It's official: Canon USA offers 5D2 firmware update

Evan Donn · May 26th, 2009, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tramm Hudson

We'll probably still want more features, so I'll spend next week figuring out the new firmware layout.

Well, this does nothing to address the audio features you've already demonstrated, so I for one am still looking forward to using your firmware.

Chris Swanberg · May 26th, 2009, 08:50 PM

Well, I have been sitting on the sidelines. I shoot with Chris Barcellos, and have enjoyed the images his Canon 5D has produced, but the workarounds were too much for me.

Great that manual control has arrived (?) but "I'll wait and see how it works" I say... but still magnificently encouraging. Still missing... audio (thank you Tramm for your efforts here - still wondering if separate sound may be in a lot of folks future) and video output during the shoot if possible (!). Bring those into the mix in a manner that works well and I will sell my Z-1 AND my Bolex EBM and go to the full sensor Canon.

I agree with Chris Hurd... I think it is fair to say that we owe this in very large measure to Tramm - most likely. (And posts hinting they were going to buy Nikon Glass along the way added in for good measure). But I think the fear that Tramm would crack the nut and have a hacked camera out there employing software that Canon didn't invent and support was just too embarassing and too market influencing for Canon - IMHO. Tramm ought to set up a website JUST with a paypal "Pay Now" link. I'd throw some money his way as most Canon owners likely would.

FINALLY !

Chris Swanberg

R.I.P. 1/3 inch sensors.

Ryan Mueller · May 26th, 2009, 09:22 PM

Thank you for the info Chris, and thank you Canon for listening and making this happen! As I have said before, my hat goes off to Tramm as well! I am seriously amazed and did not think that we would ever get this, let alone as early as the beginning of June. My advice to anyone that is still on the fence about buying the 5DII: buy one now before they are back-ordered for months!

Time to start dropping my cash on some "L" series glass! I'm glad this came when it did because over the past couple of days I have actually been shopping for Nikon glass.

Dan Chung · May 26th, 2009, 09:42 PM

This is great news! I'm going to eat my hat.

I'm not ditching my manual glass yet though, I'm not sure that the new firmware will allow you to 'ride' the aperture of a Canon lens in the way you do on a Nikon or Contax. Also trying to manual focus on my L glass is not as smooth or easy as with a Zeiss, most Canon lenses have a very short focus travel. That said, the ability to AF and then manual overide is pretty neat.

I've still got a small army of Canon lenses so I can test both now.

Dan

Silton Buendia · May 26th, 2009, 09:53 PM

24P can be easily worked around, so can audio, just track to something like the Samson Zoom H4N. Anyway I knew this would happen because as I mentioned the Canon rep gave me word at NAB.

John Benton · May 26th, 2009, 10:08 PM

Brilliant !!!!

William Chung · May 26th, 2009, 10:10 PM

I think for now Canon has made a nice compromise for us all in this firmware...

They fact they would go back and add these features also gives hope that it's possible they will add others when the time is right.

Jon Fairhurst · May 26th, 2009, 10:35 PM

Gentlemen, how would you like your crow prepared? ;)

I've been frustrated, but optimistic. I've just today built my collection to include the Canon EF 28 f/1.8, 35 f/2, 50 f/1.4 and 85 f/1.8. I just couldn't imagine Canon sitting back as their most vocal users promote adapters and Nikon lenses.

That said, the real reason I bought Canon lenses was because shooting stills of moving objects in changing conditions with manual Nikons was a pain in the rear. I figured that if I have to trick the camera on every video shot anyway, how much worse is it to fight/untwist/mylar the Canon lens setup?

So... will manual include manual audio gain? We will see.

I'm also optimistic about 24/25p. They promoted video to photojournalists in China (a 50 Hz country) recently. All of Europe is upset. Once they do 25p, they know that we will just shoot at that rate and slow it down by 4%, so they might as well offer 24p.

An Epic Begins with "M"

More to come?...

