EOS 5D Mark II firmware update coming

Canon have finally announced new firmware is coming for the EOS 5D Mark II.... and it will give manual control for people wanting to shoot video! Hallelujah!
The new firmware will give the ability to choose:
*Full aperture settings
*ISO speed range from 100-6400 as well as Auto setting and H1
*Shutter speed from 1/30sec to 1/4000sec

There is no mention of any changes to the Auto Gain Control settings on the announcement, so if it's not there, there will still be something for grumpy people to complain about on the web! Honestly.

Hopefully, this will put an end to people using those N!kon lenses for video!

The firmware update will be available from 2nd June 2009 from the usual Canon websites.

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Firmware update for EOS 50D, EOS 450D and EOS 1000D

Canon has made new firmware updates available from it's website for the EOS 50D, 450D (Rebel XSi) and 1000D (Rebel XS). The changed functionality is listed below for each of the cameras.

EOS 50D - firmware version 1.0.6

• Reduces vertical banding noise that can appear in images shot in SRAW1 image sizes
• Adds additional details to error messages with more specific errors rather then the often generic Err 99 that people have seen
• Adds support for the focus assist beam feature of the new Speedlite 270EX that was announced with the EOS 500D earlier in March
  

EOS 50D cameras have been reported in the market with firmware version 1.0.5 direct from the factory. This now seems to have been an interim version, maybe the same as 1.06 but without the AF assist beam support for the Speedlite 270EX?? If your camera is running the older firmwares then time for an update. The banding in SRWAW1 images was also addressed for the EOS 5D Mark II earlier in firmware version 1.0.7 back in January.

EOS 450D / Rebel XSi - firmware version 1.1.0

• Adds support for the focus assist beam feature of the new Speedlite 270EX that was announced with the EOS 500D earlier in March.
  

EOS 1000D / Rebel XS - firmware version 1.0.5

• Adds support for the focus assist beam feature of the new Speedlite 270EX that was announced with the EOS 500D earlier in March.
  

Top tips for hassle free firmware update;

• use a fully charged battery in the camera
• use a small memory card to load the firmware update on
• take your lens off the camera before doing the update
  

Have you tried the new firmware and for the EOS 50D does it fix any problems you have had?

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RAW support added to the PowerShot SX1 IS

A tiny bit of news, but valuable for those who use Canon's Digital Photo Professional software for processing their RAW images.

With the announcement of the PowerShot SX1 IS for the USA market yesterday Canon also announced that they are making a firmware update to add RAW image support to the camera for the exisiting customers. Let's not forget that the PowerShot SX1 IS already has a Canon CMOS sensor and full HD video capture; RAW is a nice addition for free. The new firmware will be available to download from Canon's BeBit site http://web.canon.jp/imaging/BeBit-e.html from mid-March, and there will also be an updated version of Digital Photo Professional to work with the RAW images. This now means that photographers who mostly use EOS cameras can also work with the RAW images from the PowerShot G10 and (soon) the PowerShot SX1 IS. Maybe this helps your choice of compact camera, because it seems like there's no new Canon DSLR going to be announced for PMA, the first time since 2001.

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Black dots....again

Well would you believe it. All you Nikon lovers best start your grovelling apologies because the shoe's on the other foot now.

Since the launch of the EOS 5D Mark II there have been those (let's call them Nikon users) who have been very vocal in their ridicule of the new camera because in some circumstances, it suffered from black spots at the edge of highlights in high ISO images. Firmware version 1.0.7 put a stop to it. Full stop. (Suggesting they were only ridiculing what they were jealous of would just be seen as sour grapes so we'll stop short of that...)

Now it seems Nikon are having their own travails with it too. In the latest firmware updates for BOTH the Nikon D3 and the Nikon D700 (2.01 and 1.01 respectively) they have apparently addressed a phenomenon of BLACK DOTS! Yes, you read that right. Black dots on a Nikon camera when shooting with long exposure noise reduction set to ON.

