Eos 400d ( Rebel XTI )

JoeNeptune

I think a system that in every picture the settings are wrote, read and set with would be very user friendly and allow for a very fast tune of your camera to its environment.
For example you could take 4 shots in a row with different settings pick out the best perhaps by quickly looking at the histograms and bang your right there in the sweet spot quick.
And for people just learning and the visually and/or photographically challenged.-
Match the picture to environment. We could train a monkey to be a photographer .😀
(maybe it might be possible for the software to make a file with all the different picture settings if it is found we need to get around reading data right from picture file).
The camera would have memory like an elephant an never forget.

I doubt its practical in the very near future but another function I propose that might be of interest someday.
If someone worked out how to do it...
They could make an automatic preset selection triggers, perhaps done by some camera data including light level, focus distance, lens on, flash on, camera orientation, and I am sure there are other inputs that might be useful in triggering the camera to be ready just the way you want it when you go to push the button.
If it could be done right it could make any user the fastest draw in the west.
To just the way the user styles it.
There will be less "ones that got away" while stumbling threw extra buttons.
This could be as complicated as making a brain but may be someone can figure out how it could be done in a more simple way that works and isn't too hard to understand.

Thank you very much for any consideration.
And of course thanks for this already very amazing software.

JoeNeptune

I wonder if any one else thinks it would be useful to have a setting where the camera takes a second picture every time in full auto?(perhaps without the flash if off)
You would have a back up for any mistakes.
One could experiment and have a safety at the same time.
I think it also might be good for comparison while experimenting and for mixing in photoshop.
I know the full auto mode isn't great because I get a much better histogram without trying too hard in manual modes but full auto as a second exposure could still be a bonus often in tougher shots.

Maybe also If it knew your exposure was under compared to what it calculates, one might want to have a setting so it will over expose a bit if possible on second shot so the two pictures together have a much wider color palate if I understand correctly.
Ones small over or under exposure mistake could be turned in a image bonus of light range with the addition of quick computer calculated second exposure.

pedroluis

First of all: Thank you for making my camera much more versatile. 😁

Is the hack causing battery drainage?? The last 2-3 weeks or so I have experienced that after using my camera, on-off-on-off, photographing a 100 or so pictures, inbetween changing lenses (blue and red lamps blinking everytime), moving memory card in and out (lamps blinking everytime), goes to bed - after setting camera to 'OFF'. Next morning - camera, i.e. battery - is dead. :'( Full recharge needed.

I do use a battery grip - and I thought this might be part of the problem, leaving the grip 'on'; but no, with control 'off', battery runs out of power. It could be old batteries, but no, my newer ones (recharged around 50 times) also drains out overnight.

This is a new situation. not quite sure when I first got suspicious - 3 or 4 main versions ('featured') ago? After setting and recalling presets was introduced?

Is this a bug - hack working night shift - or is it my camera-battery-combo?? I can't tell for sure. But it's annoying. Anybody experiencing the same???

eduperez

pedroluis
First of all: Thank you for making my camera much more versatile. 😁

Is the hack causing battery drainage?? The last 2-3 weeks or so I have experienced that after using my camera, on-off-on-off, photographing a 100 or so pictures, inbetween changing lenses (blue and red lamps blinking everytime), moving memory card in and out (lamps blinking everytime), goes to bed - after setting camera to 'OFF'. Next morning - camera, i.e. battery - is dead. :'( Full recharge needed.

I do use a battery grip - and I thought this might be part of the problem, leaving the grip 'on'; but no, with control 'off', battery runs out of power. It could be old batteries, but no, my newer ones (recharged around 50 times) also drains out overnight.

This is a new situation. not quite sure when I first got suspicious - 3 or 4 main versions ('featured') ago? After setting and recalling presets was introduced?

Is this a bug - hack working night shift - or is it my camera-battery-combo?? I can't tell for sure. But it's annoying. Anybody experiencing the same???

In theory, when the camera is off there should be absolutely no software running on it; I cannot think how could our hack drain a battery in that situation. I also have a grip, and you can imagine I do all kind of weird things with my camera, but have never experienced this problem. Just off the top of my head, there are two tests I would do:

* Take the grip off the camera, but leave the batteries inside
* Put one battery directly in the camera, without the grip, and leave the card out.

