Shooting raw videos with Magic Lantern and Canon 650d

The lack of details has plagued my videos. However, as a beginner in videography, I did not want to upgrade my equipment until I have fully utilised what I already owned. I enjoy shooting nature scenes and Canon's codec cannot handle the amount of details, resulting in fuzzy/"potato-like" videos.

Magic Lantern offers a possible solution through raw videos. I have the software installed in my 650d for a while (not my 70d as the builds for 650d are more stable). I did not explore raw videos in depth as the SD card slot cannot support high writing speeds and causes dropped frames. After watching several Youtube videos, I learnt that upscaled raw videos contain much more details (both sharpness and colour information) than H264 ones. Shooting at a lower resolution in raw can thus help to alleviate the write speed issue.

I decided to try shooting raw videos at Lower Seletar Reservoir Park. My resolution was 1600x680 at 30 fps (after comparing, I like the look of 60 fps more), which was pushing the limits of my fastest card. I could manage up to 8 seconds before dropping frames, which was sufficient for me. However, my camera experienced a lot of lags and at times the raw module would disappear. I ended the shoot when my SD card reached its capacity (in a pretty short amount of time).

The workflow for raw is definitely more complex as compared to H264 videos, but I still managed to edit all the footages on the same day. The results justified the time invested. The final video was so clear with a great amount of colour details achieved from colour correction and grading. I actually attempted to be more adventurous with my grading but I realised I still prefer natural colours, especially for landscapes. I am absolutely in love with the video. I do believe that other cameras e.g. Panasonic GH4 which can shoot detailed shots at 4K with LOG profile are more suited for videography. However, with my current camera and lenses collection, Magic Lantern is incredible.