Anyway, not wishing to be the finger pointing kind, but I never like to pass up the opportunity to laugh at our bearded, sandal wearing brethren :-)

I thought all you Canon users might like some ammunition for when your Nikon-shooting "acquaintances" start getting a little mouthy.

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EOS 40D Firmware update

Well, what do you know. The camera that everyone thinks is discontinued has a firmware update! 

That's right folks, the EOS 40D has just had a new firmware released to adjust a few things. According to the Canon website, these are:

1. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes a low battery indication to be displayed when using the EF 85mm F1.2L II USM lens. Depending on the battery check timing of the camera, the battery level displayed on the camera's LCD data panel may shows Battery will be exhausted soon or Battery must be recharged, even though the battery capacity is sufficient.
2. Fixes a malfunction that in rare occurrence causes an Err 06 Self Cleaning Sensor malfunction to appear on the camera's LCD monitor and LCD data panel, even when the Self Cleaning Sensor Unit is operating normally. This message may appear depending on the timing of when the camera is switch to the ON position.
3. Fixes a malfunction that prevents correct colors from being printed when direct printing. RAW images captured using the camera's custom Picture Styles (Emerald, etc.), which have been downloaded from Canon's Web site and registered under User Def. 2 or User Def. 3.
4. Modifies the level of subject brightness that causes the AF-assist beam to fire when using an external Speedlite.
5. Enables an external flash connected to the camera's synchro terminal to fire even when the camera's built-in flash is popped up.

Isn't it just the way? The most interesting one here is the last in the list. Why so interesting? Well, from our reading of this, you can use the built-in flash for AF assist and yet still trigger studio lights or others with a PC sync cord. 

To download this latest v1.1.1 firmware, click here. 

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Responses to the EOS 5D Mark II firmware fix

If you read the forums, and we do, you'll have seen that some people are complaining about the new EOS 5D Mark II firmware fix.
They're saying that while it seems to have fixed the spots, the banding in sRAW issue fix has thrown up another problem - a magenta cast when looking at sRAW images in third party RAW software.

Well, surprise, surprise, Canon mentioned this in the announcement so what's the big deal? It seems some people just want something to complain about and the magenta cast is the new one. Well, here's a brief thought on it....

The firmware fix has obviously changed the encoding of the sRAW file to help combat the minor banding issues. Until the third party software apps like Aperture, Lightroom and the others catch up with a patch to decode the files properly, this will remain and really shouldn't be much of a surprise to anyone....well anyone who took the time to read the announcement rather than just apply the firmware!

Canon's software download site has the updates for Digital Photo Professional to version 3.5.2 for both PC and MAC on this page; http://software.canon-europe.com/products/0010678.asp. You will need the update to correctly process the RAW and sRAW images from an EOS 5D Mark II with firmware 1.0.7.

Has anyone here got the EOS 5D Mark II and applied the firmware? If so, tell us your thoughts below.....

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EOS 5D Mark II spots and stripes - fixed

Back in December the lucky ones who got an EOS 5D Mark II suddenly started seeing spots, black ones, and in some cases stripes, I wrote about this here too.

Today Canon has a fix; firmware 1.0.7 for the EOS 5D Mark II is now available to download from Canon's website in Japan at this link:
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

Early reports from the pixel peepers in dpreview.com forums indicate that it appears to be a good fix.

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EOS 5D Mark II spots and stripes

Double post Friday, but this is important. There's been some examples on the web of a phenomenon of black dots, and also to a lesser extent banding in images shot in sRAW1 with the new EOS 5D Mark II. Today Canon has delivered a statement from most of the companies service portals on this. Looks like there's a new version of firmware coming to deliver a fix for spots and stripes.

You can find the details here: Canon Europe Consumer Product Support site,

The notice also notes that the vertical banding issue seems to affect images shot and stored as sRAW1, and to a lesser extent sRAW2. Using RAW or JPEG images eliminates the banding, and also switching off highlight tone priority by setting C.Fn II-3 to 0:Disable can help if you need to shoot in sRAW1 or sRAW2.

If you're desparate for the firmware then keep checking on the Canon website where firmware updates for all EOS cameras can be found here.

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