0xAF

JoeNeptune
I wonder if any one else thinks it would be useful to have a setting where the camera takes a second picture every time in full auto?(perhaps without the flash if off)
You would have a back up for any mistakes.

here is my opinion on full auto mode:
the full auto mode of the camera is something canon shouldn't have put there...
i doubt anyone shoot in full auto mode... if you shoot in full auto then buying a DSLR is a waste of your money.
the P&S cameras will make better photos than the full auto of DSLR, basically because their auto mode is nice adapted to the non-changable lens they have...
so if you have a "backup" in full auto mode, you actually have no backup...

JoeNeptune
One could experiment and have a safety at the same time.

actually that's the main advantage of DSLR (and digital cameras at all)... you can experiment and see results... delete and experiment again...

JoeNeptune
I think it also might be good for comparison while experimenting and for mixing in photoshop.
I know the full auto mode isn't great because I get a much better histogram without trying too hard in manual modes but full auto as a second exposure could still be a bonus often in tougher shots.

you wont have second exposure usable for merging with the first photo...
if you want HDR then use EAEB... shooting for second time from hand will need aligning of the both images... and 2 frames with same illumination on them, are not vary usable, not to mention the aperture will be different (and iso perhaps) because of the full auto.

0xAF

JoeNeptune
I think a system that in every picture the settings are wrote, read and set with would be very user friendly and allow for a very fast tune of your camera to its environment.

i still cannot get your point ? how would we have the photo (with the settings) before we actually take the photo ?

metai

0xAF

JoeNeptune
I think a system that in every picture the settings are wrote, read and set with would be very user friendly and allow for a very fast tune of your camera to its environment.

i still cannot get your point ? how would we have the photo (with the settings) before we actually take the photo ?

Perhaps he is talking about using already-taken photos as "presets", something I have actually seen in P&S cameras several years ago. Wouldn't really make much sense, especially with a full-fledged preset system already in place.

a1ex

It is possible to put the camera in a state where it doesn't shutdown completely.

On 550D, this happens when:
- you block the gui_main_task (i.e. a custom handler for some event doesn't return)
- you use pointers in a wrong way (e.g. forget to malloc them)
- you try to open a non-existent file from the startup function on FAT32 cards (was an issue in early 2010 builds)

On 5D2, AJ stops all Magic Lantern tasks when he intercepts the shutdown effect. On 550D, calling msleep periodically does the job well 😀

eduperez

a1ex
It is possible to put the camera in a state where it doesn't shutdown completely.

On 550D, this happens when:
- you block the gui_main_task (i.e. a custom handler for some event doesn't return)
- you use pointers in a wrong way (e.g. forget to malloc them)
- you try to open a non-existent file from the startup function on FAT32 cards (was an issue in early 2010 builds)

On 5D2, AJ stops all Magic Lantern tasks when he intercepts the shutdown effect. On 550D, calling msleep periodically does the job well 😀

Very interesting... do you have any info on how can we detect when that happens? Many thanks!

JoeNeptune

Does this mean we can have alarms wake the cam up to do a task?

Pedroluis-

I should first note that i dont even have a battery grip but, if your camera drains the grip battery over night with the grip in off position I would think there is a small trickle of a short in the grip. It maybe some dirt in it. Cleaning it up inside with q-tips and alcohol might fix it but then again it might make it worse. Taking the batteries out while not in use may be the safest bet.
Otherwise would think it was the batteries. Li-ion batteries also get like this over time.

AF-

I will try to answer your last question first with an quick example.
You are with your camera in a new place, say your office.
You take a few pictures and find the best settings, iso, white balance, and everything else.
After you are done tuning it to perfection you will have a photo of office with all the best settings contained in it.
If you keep that photo on your card when ever you enter the office to take more shots, just click the office picture you made before and you are ready with no rethinking required.
This could be done for all the different situations one may find themselves in repeatedly.

About your concerns with the other idea (a second exposure done with auto mode) I would say-

-the new photoshop will auto align the pictures if there is any movement in the split second between them ,so no problem.
-different ISO's would mean one photo would have less noise and this would be a bonus to work with.
-different apertures would give more control of the depth of field in the mix of pictures and the ability to remove the distortions some apertures have.

