How to get the most out of Magic Lantern

[J_Gasper]

Active member
Hey guys, sorry that I have been posting a ton lately, but I have come up with a problem that I think is thread worthy for both myself and others. People talk about how great magic lantern is, by just getting the glimpse of the program, I love it. The AGC is nice if you have a t2i, but I have a t3i, so the AGC hack isnt capable with it. So im pretty much stuck using the 19khz tone and DSLR splitter. I hear other people talk about the histogram or wave monitor. There is also some word on the Zebra"s. What I really wanted to know is how to use these tools to their full capacity. I have play'd around with them a bit, but still dont really get what they do. So does someone mind enlightening me on this? I will mostly be shooting a neutral color style if that means anything.

Also, for other people having problems with ML, please post here and im sure someone will be able to answer your question.

Thanks!

+K for help!
 
WFM and Zebras are simple. One shows a graph of the overall exposure in the scene, with the left section of the scene translating to the left part of the graph, and so forth. The y-axis is the level of exposure, the higher the level on the WFM, the brighter it is.

Zebras make over exposed parts of the image show up as diagonal lines on your LCD, VF, external monitor, or what have you. I'm not sure about in Magic Lantern, but on my camera you can choose the level of over-exposure where it starts showing up as zebras. I use 80% and like to have the snow just start to zebra. Of course, the camera doesn't actually record the lines.

So: Waveform monitor- a graph whose y-axis is exposure, x-axis is area on screen.

Zebra- shows overexposed parts of image as diagonal lines.

Both are very powerful exposure aids, the WFM being the best, since it shows a very detailed placement of lighting. Zebras are nice to use because it's straightforward and quick. Never judge exposure by your LCD screen alone.
 
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