Poli Bou

I haven’t been keeping up with news on the 5D Mark II. It was a nice surprise to see Canon release a firmware update to enable 24 fps video in both PAL and NTSC. I’m sure cinematographers everywhere are jumping in their seats. Many people said it couldn’t be done through a firmware update. I bet those were the same people who said manual control was also impossible through a firmware change. In any event, I’m sure everyone is glad to be wrong this time. Cheers to Canon for continuing to update their products.

The new firmware was actually released earlier this week but there was a bug with audio recording in the creative modes. Today, they did a minor fix with the release of firmware version v2.0.4.

Here are the changes:

The Version 2.0.4 firmware includes the movie function enhancements listed in items 1 through 5 below, and also incorporates the correction listed in item 6.

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)

Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).
Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.
Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies.
Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.
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.)

How to update your firmware:
Updating your firmware is really simple. However, I suggest you follow the official procedure if you have never done it before.

Here’s a simple step by step recap.
Step 1. Format your compact flash card in the 5D mark II.
Step 2. Remove the CF card stick it in your computer’s memory card reader.
Step 3. Open up the CF card in your browser. You will see 2 folders.
Step 4. Download the new firmware. Extract it and copy to the root directory of your CF Card.
Step 5. Place the CF card back in the 5D.
Step 6. Make sure your battery is charged. Important!
Step 7. Navigate to firmware and hit set.
Step 8. The camera should find the new firmware and give you the option to update it.
Step 9. Hit OK, and then don’t touch any buttons on the camera. You will see a progress bar as it goes through the update process which should only take a minute.
Step 10. Format your card again once it has completed. Happy Shooting!