Half a year after the camera's debut, Canon released promised firmware that updates its vaunted EOS 5D Mark II SLR with the ability to manually control camera settings while shooting video.
The much-desired feature lets users set aperture, ISO sensitivity, and shutter speed manually. It was the first Canon SLR to support video, and the only one so far that can shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second, but previously it only could shoot video in a fully automatic mode.
The firmware 1.1.0 update is available from Canon's Web site, as are update instructions (PDF).
The omission led to much carping among those who expected more control over their imagery from a 21.1-megapixel SLR that costs $2,700 with no lenses. For example, people couldn't specifically set a wide aperture to attain a shallow depth of field that blurs the background behind the video subject, a cinematographic effect that's hard to attain with standard point-and-shoot video.
The new video mode is activated using the standard controls for setting ISO, aperture, and shutter speed after the camera dial is set to the "M" mode for manual shooting. See the excerpt from the user manual update below for details.
On my camera, the update took about two minutes to install and my testing showed that the feature worked as advertised. The firmware fixes five other glitches, too; the full list is at the bottom of this post.
Update 8:30 a.m. PDT: Contrary what I found earlier, aperture and shutter speed can be changed while you're shooting. Of course doing so shakes the camera and adds audible noise if you're using the built-in microphone, and exposure changes in fixed steps, not smooth transitions, that are pretty glaring in the video.
You also can set ISO to "auto," in which case the camera makes its best guess about exposure while leaving shutter speed and aperture alone.
(Credit:
Canon)
Aside from the video feature, here's what Canon says firmware 1.1.0 fixes:
• Disables the function of the depth-of-field preview button when images are played back or when the menu screen is displayed on the LCD panel.
• Fixes a phenomenon where the peripheral illumination of images cannot be properly corrected, even if the images were captured with the lens peripheral illumination correction function set to Enable. Digital Photo Professional software version 3.6.1 or later (for Windows and Macintosh) can be used to automatically correct the peripheral illumination of raw and JPEG images that were captured in the Peripheral Illumination Correction setting with cameras that have Firmware Version 1.0.7 or earlier.
• Fixes the algorithms of the Auto Lighting Optimizer function when Custom Function C.Fn II-3 Highlight tone priority is enabled.
• Fixes incorrect indications on the Arabic, Romanian, Spanish, and Ukrainian menu screens.
• Changes the battery information displayed on the camera when using the optional Battery Grip BG-E6.
The top two SLR makers have released relatively minor firmware revisions for three cameras, Nikon's higher-end full-frame D3 and D700 and Canon's prosumer-grade EOS 40D.
The fixes generally address rare and unusual problems. One notable fix for the D3 and D700 is for a problem which, as Nikon describes it, "in extremely rare cases, resulted in noticeable black dots in images captured with Long exp. NR (long exposure noise reduction) in the shooting menu set to On." Canon fixed a black-dot issue of its own with the EOS 5D Mark II earlier this month, but Nikon's issue sounds rarer.
Forthwith, the release notes:
... Read more
Canon's brand-new EOS-1Ds Mark III
(Credit: Canon)Canon has released new firmware, version 1.0.6, for the EOS-1Ds Mark III, the company's $8,000 21.1-megapixel flagship SLR camera.
The update "improves the reliability of communication with some CompactFlash cards" and "fixes a phenomenon involving color cast and vertical lines appearing in images," the company said on the firmware download Web site.
(Via Digital Photography Review.)
Panasonic's Lumix DMC-L10 SLR
(Credit: Panasonic)Panasonic released new firmware Monday that the company says improves its DMC-L10, the company's second SLR model.
Version 1.1 of the firmware, which can be downloaded from Panasonic's Web site, improves autofocus with the company's 14-50mm and 14-150mm lenses, improves autoexposure in night scenes, and improves the performance of the automatic white-balance operation, Panasonic said.
Panasonic announced the L10 in August. It costs $1,300, including a 14-50mm lens.
Canon's EOS-1D Mark III
(Credit: Canon)Shortly after Canon announced a hardware fix for autofocus problems affecting some of its high-end EOS-1D Mark III cameras, the leading SLR maker also has added a software fix.
Version 1.1.3 of the Camera's firmware "improves autofocus tracking" when shooting outdoors in bright environments or when shooting low-contrast subjects, Canon said. In addition, the firmware can speed the process of writing images to high-speed SD memory cards.
Canon's biggest rival for single-lens reflex cameras, Nikon, also released some new firmware for its brand new D3 and D300 models that endows them with the color performance of the earlier D2X and D2Xs professional models. The updates don't yet appear on the U.S. Web site, but DPReview has a handy list of European links.
Canon also announced in a service notice that it will begin repairs for affected customers beginning December 3 at a dedicated facility. The company will pay shipping both ways for affected customers and will install the firmware during the repair, but customers should brace themselves for a wait.
"Due to the anticipated volume, we ask for your continued patience and understanding during this process," Canon said in the notice. "We offer our sincerest apologies to our customers using these products who have been inconvenienced by this issue."
The repair involves adjusting a mirror used in the autofocus subsystem and affects some cameras built with an original mirror mechanism. Cameras with an updated mirror mechanism aren't affected; those models have serial numbers above 546561, but there are also 2,713 models with lower numbers (yes, I counted) on a Canon list (click for PDF).
Canon has released an update to the firmware for its new s designed to fix file format compatibility problems with some Adobe software.
Canon's midrange EOS 40D
(Credit: Canon)Version 1.0.3 of the firmware worked with Adobe's raw-image editing software such as Photoshop and Lightroom, but the version 1.0.4 that shipped with some newer cameras broke compatibility, according to photographer and consultant Rob Galbraith and forums at Adobe, DPReview and elsewhere. Version 1.0.5 of the firmware can be downloaded from Canon's Web site.
The new firmware also fixes some Spanish and Korean language issues, corrects a problem that could prevent printing, and sets the camera so review of photos resumes at the same point in playback when the camera wakes up from powering itself down, Canon said.
As promised, Canon has released new firmware for its high-end EOS-1D Mark III digital SLR.
Canon's EOS-1D Mark III
(Credit: Canon)Earlier this month, the company said it planned to release version 1.0.9 of the built-in camera software for the photojournalist-oriented camera. Instead, Canon released version 1.1.0 for download, fixing a fifth problem with 1.0.9.
Version 1.0.9 of the firmware "reduces the tendency of the camera to autofocus on high-contrast backgrounds when shooting in conditions where autofocus detection is difficult, such as when the main subject is not completely covered by the autofocus frames or if the main subject's contrast is low," Canon said earlier. It also The new firmware improves images viewed on the LCD by applying a stronger sharpness setting; corrects a "rare" problem in which a selection dial wouldn't respond; fixes Italian and Chinese menu errors; and most prominently, "improves the consistency" of autofocus in some conditions.
On top of that, version 1.1.0 "fixes a rare phenomenon in which the camera cannot start normally when the battery is inserted," Canon said.
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