Canon has released a fix for the much desired ‘cinema’ firmware for the Canon EOS 5D Mark II that had a bug… 2.0.4 is available now.

Canon notice for the new firmware

Download

I’m sure you want to get right into it… so here’s the download link!

And if you’ve never done the firmware update before, here’s a movie showing you how to do it from start to finish…

New Features (includes 2.0.4 fix data)

In the Version 2.0.4 firmware, the following phenomena that occurred with the Version 2.0.3 firmware (which was to enhance the movie functions) have been corrected.

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.

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.

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.)

(Photo credit: snap from the video)

Philip Bloom has announced that several of his recent movies have been done on the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II firmware version 2.0.3 that includes the native 24fps frame rate.

I urge you to download each of these in full size as well to see their full beauty… you can get a free membership on vimeo which will allow you to download them in full size.

Here they are:

Sea: Canon 5DmkII native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot at Sutro Baths in San Francisco

Music by James Newton Howard from “Lady in the Water”

First section of water has no colour correction and is straight out of 5D. Shot of people in cave on is graded using Magic Bullet Looks (get 20% off with code bloom20 at www.redgiantsoftware.com)!

Shot native 24p!

Lenses used are 100mm Macro F2.8L. 70-200 IS F2.8. Canon 50mm F1.2, 90mm TS, 14mm F2.8L

Above Skywalker: Canon 5DmkII Native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Shot native 24p on Canon 5dMkII

Music is by Claude Debussy

Read more on my blog here: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/03/15/24p/

and last but certainly not least!

Monarchs: Miles away. 5DmkII native 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Performed by Celeste Griffin from Monarchs

Filmed in native 24p on a Canon 5DmkII

Shot, edited and direct by Philip Bloom

http://philipbloom.co.uk/2010/03/15/24p/ for more info

(Photo credit: snap from the Monarchs video)

We’ve known it was coming, but now it is finally here! The firmware that gives the Canon EOS 5D Mark II 24fps has arrived and we’ve got full coverage for you!

Download

I’m sure you want to get right into it… so here’s the download link!

And if you’ve never done the firmware update before, here’s a movie showing you how to do it from start to finish…

New features:

Besides 24fps, what does the firmware give us? I’ll give you the short version and the long version is over on Canon’s site.

• 24fps in video
• Sound Recording (Audio Gain Control)
• Tv manual movie recording (auto everything else)
• Av manual movie recording (auto everything else)
• Histogram in live view (before recording only – but also works for stills)
• Sound sampling frequency changed to 48 KHz

Interestingly, Philip Bloom says there’s a hidden change as well – “Other good news is we have increase in recording bit rate to around 44 mbits now, up from around 38 mbits.” — so the video now spits out of the camera at a faster rate — that may cause problems with really slow CF cards tho?

Demo

Here at planet5D, we want to give you everything you need, so here’s a visual walkthru of the new features:

Resources

Places you can visit for more information:

• Original planet5D post describing the features in the new firmware
• planet5D wiki page for the firmware
• Canon’s page with the details on the firmware and detailed instructions
• Canon’s download page

Yes, high definition 1080p video at 24 and 25fps is coming to the Canon EOS 5D Mark II soon!

“We understand that EOS 5D Mark II users desire additional frame rates and we’re preparing a firmware update to allow the camera to shoot at both 24P and 25P,” said Chris Macleod, Brand Manager – EOS, Canon Australia. “The upgrade to 24P and 25P will broaden the usage scope for this popular camera to include cinema and broadcast applications, respectively.”Canon expects the firmware update to be available in the first half of 2010 and will release more details as they become available.”

we found this tip on several sources – FXGuide was our first. There’s also DPreview who has the full announcement:

“London, 20 October 2009 – Canon today announces that it is currently developing a firmware update to the EOS 5D Mark II to enable the recording of high definition 1080p video at 24 and 25fps. The decision to develop new firmware to support these features has been taken following feedback received from cinematographers and photographers.

Introduced in September 2008, the multi award-winning EOS 5D Mark II was the first DSLR product to offer full frame 1080p HD video recording, opening up a multitude of new creative possibilities for photo journalists, news photographers and amateur filmmakers. Since then, Canon has continued to develop its groundbreaking EOS Movie functionality, firstly with the firmware update to the EOS 5D Mark II that enabled manual exposure control, and more recently by introducing a choice of video recording frame rates with the EOS 7D and EOS-1D Mark IV.