I do think this is the way to go.
Let the computer do all the mundane work with a fairly reliable base image.
Then we can focus our skills on making the photo outstanding.
Maybe setting the white balance so it makes the highlight of her hair rock
,perhaps overexposing your manual frame so you can see in that dark cave on the shore line, or under exposing so you get the sky-scape in addition.
This could all be done on the fly by knowing how the auto will work and you make your shot to make up for any of its short comings.
Also I would like you to please consider that when photographing wild life, children and other chaotic subjects you don't always have the chance to delete and try again and it could be very valuable to be free to try what ever you like to get an amazing shot and still be sure that you are getting the basic image to start with.

Its HDR made with a faster and easier and more diverse type computer aided of EAEB.
We would be truly working with the computer instead of it just doing what its told.

Before thinking of this, I had much the same thoughts of auto mode as you, but as a second complementary exposure it will be very useful.

Thank you for your help in making my self more clear.

JoeNeptune

Please excuse me for being long winded but I should add some more details to the above example.

When you are in your office experimenting with different settings to get the best picture you can take many different pictures and then when you review them to chose the right one. You don't have to keep in your short term memory all the different settings you changed since you were there to get back to that best tuned state.
This will allow one to try more options and get back to the right one much faster and with significantly less mental work.

JoeNeptune

metai- what camera(s) are you talking about?
If it is p&s what settings would it be controlling?

0xAF

a1ex
It is possible to put the camera in a state where it doesn't shutdown completely.

On 550D, this happens when:
- you block the gui_main_task (i.e. a custom handler for some event doesn't return)
- you use pointers in a wrong way (e.g. forget to malloc them)
- you try to open a non-existent file from the startup function on FAT32 cards (was an issue in early 2010 builds)

On 5D2, AJ stops all Magic Lantern tasks when he intercepts the shutdown effect. On 550D, calling msleep periodically does the job well 😀

i through it can be something like unclean shutdown... but so far i have no battery drain... and noone else reports of such... so i though the shutdown on VxWorks is clean all the time...

0xAF

JoeNeptune
Does this mean we can have alarms wake the cam up to do a task?

not precisely... if we want to do such thing, we need to block the shutdown and keep the camera online all the time... but if we want to do this, then why would we shutdown it ?
we can make a menu to put the camera into sleep mode, but im not sure we can sleep it with the current knowledge ...

JoeNeptune
Pedroluis-

I should first note that i dont even have a battery grip but, if your camera drains the grip battery over night with the grip in off position I would think there is a small trickle of a short in the grip. It maybe some dirt in it.

the off switch of the grip is for the grip buttons only, not for the power. atleast mine.

JoeNeptune
AF-

I will try to answer your last question first with an quick example.
You are with your camera in a new place, say your office.
You take a few pictures and find the best settings, iso, white balance, and everything else.
After you are done tuning it to perfection you will have a photo of office with all the best settings contained in it.
If you keep that photo on your card when ever you enter the office to take more shots, just click the office picture you made before and you are ready with no rethinking required.
This could be done for all the different situations one may find themselves in repeatedly.

i think i got it now... (like metai suggested), but this means we should find a way to parse the exif data of the already taken photo, which i have no idea how to do...

JoeNeptune
-the new photoshop will auto align the pictures if there is any movement in the split second between them ,so no problem.

i'm aware of that, but still not the best way to get HDRs...

JoeNeptune
-different ISO's would mean one photo would have less noise and this would be a bonus to work with.

yes, but it would be the first(yours) photo, not the full-auto photo... so still pointless...

JoeNeptune
-different apertures would give more control of the depth of field in the mix of pictures and the ability to remove the distortions some apertures have.

i'm not sure how is this done, i never thought of mixing different aperture photos...

JoeNeptune
Also I would like you to please consider that when photographing wild life, children and other chaotic subjects you don't always have the chance to delete and try again and it could be very valuable to be free to try what ever you like to get an amazing shot and still be sure that you are getting the basic image to start with.

ok, but keep in mind that the second photo will be taken few seconds after the first one, so it's still not the same... actually it will be like holding your shutter button in continuous shooting... which you can do ATM.

JoeNeptune
Its HDR made with a faster and easier and more diverse type computer aided of EAEB.

it wont be HDR... you can setup your camera on tripod and take a photo in semi-auto mode (Av,Tv) with custom settings, then take it with full-auto... try to merge them and see what will happen ... i would like to see the results...

