You Can Play Doom On a 16-Year-Old Canon DSLR

It’s possible to run the pioneering 1993 first-person shooter video game Doom on just about anything, even cameras. By using Magic Lantern software on a Canon EOS 550D from 2010, also known as the EOS Rebel T2i and EOS Kiss X4, photographers can install a custom build of Doom on their APS-C cameras.

Bas Lichtjaar has shared the Doom module they built for Magic Lantern on Github, detailing how it works and how to install it. As Lichtjaar notes, the release is still experimental and is not intended for use on any other cameras at this time, so photographers should proceed with caution.

However, as the video above shows, it definitely works, and photographers can control the famous space marine, or “Doomguy,” using the 550D’s four directional function buttons. The Menu button brings up the in-game menu, and the central “Set” button can fire the weapon.

The Canon EOS 550D has a built-in speaker, albeit a poor one, which Lichtjaar uses to play Doom‘s 8-bit effects. The game also runs natively using the 550D’s entire 720×480-pixel display. It even includes save files and a secret cheat code menu.

Importantly, running Doom on the DSLR through Magic Lantern doesn’t prevent it from being used as a regular camera. The old DSLR has an 18-megapixel APS-C image sensor and nine autofocus points.

Magic Lantern can actually do a lot to enhance the camera’s performance beyond letting users play a classic FPS video game on it. For example, Magic Lantern expands the ISO range from 100-12,800 to 100-24,000. It also adds RAW video recording, an intervalometer, zebras, focus stacking, focus peaking, RAW RGB histograms, an electronic shutter function, and much more.

The complete installation guide for Doom is available on Github. The Magic Lantern builds for the Canon EOS 550D are available on Magic Lantern’s website.

Speaking of Magic Lantern, it’s nice to see the name again after the company made its glorious return just over a year ago following a lengthy hiatus. For photographers with older Canon DSLR cameras they’re willing to tinker with, it’s great to have Magic Lantern available again.

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Image creditsHeader photo by Bas Lichtjaar