Canon has released ANOTHER firmware update for the 5D Mark II. The last firmware (2.0.3) had a small bug in it, which caused audio to stop recording when using the custom modes C1, C2, or C3. This is not a big deal for us movie shooters, but the good news is Canon has addressed the issue and released firmware 2.0.4. Download the new version here. Thanks Canon for the quick fix.
Yesterday, Abel teamed up with Canon to help celebrate the release of its highly anticipated firmware upgrade for the 5D Mark II. Throughout the day clients brought in their cameras, and technicians from Abel and Canon performed free upgrades. Multiple Canon cameras were set up on the showroom floor, fully rigged-out with various audio and stabilization accessories. This gave our guests a chance to try out the various HDSLR setups for themselves. In the evening Abel was bustling, as the formal presentations were standing room only. Jon Fauer, editor of the Film & Digital Times, started things off by discussing how HDSLRs have impacted the industry. Ed Meyer from Canon gave a thorough review of all the new features in the newest 2.0.3 firmware – including 1080 24P. The evening concluded with Abel’s own Andy Shipsides giving a run through and demonstration of the various accessories made for HDSLR filmmaking. After the sessions, Canon representatives and Abel staff were available for discussion and, of course, showing off the cameras. Check out our gallery of images above.
Thank you to everyone who made our “party” a success!!
Canon has just released their latest firmware for the 5D Mark II (2.0.3). Find the firmware here. Follow the instruction to install the firmware on your camera yourself. Tomorrow (Tuesday, March 16th) we will be hosting a firmware upgrade party in our NYC office. Come by to celebrate the release, get your camera upgrade by us, and see a presentation from Jon Fauer, ASC. Upgrades will be performed all day, and presentations start at 6pm. Hope to see you there.
Canon announced today that new firmware for the 5D Mark II camera will be available on March 16th. This is a highly anticipated upgrade that adds 1080 24P (actual 23.98) and 25P recording to the 5D Mark II. Previously 1080 30P was the only supported recording format, and filmmakers have been asking for 24P for sometime. The 30P record mode has also been updated to be 29.97, which will ease editing problems with true 30P footage. With this upgrade also comes the ability to adjust audio recording levels manually. On screen meters will be available to monitor levels and adjust. Additionally Canon has added a new histogram display for shooting movies in manual exposure, shutter-priority (Tv) and aperture-priority (Av) have been added, and exposure modes will also be available in movie mode. This is exciting news, so we will be holding a 5D Firmware Download Party on March 16th in NYC. We will have Canon experts on hand to discuss the new features of the camera, and we will upgrade any 5D Mark II for free. Check back for more information soon, and find the firmware here when it is posted.
With all the various HDSLRs appearing on the market, keeping their features straight can be a bit of a challenge. Abel’s Andy Shipsides has put together a handy chart comparing five of these cameras side-by-side. He compares the Canon 5D Mark II, 1D Mark IV, the 7D, the new Rebel T2i, and the Panasonic Lumix GH1. His chart is available to view or download in the Resources section of abelcine.com.
Why change the mount on the camera when you can change the mount on the lens? Zeiss will soon ship a version of their Compact Primes in Canon EF mount for EOS cameras such as the Canon 5D Mark II. The Zeiss Compact Primes are designed to cover the full 24mm x 36mm image area of the stills format, and these new lenses will come with the facility to swap out the mount to PL (and who knows, maybe something else in the future?). This makes the Compact Primes the “Everything Lens Set” for use on all popular cameras. These lenses are inexpensive and lightweight, yet built to professional cine standards with integrated gearing and large scales. Stills format lenses often have weak mechanics, nearly-useless focus scales, servo drives with “infinity spin” focus dials, image shift and breathing in the focus, and axial-expansion that hampers use of accessories such as matteboxes & follow focuses. All of these issues are removed with the new Zeiss Compact Prime Series II lenses. Above is a photo of a prototype at the Zeiss factory and the lenses will debut at NAB in April (come visit our booth #C8740).
Many people have asked me about CF card requirements for shooting video on the Canon HDSLR cameras. Compact Flash cards come in many speeds, and the faster they go the more expensive they get. Canon lists the data rate of the Canon 5D Mark II and 7D video modes at a maximum of 330 MB/minute (a bit less for the 5D Mark II). That’s 5.5 MB/second video, which can be converted from MegaBytes to Megabits (1 Mbit = 0.125 MByte) to 44 Megabites per second. So what speed cards do you need? Well, to be safe I suggest cards with a minimum transfer of 8 MB/second, and there are many of these cards on the market at very affordable prices. You may see CF cards listed in X values (40X, 60X, ect), so to help you decode I have provided the following chart.
…continue reading CF Card Specs for Canon HDSLR Cameras
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