Canon Japan download link:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Firmware Update (http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-e/eos5dmk2/firmware.html)

Canon USA download link:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=17662#DownloadDetailAct)

Canon USA Digital Learning Center link with plenty of tech info:

Canon Digital Learning Center - EOS 5D Mark II: Firmware Update v. 2.0.3 (http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3287)

We apologize sincerely for the inconvenience caused to our customers by suspending the availability of the Version 2.0.3 firmware.

We are now introducing the Version 2.0.4 firmware. This firmware corrects the malfunction that occurred in the previous Version 2.0.3 firmware, in which the manual recording level changed and made recording impossible. There was a phenomenon in which the manual recording settings made in C1/C2/C3 were changed and sound could not be recorded if manual sound recording was used in the C1/C2/C3 settings and the camera was subsequently turned off (or if Auto Power Off was activated). This does not occur in modes other than C1/C2/C3.

Customers who have the Version 2.0.3 firmware on their cameras should update the firmware to Version 2.0.4.

Firmware Version 2.0.4 incorporates five enhancements to the movie function and a fix to the manual sensor cleaning function of the EOS 5D Mark II camera.

1. Adds or changes the following movie frame rates.

NTSC:
* 1920×1080 : 30 fps (changed - actual 29.97 fps)
* 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
* 640×480 : 30 fps (changed - actual 29.97 fps)
PAL:
* 1920×1080 : 25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)
* 1920×1080 : 24 fps (added - actual 23.976 fps)
* 640×480 : 25 fps (added - actual 25.0 fps)

2. Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).
3. Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.
4. Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies.
5. Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
6. Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the attached lens is sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning. (This phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.4.)

Firmware Version 2.0.4 is for cameras with firmware up to version 1.2.4. If the camera's firmware is already version 2.0.4, it is not necessary to update the firmware.

Movies captured using EOS 5D Mark II cameras with Firmware Version 1.1.0 to 1.2.4 can be played back on cameras updated with Firmware Version 2.0.4. However, if you try to play back movies captured with a camera with the new firmare on a camera with a previous firmare version, a message, Cannot play back image, appears on the camera's LCD monitor.

Here's Phil's blog post about working with the firmware:

New 5DmkII firmware here finally! New Skywalker Ranch short and Music Video shot native 24p | Philip Bloom (http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/03/15/24p/)

Available on the UK website for download, also!
Doing mine as I type.

Hooray!!! Its finally out... the audio fix sounds good. No more nasty AGC. Hmm, wonder if they will do it for 7D as well...

On Canon USA's site:

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Digital SLR Camera (http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=139&modelid=17662#DownloadDetailAct)

Pat

Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Added CUSA's Digital learning Center link to Jeff's post above -- their page contains
everything you need to know about what the changes this update makes to your cam.

CH

Jenn, Phil says the new firmware gives us 44 mbps up from 38 on the codec. Did we just get improved image quality with this as well?

Pat

The $64 question for those who immediately updated to 2.0.3 - can you boot Magic Lantern?

Jeff, Phil says the new firmware gives us 44 mbps up from 38 on the codec. Did we just get improved image quality with this as well?

Definitely. Just shot a quick test and qt is reporting 46.5mbps. So that's roughly a 20% increase in data combined with a 20% decrease in the number of frames (when shooting 24p), works out to about 45% more data per frame (1.9 vs. 1.3mbit).

...new firmware gives us 44 mbps up from 38 on the codec. Did we just get improved image quality with this as well?

Hi Pat - to the best of my knowledge that is just an increase in audio quality.

-a

At the SXSW panel Phil put on this morning he implied there was an improvement in image quality. I believe it's an overall image data increase, not to the level of the 7D, but closer.

The $64 question for those who immediately updated to 2.0.3 - can you boot Magic Lantern?

No, per Tramm Hundson.

The higher bit rate means your compact flash cards have to work harder to keep up.

My Kingston 133x card now shows a bunch 'o bars in the buffer indicator, and it stopped once spontaneously... though I can't make it repeat it now. Just fiddling around in the living room, with 6400iso at ntsc 29.97fps.

Do we also loose the ability to have a headphone output through the AV jack and watch the screen on the back at the same time?

S

Nice one.

Just downloading, Very slow download but I guess the world and his dog is busy downloading too.

Work can wait for a bit this morning…

Avey

I just upgraded my camera & am off out to shoot some footage.

Note that cool 30p PAL frame rate is no longer an option:-) After the upgrade its' 24p or 25p only & if you want 30p you must switch to NTSC.

On a whim I just checked that maximum clip size remains the same & just shot a clip of almost 12 & a half minutes (static view of my desk) before it cut out. Before I formatted the card again it told me that 3.98GB was in use.

Unable to extract exe file, getting IO fork exception... bahhh
whops.... the whole file did not download
what a download service ....
still waiting... maybe someone are counting the bits sent to me in the other end...
third try.... download manager reported "Download Complete" after 10 minutes and 1.45MB... IO fork exception again.

Two hours laiter... still not possible to get this baby down. Gets aborted every time... what a mess.

