As of August 2017 support for the Canon EOS 5D, 5D Mk III, 6D, 7D, 60Da, 650D, 700D, and 1100D DSLRs and the mirror-less EOS M had also been added.

Starting in September 2010, a person using the name 'A1ex' on the CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) website forum and other people ported Magic Lantern to the Canon EOS 50D, 60D, 500D and 600D. He ported it to the Canon EOS 550D in July 2010.

Magic Lantern firmware was originally written for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II by Trammell Hudson in 2009 after he reverse engineered its firmware. Each time the camera is started, there is an option to disable Magic Lantern. The camera checks a ' boot flag' in its re-writable memory, and if set, reads from a memory card to get the additional firmware routines. Since installing Magic Lantern does not replace the stock Canon firmware or modify the ROM but rather runs alongside it, it is both easy to remove and carries little risk. There are now versions for many other Canon DSLRs and the current principal developer is known as A1ex. Magic Lantern was originally written for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II by Trammell Hudson in 2009 after he reverse engineered its firmware.

It adds features for DSLR filmmaking and still photography, and is free and open-source. Magic Lantern is a firmware add-on for various Canon digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras and the EOS M.

Magic lantern canon 550d install