JoeNeptune
We would be truly working with the computer instead of it just doing what its told.

i would actually prefer to work with the camera on-site, instead of trying to fix my mistakes in photoshop...
if you want to do your photos in photoshop, you can always switch to full-auto and shoot only in this mode...

JoeNeptune
Before thinking of this, I had much the same thoughts of auto mode as you, but as a second complementary exposure it will be very useful.

it wont be usable frame for merging it with the first one... atleast in my opinion...

in final words i would say: i still believe that this addition would be pointless and not usable...
you will need to hold the camera still - for the second photo... and the second photo is something you will never use ...
so far i'm not convinced it's worth it to spend time investigating and developing this feature...
i would like to hear other opinions too...

JoeNeptune

Parse the exif data or perhaps make a file containing all the photos data of whats been taken, if need be.
Is there a way to know what picture was last looked at during play back?
Is there some where in camera memory the exif data can be edited so it goes into the picture file when its written?

The experiment you propose is very interesting and i might want to do some simulations of what could be produced with double barrel shot of an auto canon mode plus one manual shot.
Of course I will be using manual setting and a semi-auto I dont think full auto is needed.
When I get new harddrive for my laptop i will have enough ram to run the software to do it.
I am still on a back up computer.
I don't see why second shot would need to take seconds should be just a double click.
It would be HDR but I will admit if it was done right, the long way, you could get twice the improvement because the way i am thinking would just boost the highs or the lows but not both.
About having to stand still, the second safety shot could be at a shake proof fast shutter speed so in fact this way you wouldnt even need to stand still for your first.

JoeNeptune

Maybe we can make something even better.
A double barrel mode-
Set camera for secondary shot then hit a button then set it for primary shots.
Then camera takes both.
Continue to set primary shots and take both or hit a button and enter new secondary shot.
This way it do more things including HDR properly.
and of course why just 2?
The Multi-Shot-mode, Hit a button and set second and third shots that are to be taken in addition to what you are currently set to.
Just hitting a button to switch between control of the settings in each of the shots could be a faster way to set up normal exposure bracketing as well.

JoeNeptune

Maybe you could look at it from the point of view of shooting with a number of presets at once in an order and repeating while button is down.
But set up mode where you can quickly add or edit directly all the shots, like you were just about to take them, would be very quick and I think also others my find this way intuitive.

When something is about to happen and you need a good shot a number of things enter you mind, why not set it to do them all at once .Then instead of fumbling at the controls at a big moment you could be shooting another round?
The first sort of order that occurs to me would be something like fast speed shot maybe 1/150/sec, followed by one that will be good if i am steady enough at 1/30th sec ,then a maybe flash followed if i am in a more playful mood a long exposure of the reaction to the flash.
I would not be surprised if these 4 exposures could not be done in 2 seconds maybe 3.
I maybe i would label it "bang boom flash & laugh"
But of course there will be many other better ways to set it to allow stuff like HDR and perhaps control of depth of field and stuff we haven't even thought of yet.
A mode where you hit a button to add a new shot and perhaps another to rotate threw your barrels to edit them.
For example to do a basic double.
while at 1/30 sec hit it
then set to 1/100 sec
take picture and it does both and will repeat if you like.
set it to 1/80sec
take picture and it does 1/30 and 1/80
hit button then set 1/120 sec
it then shoots 1/30,1 /80,1/120
So its a simple add a shot button while you edit live one of the shots and can rotate threw them.
I think this could be a very productive mode for any photographer that likes to take pictures with various different settings and likes to get a lot of work done fast.
This also will allow us to get the most out of any given special moments too, like a wedding kiss for example.

Sergei

For people who want to uninstall the hack:
eventproc_DisableBootDisk(); // this function disables bootdisk and the hack!

eduperez

Sergei
For people who want to uninstall the hack:
eventproc_DisableBootDisk(); // this function disables bootdisk and the hack!

Does that mean that the camera will boot normally after that? Very interesting!

I think we could add a menu entry, so users can disable the camera on-the-go (if the hack starts acting weird, for example) without formatting the card. Many thanks.

a1ex

Yes. I'm using a slightly different approach: the camera loads vanilla firmware if you hold the shutter half-pressed at startup.

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