Chris Barcellos · May 26th, 2009, 10:43 PM

Hudson promises to continue to work on his sound workaround, and also has developed a Zebra process. He also seems to think his workaround will be able to be piggy backed on the new firmware.

His work arounds are actually made to run of the CF card, so you don't really replace the onboard firmware. If Canon doesn't fix issues, Hudson may still do so..

Xavier Plagaro · May 26th, 2009, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

I'm also optimistic about 24/25p... ... All of Europe is upset.

You can count on that! We are treated as the last thing to do. Thanks Canon! :-(

I'm happy of course NTSC buyers finally start to have what they bought in the first place! ;-)

They had to see the GH1 on their back and a hacked firmware to wake up, the whole thing is pretty sad... How many months they took to do it??

One question for Tramm, without any support from Canon, how many hours have you dedicated to your firmware??

Jon Fairhurst · May 26th, 2009, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xavier Plagaro

You can count on that! We are treated as the last thing to do. Thanks Canon!

It's probably the hardest thing to do, so I'm not surprised that it will take more time.

Also, this order makes sense. Add manual controls for 30p, then add 24/25p right the first time. Otherwise, they would release 24/25p with auto controls and potentially have to start from scratch to make it manual.

Anyway, I can't wait for the update!

Sean Seah · May 26th, 2009, 11:49 PM

This is GREAT!! Glad to have stayed with Canon lens. Unfortunately I'm in PAL land, and most of Asia is still hoping for 25P but still, I am grateful for this to happen!

Tom Roper · May 27th, 2009, 12:20 AM

Nice!!!

I put the EF 70-200L F/4 IS on the 5DMkII, the image stabilization helped make handheld footage more usable, but the noise of the IS motor is heard on the audio, fairly prominent.

The manual controls will be a great addition. I still think the video has excessive aliasing artifacts that should be eliminated. I can always dream.

Don't let me spoil it, party on...

Jon Fairhurst · May 27th, 2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Roper

...the noise of the IS motor is heard on the audio, fairly prominent.

An external mic is a must for any serious sound. Tramm's firmware will let us lock the gain and visually monitor the levels. All that's needed is a clean preamp with phantom power, and clean audio is yours.

Quote:

...I still think the video has excessive aliasing artifacts that should be eliminated. I can always dream.

Don't dream. Use softening filters! :)

Xavier Plagaro · May 27th, 2009, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jon Fairhurst

It's probably the hardest thing to do, so I'm not surprised that it will take more time.

Also, this order makes sense. Add manual controls for 30p, then add 24/25p right the first time. Otherwise, they would release 24/25p with auto controls and potentially have to start from scratch to make it manual.

Why the hardest??

I can understand it may be hard to make a 24p/25p/30p. I can understand that to make a video PAL output can be difficult (?).

But unless I am wrong (I have been before!) there must be a line of code where the fps is declared, you just change 30 to 25. Then there are shutting speeds, with 30p they are 1/30, 1/60, 1/120. You change them to 1/25, 1/50/1/100... Even without a PAL output, a firmware that gives manual control and 25p would be a big step in the right direction. This could have been made since day 1...

May 26th, 2009, 10:35 PM	#23
Jon Fairhurst Inner Circle Join Date: May 2006 Location: Camas, WA, USA Posts: 5,513	Gentlemen, how would you like your crow prepared? ;) I've been frustrated, but optimistic. I've just today built my collection to include the Canon EF 28 f/1.8, 35 f/2, 50 f/1.4 and 85 f/1.8. I just couldn't imagine Canon sitting back as their most vocal users promote adapters and Nikon lenses. That said, the real reason I bought Canon lenses was because shooting stills of moving objects in changing conditions with manual Nikons was a pain in the rear. I figured that if I have to trick the camera on every video shot anyway, how much worse is it to fight/untwist/mylar the Canon lens setup? So... will manual include manual audio gain? We will see. I'm also optimistic about 24/25p. They promoted video to photojournalists in China (a 50 Hz country) recently. All of Europe is upset. Once they do 25p, they know that we will just shoot at that rate and slow it down by 4%, so they might as well offer 24p. An Epic Begins with "M" More to come?... __________________ Jon Fairhurst

