Updated at 8:25 p.m. PST with preliminary test results, and at 10:36 p.m. PST with another photographer's results.
Canon on Wednesday released new firmware for its EOS 5D Mark II camera that the company said "improves and mitigates" the "black dot" problem that marred some images from the high-profile, high-end SLR.
Version 1.0.7 of the 5D Mark II firmware software is downloadable from Canon's Web site. (I encountered some dead ends on the site, but eventually found the 9MB download on the U.S. site at this address.)
I've just run some tests. My preliminary opinion is that there's grounds for optimism that the firmware indeed seems to have taken care of the problem. See the shots below taken at ISO 800 and 3,200, magnified to three times regular size.
This scene of San Francisco by night, taken with a 5D Mark II using the new version 1.0.7 firmware, shows no evidence of the black dot problem.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News)Updated 9:27 and 9:45 a.m. PST with further details from Canon USA announcement.
Canon has acknowledged the "black dot" problem that mars some shots taken with its new 5D Mark II camera and is preparing "correction firmware" designed to deal with the problem, the company said.
Canon's 5D Mark II full-frame SLR
(Credit: Canon)"We are currently investigating ways to improve and/or mitigate these phenomena. An announcement will be made on the Canon Web site when measures to address these phenomena have been decided," according to a statement dated December 17 that appeared on Canon's Australian support and service Web site.
A later Canon USA service announcement was largely identical, but also said Canon is "examining measures to reduce or eliminate these phenomena by providing correction firmware."
Firmware fixes can be downloaded and installed, a much cheaper and easier process than the physical repairs the company undertook to help with Canon 1D Mark III autofocus problem.
Canon described the problem the same way many who've complained about it have: "When shooting night scenes, the right side of point light sources (such as lights from building windows) may become black. The phenomenon may become visible if the images are enlarged to 100 percent or above on a monitor or if large prints of the images are made." For some examples, check farther down this post.
These magnified close-ups that Stephan Hoerold took with his Canon 5D Mark II show lights on a building at night. The dark spots appear to the right of the very bright areas. The three shots show images taken at ISO 100, ISO 200, and ISO 3,200. Photo used with permission.
(Credit: Stephan Hoerold)The company also said it's looking into vertical banding noise that can show when shooting files in the sRAW1 mode, which produces a smaller file size than regular raw images.... Read more
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