Called Canon Norway, they confirmed something is wrong with the download and filed a bugreport to Japan.

What an amazing level of support Canon has given to those who have embraced digital filmmaking with the 5DII. Canon really deserves to be thoroughly congratulated for this and the other upgrades that they have provided to 5DII owners. If Canon keeps this up I might have to diagnose myself with my first bout of brand-loyalty.

There is no great achievement that is not the result of patient working and waiting (J.G. Holland)

How much of human life is lost in waiting (Emerson)

Downloading now. Going slow, but pretty excited about this!!!

So, since they changed the frame rate from 30fsp to NTSC 29.97 I'm assuming that I should finish shooting my current project before upgrading to avoid rendering and complications?

When the 203 firmware upgrade was first announced it was clearly stated that the firmware upgrade it is not undoable. Will we be able to use Magic Lantern???


God bless us all!
Christian

I cannot get the firmware to download. It keeps telling me the file is 2.83MB and I know it's larger. Can someone post the file here for us to download or point me to an alternate link?

When the 203 firmware upgrade was first announced it was clearly stated that the firmware upgrade it is not undoable. Will we be able to use Magic Lantern???


God bless us all!
Christian

I'm hearing that you cannot. That actually really sucks. Like enough for me to revert back to the old firmware, unfortunately. I'm in the middle of shooting a short film and the director will be very unhappy if I can't display audio levels nor monitor via headphones while recording this weekend. I think I'm going to source out a separate recorder and just sync in post.

Hi Guys

Is anyone else having problems downloading the new 5D MkII Firmware ?

I have tried several times today from:-

EOS DIGITAL (http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd-e.html)

but on each occasion I only get about halfway before I get a 'Server Has Disconnected' error.

Guess we are all trying at the moment and it can't cope. If anyone knows of other/mirror sites perhaps they could let us know.

Many thanks

See the bottom of the first post of this thread -- the .dmg (Mac) and .exe (PC) installers are attached there temporarily.

When the 203 firmware upgrade was first announced it was clearly stated that the firmware upgrade it is not undoable. Will we be able to use Magic Lantern???


God bless us all!
Christian


I loaded my CF card with the old 1.10 firmware, and tried to do a firmware change back to 1.10, but only got a dark screen. It would not give me access to the older firmware. Any one else experience that ?

See the bottom of the first post of this thread -- the .dmg (Mac) and .exe (PC) installers are attached there temporarily.

Guys - Thanks for hosting the download here, picked it up this morning without any problems, now just need to upload to the camera and we are in business.

Great stuff, been looking forward to this firmware for a while.

I've just downloaded everything from Canon (very quick via a mobile 3G connection), and even got another 5D Mark 2 body arriving in the post this afternoon, so it will be a busy day for trying it all out. I can't wait to try out the 25p (Yay...at last!) and Manual sound recording etc. Wonder if by tonight I'll still want to use the Zoom H4 and other add-ons... :)

Come on Nikon, catch up please...give us 25p!

Downloaded the new firmware and installed all in about 30mins. I really like the audio control. It definitely makes the sound recorded much better. Love it. But can't see what the fuss was with 24p. Can't make out any difference between 24p and 25p. Maybe its just me.

But can't see what the fuss was with 24p. Can't make out any difference between 24p and 25p. Maybe its just.

I guess you meant to say 30p vs. 25p...?

-- peer

I guess you meant to say 30p vs. 25p...?

-- peer


Yes, this too.

@Alex Chong:

The advantage of having 24, 25 and 30 p is you do not need convert the framerate.

- If you want make a DVD / Blu-Ray for Europe you can shoot in 25p.
- If you want make a DVD / Blu-Ray for Amerika you can shoot in 30p.
- And if you want to go on big screen or make a 24p Blu-Ray you can shoot in 24p.

In each case you do not need any framerate conversion and that is nice. A conversion between 24p and 25p is not a problem but conversion between 24 / 25 p and 30p is very tricky and time consuming.


Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I know that. I am just saying when I played the videos captured with both 24, 25 and 30 and played it on my LCD TV, I can't tell the difference. It's just me I guess.

24 has this movie effect thingy people here have been talking about which I can't discern.

Glad I'm not the only one Alex…

They all look good to me.

I'm just glad that now my 5D2 and the 2 7Ds we use are all set up the same frame rate wise.

(apart from the 50/60 of course)

Avey

@Alex Chong:

The movie effect is not only given with 24p - its also given with 25p and with 30p.

The movie effect is not given with 50i, 60i, 50p and 60p.


Daniel

I'm not too impressed with the updated sound recording options. Is there any way of viewing the sound bars while recording instead of delving deep through menus for a quick look prior to recording? I'd hoped for an ovelay option like the histogram in Manual video mode...but no such luck.
I'd mainly hoped that with the firmware update I could control the horrible squelch using the manual control option, but it doesn't. My WRT wireless mic system allows me to use headphones with the 5D so I obtain a good idea of sound levels during recording, but obtaining decent clean sound using the 5D is still not an option at the moment, so I'm going to go back to the drawing board. I'm still trying out options but none seem to work to obtain nice clean sound. Is there anybody actually getting good sound direct into the 5D...if so, I'd like to know.

Managed a successful download in two tries yesterday. The first one was a "short" download, i.e. incomplete. A second try got the full package.

I figured Magic Lantern wouldn't work, BUT the only things I can see that are missing in this firmware upgrade are the automatic follow focus, and the frame guides (though I'm sure there are more). So far, I'm real happy with the results.

Martin

I'm not too impressed with the updated sound recording options. Is there any way of viewing the sound bars while recording instead of delving deep through munus for a quick look prior to recording? I'd hoped for an ovelay option like the histogram in Manual video mode...but no such luck.
I'd mainly hoped that with the firmware update I could control the horrible squelch using the manual control option, but it doesn't. My WRT wireless mic system allows me to use headphones with the 5D so I obtain a good idea of sound levels during recording, but obtaining decent clean sound using the 5D is still not an option at the moment, so I'm going to go back to the drawing board. I'm still trying out options but none seem to work to obtain nice clean sound. Is there anybody actually getting good sound direct into the 5D...if so, I'd like to know.

OPTION ONE:
You need this:
Camcorder XLR Audio Adapter/Preamp: Buy Direct and Save - CX211 (http://www.juicedlink.com/index_files/CX_camcorder_XLR_microphone_adapter_audio_mixers_CX211.htm) Allows you to input the audio into the microphone jack and adjust the trim knobs if needed while recording.
And this:
juicedLink: New Product Preview: DN101 DSLR Audio Solution (http://www.juicedlink.com/blog/2009/12/new-product-preview-dn101-dslr-audio.html) Gives you a meter and allows you to plug headphones in.

You would need to generate a tone and "lock in" the Canon's internal audio gain to the correct setting, and you would then only use the JuicedLink for audio controls.

OPTION TWO:
Wait for Magic Lantern update to give us back our beloved audio meters and headphones.

Thank you Richard. I don't think the juicedLink is good enough, at least everything I've heard so far with people testing it to the 7D and 5D.
I think the problem is plugging sound directly into the 5D and most options are only slightly better work-a-rounds. I think I'm spoilt with decent XLR cables and sound options in the XL2 and XL-H1, so am searching for similar clean professional level sound option for the 5D and D3s; but still not found one.

The best sound so far seems to be with the seperate sound devices such as the Zoom 4 and Zoom 4n. I'd rather hook up sound direct to 5D but maybe the Zoom is now my only viable option, and at least I can connect my XLR leads into the Zoom and then download the clean sound files for editing without it going through the 5D onto the CF card.

It seems that a lot of people were under the misconception that the firmware update would somehow miraculously solve all 5D sound problems. Aside from the ability to to overcome auto-gain and the imperceptable shift from 44 to 48KHz very there is no great improvement here. We still have the crappy 5D preamps which (as a general rule) will only be usable for particularly loud sound sources. From my perspective this upgrade just brings us to more or less where we were with Magic Lantern, but without overlayed onscreen monitoring. As such I think Jon Fairhurst's analysis is as relevant as ever.

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/canon-eos-5d-mk-ii-hd/248970-5d-mark-ii-audio-exposed-series-complete.html

Well, I honestly based my decision off this series of videos comparing the options. It seems they conclude that the Juiced Link is the best option over external recorders.
6. Canon 5D Mark II Audio Exposed - Conclusions on Vimeo
But until Magic Lantern is updated to work with 2.0.3, I am thinking that an external is the best choice. Since I already have the JuicedLink, I'm choosing to wait for ML update. It seems the JL sounds better IMO, plus you don't need to sync in post.

I actually believe there was one thing left out of Jon Fairhurst's series of tests on 5D sound. He didn't cover the use of a field mixer feeding the 5D through an XLR adapter like the CX231 or the even one of the unpowered Beachteks. In my experience, that combination will get you great in camera sound.

Seen this?

http://www.usa.canon.com/app/pdf/5dmarkII_203popup.pdf

I saw somewhere that someone experienced some issues on the sound end. Not sure where yet.

Seen this?

http://www.usa.canon.com/app/pdf/5dmarkII_203popup.pdf

I would have thought that Canon would have had plenty of time over the past year to test the firmware for possible issues. At least they are working on it and hopefully bringing out any needed updates very soon.

There has been reports of the old 'banding problem' returning as well.

interesting reports of ISO bugs with the new firmware.. can anyone else corroborate?

EOS 5D MKII - Loaded 2.0.3 Manual ISO Not WOrking Even In Manual: Canon EOS-1D / 1Ds / 5D Forum: Digital Photography Review (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=34826390)

interesting reports of ISO bugs with the new firmware.. can anyone else corroborate?

EOS 5D MKII - Loaded 2.0.3 Manual ISO Not WOrking Even In Manual: Canon EOS-1D / 1Ds / 5D Forum: Digital Photography Review (http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1032&message=34826390)
What do you mean with ISO bug?
Problem with ISO was that operator did have settigs Exposure simulation instead Movie display. That caused camera to use full automatic with video. Instruction manual page 127.