Unified/Testing

Prepare the camera

First to have a common baseline you need to restore the camera to factory settings.

1. Disable ML boot from camera using the Update Firmware procedure (to do: add link to the guide)
2. Reset Personal configuration and Cf.N. configuration from Canon Menu;
3. Restart camera (without ML loaded), format SD low level;
4. Unzip last release of ML on the card from a computer with an SD reader;
5. Enable ML boot boot from camera using the Update Firmware procedure (switch it a couple of time if you want to test it).
6. Restart camera with ML.

Menu Navigation

Try to move around the menu entries with all the arrow key and using the * key to enable scrollwheel selection on each item.

Audio

Audio meters

• menu setting: on/off
• should be active in movie mode only
• should be inactive when you zoom in/out
• should listen to GlobalDraw
• should be displayed in ML menu, regardless of GlobalDraw setting
• menu icon: red when GlobalDraw is off, or in photo mode

Analog gain

• Changing this setting should be visible in audio meters and audible in headphones

Digital gain

• Same as analog gain
• Menu entry should become red on any nonzero setting

AGC

• Check the video from ML homepage
• While in ML menu, you should see the digital gain meter
• Enabling AGC should disable digital gain

Input source

• You need an external mic to test it
• Auto setting: capitalization should reflect the correct setting (INT or EXT)

Mic power

• Plug headphones in mic jack; you should hear a click when toggling this setting
• With high-impedance microphones, volume should be higher with mic power off

Audio monitoring

• Plug headphones and listen to audio
• Start camera with cable plugged; image should be on built-in LCD
• Plug/unplug cable while camera is on: image should not disappear, but sound should be redirected to headphones
• In playback mode: audio should be in headphones if they are plugged in; otherwise, on built-in speaker

Output volume

• With audio monitoring enabled, this should change the volume in the headphones

LiveV

For all items

• They should be displayed in:
  • LiveView mode, when idle (i.e. not when zooming in or when navigating the left menu)
  • Playback mode, when pressing the shortcut key (Q/Unlock/Disp/Func, depending on camera model)
• They should not overwrite Canon graphic elements

GlobalDraw

• should disable all graphics tools from LiveView, and also audio meters, bitrate/time indicators, top/bottom bar, extra info in photo mode
• the icons of disabled items should become red when globaldraw is off

Histogram/Waveform

• Position should be correct (not overwriting other elements)
• Make sure ML histogram shape matches Canon histogram
• Refresh rate: around 1fps, maybe faster, maybe slower...

Zebras

• Frame rate: should be fluent
• Underexpose/overexpose the image, and zebras should appear
• Zebra color/pattern should indicate the type of over/under-exposure

False color

• Should match the LiveView image (obvious)
• Check color palette (should match the ones from the manual)
• Luma histogram should change its colors after the false color palette

Cropmarks

• Should overlay the 3:2 LiveView image area (with built-in display, that's full screen; with external monitors, it's not)
• Redraw behavior:
  • Redraw after changing it from menu
  • Redraw after turning off Magic Zoom
  • Redraw after clearing AF frame
  • Redraw after any other graphics operation which may erase the cropmarks (or part of them)
• Cropmark drawing is CPU intensive => should not cause recording to stop (even on slow card)

Ghost image

• Redraw: same as cropmarks
• Position on screen: same as cropmarks
• Moved around with arrows, centered/toggled with SET

Live Defish

• With a Samyang 8mm, LiveView image should be rectilinear

Spotmeter

• Position: the square should be in the center of the image
• Measured area should be the center of the image (check with a small object)
• Range: 0 (black)...100 (white) in percent mode.
  • Certain picture styles may have different limits.
  • In IRE modes, the range is slightly different.
• Visibility: should be readable on dark and on light images

Focus peak

• Dots should align with the image
• Refresh rate: should be fluent

Magic Zoom

• Should not flicker
• Image should match the markers
• Should disable ExpSim if that setting is Auto
• Should be toggled by focus ring in Zr+F mode (only if the lens reports focus distance)
• Should take over the Zoom In button in (+) mode
• Should take over the Zoom In button only while recording, in Zr* modes.
• If you enable Magic Zoom while Canon's 5x zoom is active, it should not take over the Zoom In button (i.e. first press should zoom out, next press should enable MZ)
• Bars should become green when image is in focus
• You should be able to move the zoom area even during recording

Split Screen

• Magic Zoom window should split when image is not in focus

ClearScreen

• HalfShutter
  • All overlays should go away if you hold shutter for one second or so
  • A quick press should hide zebras, peaking, false color...
  • After releasing the shutter, the screen should redraw
• WhenIdle
  • All overlays should go away if you don't press any key for a few seconds
  • All overlays should come back as soon as you press a key (or cover the LCD sensor)

Movie

Bit rate

• You should be able to change it only when not recording
• Bitrate meter (near REC dot) should reflect the setting from menu, unless QScale hits the limits (+16 and -16). For example, at CBR 0.5x, bitrate should be around 22Mbps.

