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RAW Video on the Canon 5D Mark III?!

Woah! The guys over at Magic Lantern cracked the Canon 5D Mark III to shoot RAW video output. Yup, the new firmware update to Magic Lantern’s notorious software now enables uncompressed 14-bit video out of the 5D Mark III (so far).

Magic Lantern already brought us great things to Canon DSLRs including focus peaking, zebra lines, audio meters and a ton of other much needed features, now they’ve just upped the ante! Raw video to compressed video is basically what RAW images are to JPGs. Early testers are saying the footage is better than the Black Magic Cinema Camera! Here’s the deal: the new firmware now enables videographers to shoot RAW data out to either DNG or ProRes 4444.

Resolutions can now also be set at everything from 1920×1080 to 1280×1280 via Magic Lantern’s updated video menu. Better yet, 1:1 crop modes even let shooters dial in up to 3k resolution, however, reported issues of dropped frames have been noted. Meanwhile, rumors that the new hack will overheat and kill your camera seem to be false according to No Film SchoolEOS HD released a sample video using this new method, along with videographer Luke Neumann of Neumann Films which you can view below–just look at that stunning footage!

Wan’t to use the new firmware and start shooting RAW video? Unfortunately, a stable public release has not yet been released, but I’m sure we’ll get something in the near future, but, If you’re gutsy enough to try it out now, here’s a detailed list of how to get started with the current Alpha release thanks to Cinema 5D–just make sure you’re using a high speed CF card, somewhere in the range of 1000x or 90/mbs! Check out the sample videos below along with a couple comparison videos to the Black Magic Cinema Camera. Will this change the video market? I think so… (via EOS HD)





Here’s a sample video of the 1:1 crop mode shot in 2.5k resolution; insane results: