Canon’s hot 5D MkII gets yet another firmware update today, only instead of fixing engineering problems (black spots), it is fixing some poor design decisions.
Canon’s video-shooting, full-frame DSLR has proved popular with movie makers thanks to its great HD video and its huge range of cheap (by movie camera standards) lenses. Canon, though, inexplicably left out some essential functions, which have been added in this update.
First are frame-rates. The camera now shoots at 25fps and the film-like 24fps, and the 30fps option has been tweaked to use the NTSC standard 29.97fps. Exposure, too, has been fixed, and now you can display a histogram on screen in manual, shutter-priority and aperture-priority modes (you can also use these exposure modes when shooting movies).
Finally, sound has been upgraded, with the sampling frequency increased from 44.1KHz to 48KHz, and an on-screen level-meter added for manually setting sound levels.
We think its great that such big changes can be added with free firmware updates. What we don’t like is the rather arbitrary manner in which Canon switches off functions. The 5D MkII is one of Canon’s highest-end cameras, and it took until now to add in 24p video? We understand differentiating compacts through software, but not cameras at this level. After all, the 5D isn’t competing with any other Canon camera. And one more thing, Canon. When will you put time-lapse and HD video back in your G-series cameras? There are a whole lot of people who won’t upgrade their G9s until you do.
The update will be ready to download in “mid-March”.
Canon adds 24 and 25fps HD Movie recording [DP Review]
See Also:
- Magic Lantern Firmware Supercharges Canon 5D MkII
- Canon Firmware Update Adds Manual Control to 5D MkII Video …
- Canon 5D MkII Plagued by 'Black Spots'?
- Hack Adds Hi-Def Video to All Canon DSLRs
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