s made quite a bit of progress since then, with new tools that will help you focus your picture, monitor audio, shoot timelapes sequences, and more.

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Installation process

Step one: Find a spare SD card and format in-camera. Then, head to the Magic Lantern downloads page and choose your model number from the list.

Step two: Make sure the official firmware on your camera is up to date. The Magic Lantern download page will tell you which is the latest version number. Check what is installed on your camera by choosing any of the manual exposure modes (PASM) on the dial, then press the Menu button. Scroll through until you find the version number.

If required, head to Canon's official support site and download the latest version of the firmware for your dSLR.

Step three: Connect the SD card to your PC or Mac and download the Magic Lantern build for your camera. Extract the zip archive, then put all those files in the root directory of the SD card.

Step four: Insert the SD card into the camera and turn it on. Install the firmware by going to Menu and finding the firmware option. Press Set and confirm your selection to update the firmware. You will be prompted to restart the camera by turning the power off and on again.

Step five: Clear any custom settings by pressing Menu, and find Clear settings. Exit the Canon menu system by pressing Menu again, then press the trash can button to bring up the Magic Lantern options.

If you run into any difficulties during the installation process, there's also a full guide on the Magic Lantern wiki page.

General tips

Some settings will require you to turn the camera off and on again to apply the feature
When in Live View, press the Info button several times to clear the Canon overlay menus so you can see the Magic Lantern overlays
Once you are in the Magic Lantern menus, press the Menu button to bring up a screen with all your options in columns, rather than needing to scroll through individual pages

How To Install Magic Lantern T3i

Helpful photography tools

Intervalometer: Magic Lantern has it all built-in. From the menu, scroll across to Shoot, then down to Intervalometer. Press Set to activate, then the Q button to bring up options.

Choose how often you want to take a picture and when you want the camera to start. Get out of the menu and you'll see the screen is waiting for that half press.

Audio trigger: You can fire the camera shutter using sound. Go to the menu, Audio RemoteShot and press Set. Then, hit the Q button to set the trigger decibel level. Make sure it's set to as high as possible, so 20dB, otherwise even the smallest sound will fire the shutter.

Clap your hands or make some noise, and when the camera detects it, the shutter will fire.

Focus peaking and zebras: This one is great for stills and video users. Focus peaking gives you an outline on what's in focus while zebras show you areas of overexposure. In the menu, go to Overlay, turn on zebras and focus peak. You can tweak lots of other options to your liking in the sub-menus too.

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Head out of the menu, turn on live view and press the Info button a couple of times to turn off the Canon overlays. You'll see your exposure info down at the bottom of the screen with focus peaking and zebras on the screen as well.

Uninstalling

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Once you've finished playing around with Magic Lantern, you may want to uninstall it. To do this, go back to the Canon menu and find the firmware option again. Press Set to complete the uninstall process, then once completed, format the Magic Lantern SD card in-camera if you don't want to reinstall it again. Remember to save any photos on the card elsewhere before formatting.

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These are just a few features of Magic Lantern; I'll delve into more advanced options in a future How To article.