Canon currently expects the firmware update to be made available during the first half of 2010. An announcement regarding details of the update and its availability will be made closer to the release date.”

Will the Canon EOS 5D Mark II get 24p video? The answer is unfortunately no.

We’ve heard rumor after rumor about some people in Hollywood beta testing a version of the firmware with 24p, but it just doesn’t seem like it is going to happen. In the last couple of days, more and more tips are floating in that it is just too difficult.

This morning, I had a nice video iChat with friend of planet5D Kip Beatty (@kipb on twitter) about the Canon Live Learning EOS Essentials Mini-Conference. Vincent Laforet (Reverie) was presenting and told the story of how he got the 5D mk ii in order to film Reverie. You can read the story over on Vincent’s blog.

After the presentation, Kip asked Vincent if there were any chance that Canon was going to be releasing a 24p version of the firmware. Vincent didn’t answer other than to point to Chuck Westfall and said ‘ask him’. (Note: since this story was relayed to me second hand, the quotes aren’t exact – they’re there to give you the flavor of the conversation without the expectation that they’re exact).

Kip related that Chuck was very polite and offered his opinion. “I doubt you’ll see it” Chuck stated. He went on to tell about how the recent firmware upgrade was tough, but necessary to add features that were missing. But the issue isn’t with the software but with the Digic IV chip. It was designed with 30fps in mind. It does all the heavy lifting of the processing of the video – video capture, throwing out some of the sensor data (since the video is smaller than the full size stills), compressing the video at 30 frames per second and then writing it all to the card. “It is just too monumental to expect that they can change all of that in the firmware” he said.

“I’m not saying we’ll never see it, but it is very difficult to do.”

We’ve also heard these things on twitter today:

5tu said “Talk on the CML that a Canon rep stated no 24p update coming for 5D MkII. 24p will come in the replacement for the 1Ds Mk III.” And also this: “I think it’s Canon clutching at any opportunity to make a $$$ pro body desireable over the popular 5D2.”

And a couple of replies to @5tu: @timescapes said: “@5tu someone i know very close to canon also told me recently there will be no 24p on the 5D2. they are saving it for future cameras. ”

@mikeseymore replied to @5tu: “spoke to Canon too, got “1D is the Pro camera – 5D is not, 1D will have more ‘Pro video features”. I see a 1D in my future!”

So, like Chuck Westfall, I’m not saying it isn’t gonna happen, but it sure doesn’t seem likely. I believe that Canon wanted to make the 5D2 a better camera by fixing the manual video issues with the latest firmware patch, but if they were to put 24p in the 5D2, then there isn’t that much that separates it from the more expensive cameras. There may be a “5D Mark IIs” (as Kip called it), where they release an new 5D2 with a different Digic chip, but don’t count on a 5D2 firmware upgrade.

But what you will see in future cameras is video! You can mark my words, all new Canon DSLRs will be DSLRVs and you can count on planet5D to watch the future progress!

(Photo credit: snap from an earlier story with @timescapes with a panavision lens on the 5D2)

Philip Bloom is a filmmaker (bio on his site, imdb bio). Recently, he’s been using the Canon EOS 5D Mark II and learning a bit about it as he goes. He’s also sharing some of that knowledge as he goes. We’ll cover one or two of his posts here on our blog so in case you haven’t seen them.

He used this process on the video he created (and we shared it in our forums here) called “Sofia’s People: Canon 5dmk2 25p by Philip Bloom”

In this blog post, he’s sharing his tips on how to convert from 30fps to 24fps… he’s created this video to go with the blog post:

How to convert Canon 5dmk2 footage from 30p to 24p from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

A tutorial using Final Cut Studio 2 on how to convert footage shot in 30p to perfect 24p… Used in the short Sofia’s People
http://philipbloom.co.uk/films/35mm-films/sofias-people-canon-5d-mk2/

Thanks to Denver Riddle for his original workflow.

For additional information on AUDIO for your movies, including more from Philip Bloom, check out this additional post on planet5D – Great Audio Options

(Photo credit: snap from the video)