Canon EOS M Round Up
Since its release in 2012, the Canon EOS M has amassed a cult-following of hackers, hobbyists and professional filmmakers alike. This first-generation mirrorless camera owes this to Magic Lantern, an open source, third-party software add-on for Canon cameras. This SD card “hack” gives the camera professional photography and video tools that don’t come stock out of the box including ultra high-res recording modes, exposure tools, focus peaking, and an intervalometer just to name a few.
You can find tons of creatives producing amazing content with the EOS M and if you’re a little prideful like me, you’ll see that and think, “well if they can do it, so can I!” And that’s kind of the spirit of the EOS M to me-- it’s a low cost, high potential camera that levels the playing field for creatives to prove their stuff.
My First Camera
I learned about the EOS M from Caleb (DSLRVideoShooter) on YouTube. I had dabbled in camera work in various event technology/production jobs, but never owned a camera of my own. With COVID canceling a strong portion of my freelance work, I was intrigued by his proposition of a “$250 Cinema Camera Kit.” Most of my original kit was informed by this video and recommendations from the EOS M King, Zeek. I bought the camera in April 2020 and used it to shoot over 60 worship music videos for church, none of which utilized Magic Lantern.
Magic Lantern
Above are some shorts that did utilize Magic Lantern. When recording raw video with Magic Lantern, you are committing to using a raw workflow. Your camera will be recording raw sensor data as MLV files that you’ve got to process before playing them back or editing them in your NLE. This is an additional step in your video workflow and can add hours depending on the files and computer. The benefit is that you have more flexibility in post-production!
There is an awesome FB Group called ML RAW ON EOS M where all your favorite EOS M creators are available to chat and answer questions. This is a HUGE pro and has been invaluable to me on my filmmaking journey. I’ve learned so much simply by reading about problems other people have had!