BuffWarnLevel

• If record buffer becomes full (level higher than the setting in menu), ML should:
  • show a red indicator
  • pause LiveView graphics
• If the record buffer becomes empty again, ML should:
  • no longer show the red indicator (show it as green)
  • resume LiveView graphics
• Setting this to 100% should disable pausing LiveView graphics.

Bitrate info

• Should display bitrate info around REC dot.

Movie logging

• Should create a LOG file for each movie
• You should be able to import the LOG file in MS Excel after renaming it to CSV

Movie restart

• Should restart recording if it stops due to:
  • buffer overflow
  • 4GB/30min limit
• Should not restart recording if you press the REC button to stop it manually.

MovieModeRemap

• When you dial to the mode configured here, camera should go to movie mode instead
• When you dial to movie mode, camera should remain in movie mode
• When you dial to another (photo) mode, camera should go to that mode

Movie REC key

• Recording should start/stop when you press the key configured there
• Recording should not start/stop when you press some other key

WB workaround

• Kelvin and WBShift settings should be saved in movie mode if you restart the camera
• Same thing when switching to photo mode and back

Force LiveView

• Start+CPU lenses
  • Camera should go to LiveView at startup, even without a lens attached
  • Camera should go to LiveView as soon as you attach a chipped lens
• Always
  • In movie mode, camera should be always in LiveView (even without a lens attached)

Force HDMI-VGA

• In movie mode, LiveView, with a HDMI monitor, camera should not choose 1080i, but 720x480.
• Screen shoud not blackout when starting AND stopping recording
• Result may depend on your monitor (each monitor have its own implementation for HDMI negotiation procedure)

Shoot

HDR bracketing

• Should work in Manual mode without EV limits
• Should work in P, Tv, Av (maybe in other modes too, if you like), but within EV compensation limits from your camera model
• Should enable 2sec self-timer when pressing the shutter halfway, and disable it as soon as you release the shutter
• Should take a bracketed sequence after you take a regular picture
• Should work with intervalometer, audio remote, motion detect, focus stack and maybe others
• Should not autofocus for each frame (first frame can be autofocused if desired)

Intervalometer

• Should take pictures at the specified interval
• In NoWait mode, use a clock which shows seconds to check timing accuracy
• Should work even if display is turned off
• If ML is set to turn display off in LiveView, the intervalometer should listen to this setting
• Should work regardless of other settings, e.g.
  • LiveView
  • Bulb mode
  • Image review setting (e.g. you should be able to set 8s review and 5s between shots)
  • QuickReview->Play setting from Tweaks menu

Bulb Ramping

• Should calibrate if the image is properly exposed
• Should give warnings/info if the image is not properly exposed
• Should give warnings/info if you start it in the wrong mode
• Should not cause flicker if exposure changes in one way
• Should not cause the intervalometer to run slower

LCD remote shot

• Should work both in LiveView or outside LiveView
• Icon should be visible in the menu
• Should play nice with other settings (e.g. Image Review time)

Audio remote shot

• When you clap your hands, it should take one picture (not two, not 10, not 100)
• Should play nice with self-timer

Motion detect

• Should work in LiveView as advertised
• Should play nice with powersaving settings (especially display off)

Silent pic

• Should take a picture when you press the shutter halfway
• You should be able to see the picture in Play menu (SET+Wheel)
• You should be able to decode the picture on the PC (422-jpg)
• The picture should not have a horizontal line when shooting a moving object/scene
• In FullHD mode, resolution should be almost FullHD

• Slit-scan specific:
  • Pressing the shutter halfway in the middle of a slit-scan should cancel the exposure (and delete the image)

Bulb timer

• Should take a picture if you press the shutter halfway, after 2 seconds
• Exposure time should match the one selected from menu
• It should work even with display off

Mirror lockup

• If you change it from ML, Canon menus should reflect the change
• If you change it from Canon setting, ML setting should reflect the change
• Should play nice with HDR, intervalometer, motion detect...

Expo

Common to most items

• You should be able to change these settings from both Canon and ML menus; changes from one menu should result in updating the other menu.
• When you change some setting in LiveView, the image should appear
• Auto-tuning [Q] should give consistent results

ISO

• Changing the ISO should be visible on histogram

Kelvin WB, WBShift

• Changing these settings should result in visible changes in LiveView image and when you take a picture.