May 26th, 2009, 10:43 PM	#24
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	Hudson promises to continue to work on his sound workaround, and also has developed a Zebra process. He also seems to think his workaround will be able to be piggy backed on the new firmware. His work arounds are actually made to run of the CF card, so you don't really replace the onboard firmware. If Canon doesn't fix issues, Hudson may still do so.. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

May 26th, 2009, 08:50 PM	#17
Chris Swanberg Major Player Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 904	Well, I have been sitting on the sidelines. I shoot with Chris Barcellos, and have enjoyed the images his Canon 5D has produced, but the workarounds were too much for me. Great that manual control has arrived (?) but "I'll wait and see how it works" I say... but still magnificently encouraging. Still missing... audio (thank you Tramm for your efforts here - still wondering if separate sound may be in a lot of folks future) and video output during the shoot if possible (!). Bring those into the mix in a manner that works well and I will sell my Z-1 AND my Bolex EBM and go to the full sensor Canon. I agree with Chris Hurd... I think it is fair to say that we owe this in very large measure to Tramm - most likely. (And posts hinting they were going to buy Nikon Glass along the way added in for good measure). But I think the fear that Tramm would crack the nut and have a hacked camera out there employing software that Canon didn't invent and support was just too embarassing and too market influencing for Canon - IMHO. Tramm ought to set up a website JUST with a paypal "Pay Now" link. I'd throw some money his way as most Canon owners likely would. FINALLY ! Chris Swanberg R.I.P. 1/3 inch sensors.

May 26th, 2009, 09:22 PM	#18
Ryan Mueller Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Highlands Ranch, CO Posts: 336	Thank you for the info Chris, and thank you Canon for listening and making this happen! As I have said before, my hat goes off to Tramm as well! I am seriously amazed and did not think that we would ever get this, let alone as early as the beginning of June. My advice to anyone that is still on the fence about buying the 5DII: buy one now before they are back-ordered for months! Time to start dropping my cash on some "L" series glass! I'm glad this came when it did because over the past couple of days I have actually been shopping for Nikon glass.

May 26th, 2009, 09:42 PM	#19
Dan Chung Major Player Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Beijing Posts: 665	This is great news! I'm going to eat my hat. I'm not ditching my manual glass yet though, I'm not sure that the new firmware will allow you to 'ride' the aperture of a Canon lens in the way you do on a Nikon or Contax. Also trying to manual focus on my L glass is not as smooth or easy as with a Zeiss, most Canon lenses have a very short focus travel. That said, the ability to AF and then manual overide is pretty neat. I've still got a small army of Canon lenses so I can test both now. Dan

May 26th, 2009, 09:53 PM	#20
Silton Buendia Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 31	24P can be easily worked around, so can audio, just track to something like the Samson Zoom H4N. Anyway I knew this would happen because as I mentioned the Canon rep gave me word at NAB.

May 26th, 2009, 10:08 PM	#21
John Benton Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: NYC Posts: 658	Brilliant !!!!

May 26th, 2009, 10:10 PM	#22
William Chung Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Duluth, GA Posts: 80	I think for now Canon has made a nice compromise for us all in this firmware... They fact they would go back and add these features also gives hope that it's possible they will add others when the time is right.

May 26th, 2009, 11:49 PM	#27
Sean Seah Trustee Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,498	This is GREAT!! Glad to have stayed with Canon lens. Unfortunately I'm in PAL land, and most of Asia is still hoping for 25P but still, I am grateful for this to happen!

May 27th, 2009, 12:20 AM	#28
Tom Roper Trustee Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 1,891	Nice!!! I put the EF 70-200L F/4 IS on the 5DMkII, the image stabilization helped make handheld footage more usable, but the noise of the IS motor is heard on the audio, fairly prominent. The manual controls will be a great addition. I still think the video has excessive aliasing artifacts that should be eliminated. I can always dream. Don't let me spoil it, party on...