Canon EOS 5D Mark II update now live, adds 24p video
updated 09:10 am EDT, Tue March 16, 2010
Full frame 5D Mk II gets 2.0.3 firmware
Canon late Monday posted its promised 2.0.3 firmware for the EOS 5D Mark II. The upgrade is tailored to videographers and lets them record at 1080p24 to match traditional movie theater frame rates. The 1080p30 mode has also been tuned to 29.97 frames per second to stay in sync with NTSC-based TV, and it's now possible to shoot in aperture or shutter priority modes to achieve shallow depth of field or high speed without full manual control.
Other changes also primarily affect movie recording. Audio sampling is now stepped up to 48KHz with 64-point manual level control to achieve the intended effect during a video shoot. A histogram is now an option when using manual exposure during movie capture, and a bug from a previous update has been fixed that had broken the camera's data link with its lens if the user chose to manually invoke dust removal.
The update is free for all 5D Mark II cameras. Canon hasn't said if any features will carry over to other cameras, although the 1D Mark IV, 7D and Rebel T2i all already shoot at 1080p24 and the adjusted 1080p30.