Shutter

• In movie mode, it should also display the value in degrees (check if accurate)

Aperture

• Should just work :)
• Check if it wraps around correctly in the menu

Light adjust

• Should work as advertised

Picture style

• Should display correct name and settings

REC PicStyle

• Should switch to that style as soon as you start recording
• Should switch back as soon as you stop recording
• Should display a notification to let you know what's going on

Flash AEcomp

• Each setting should give a different exposure on the taken picture, with flash (changes should be visible on the histogram in Playback mode)

Focus

Trap Focus

• Should work both outside and in LiveView

Focus patterns

• Should work as advertised
• Should not take over the SET button if you have assigned some other function to it

Follow focus

• Should turn the focus ring in LiveView when you press the arrows
• You should be able to change the direction and the speed
• If you cover the LCD sensor, arrow keys should move the AF frame around
• It should not take over the arrow keys while navigating the left Canon menu (for example)

Focus speed / Focus delay

• Should work as advertised (effect should be noticeable when using rack and follow focus)

Rack focus

• Should work as described in the manual

Stack focus

• Should go to LiveView by itself
• Should ask you to switch the lens to AF (if it's not done)
• Should work regardless of AF button assignment setting (half-shutter, *, AF...)
• Should bring the lens back to its initial position after finishing
• Should play nice with HDR bracketing

Focus indicators

• Numbers should update when you turn the focus ring
• Check displayed numbers for correctness
• Should be zero with a manual lens, or not displayed at all

Tweak

Exposure simulation

• You should be able to toggle it in photo mode, when flash is off
• In "ExpSim:auto" mode, it should turn off when you activate some kind of zoom mode (Magic Zoom or Canon zoom)
• It should display a crossed ExpSim icon when it's turned off
• When it's off, it should hide all exposure tools (zebra, histogram, waveform, spotmeter, false color)

AF frame hide

• Should hide the AF frame (also check for extreme positions of AF frame on the screen)
• Should redraw the graphical elements (partially) erased during this process

Auto Burst PicQuality

• With RAW setting you should be able to take a lot of pictures without slowing down
• First picture should be at full quality, others may have lower quality
• Quality should be restored back to your initial setting after you finish the burst sequence

Show cropmarks in: photo / movie mode

• Should work as advertised

ISO selection

• Should work as advertised

LiveView zoom

• You should be able to disable x5 or x10 zoom (i.e. one press to zoom in, one press to go back)
• You should be able to use the zoom button in Face Detect mode (it should zoom on current face)

Play

After taking a photo: Hold->Play

• You should be able to zoom in after taking a photo without pressing PLAY
• It should not block buttons which you use during normal shooting (e.g. ISO) => not working yet

Quick zoom in play mode

• Should zoom in faster than with standard firmware

Show cropmarks in Play mode

• Cropmarks should be displayed in Play mode without you having to press any other key

SET+Wheel action

• Should work as advertised

Config

Config AutoSave

• Config file should be saved:
  • after closing menu, but only if you have changed some setting
  • at shutdown (from power switch or by opening the card slot)
• Config file should never be saved if this setting is off

Save config now

• Should work as advertised

Delete config file

• Should delete config file and turn off config autosave for the current session only.
• After restart, ML settings should be back to their defaults, and config autosave should be on

DISP profiles

• Should work as advertised
• This function was known to cause crashes, check with different LiveV settings

Debug

• Screenshot
  • LED should blink for 10 seconds
  • After 10 seconds, it should beep and save a screenshot

Powersave

These items only work in LiveView.

• Actions (to be done when camera is idle):
  • Turn off GlobalDraw
  • Dim display
  • Turn off display and LiveView (sensor)

• Powersave actions are independent (you can configure each one separately)
• Powersave action should be executed if you don't press any key for the specified amount of time
• As soon as you press a key, turn the focus ring or cover the LCD sensor, camera should wake up
• If you turn the camera off while in power save, the camera should not start in powersave mode
• Should play nice with changing modes while in powersave.

Notes for turn off display and LiveView:

• Sensor should not be turned off when it's needed:
  • when recording
  • when Motion Detection is active

External monitors

• Camera should start with monitor connected
• Camera should work well if you connect/disconnect the monitor while running

Possible screen layouts:

Built-in display

Everything is 720x480

HDMI

• 1080i
  • LiveView/Movie idle
    • Canon info hidden
    • Canon info displayed (smaller image)
  • Playback
  • Photo mode (non-LV)
  • Menu mode (not altered by ML)
• VGA mode (720x480)

SD (RCA)

• PAL
• NTSC

Restore after format

• With a ML zip, everything should be restored after a format
• Long filenames are known not to work
• Filesystems:
  • FAT16 (2GB or smaller card)
  • FAT32 (4GB...32GB)
  • EXFAT (64GB) - not working yet
• Check for missing or extra files

Info displays

• Should show the correct settings
• Should have the right position on the screen (e.g. not overwriting other Canon items)

Stability

Stress test

Automatic test; it presses random buttons 10000 times, and in parallel it calls functions known to cause (or have caused) crashes:

• Redraw
• Disabling/enabling bitmap overlay
• Pause/resume LiveView
• blinking the SD card LED

Intervalometer test

• Take a timelapse of 100 images
• Do this test in:
  • normal photo mode
  • liveview
  • bulb mode/setting
  • movie mode

Play mode test

Scroll through 100 images or so without crashing

Canon menu test

Change display brightness from Canon menu.

Wedding test

Use the camera all day long at a wedding or similar event. During these events, user stresses the camera much more than when shooting without any time pressure (so bugs are easier to detect).