New 5D Mark III Firmware Before the End of May [CR2]

[Axilrod]

It hasn't been that long since 1.1.2 was released, and I haven't heard anything about another update.  But if there is one you'll hear about it here first I'm sure. 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Firmware releases usually fix problems, and seldom add features.  The 5D MK II did have new features added, but that was due to pressure from the pro video industry who wanted a few million dollars worth of cameras, and it ended up selling a lot more than that.
 
I doubt that the 5D MK III will add new features.

[ideaworx]

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=6409.30

This is what I think he was referring to, is this supposed to still happen?

[deme3]

"Canon Japan has announced that an update to their Digital Photo Pro (DPP) software is planned for mid-April. This update will resolve the soft/blurred Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR RAW image problem"

Can somebody confirm whether the new firmware update has resolved the softness issue induced due to the anti aliasing filter. 

[Marsu42]

Soooo.... it's now June - any more news Mr. OP? Did this appear and I missed it?

Well, that's [CR2] for you :-)

2. they have GOT to add focus peaking to the video mode!!!!
3. they really should add zebra stripes for blown exposure to the video mode

Magic lantern will support both, I don't think Canon will add it by default, they never did.

1. remove the silly 1/250th limit in AutoISO Av and bump it to a good 1/2000th or allow for EC in AutoISO M or both
5. let the user have the option for a really high bitrate for video for the IPB mode

Even facing the danger of being accused of conspiracy theories:  Canon didn't limit the video mode or the min. Av mode  because they didn't think about it - the 1/250s limitation is so silly this isn't a coincidence, but made to protect more expensive products. They'll only change that if the 5d3 sales stall or after some years the 5d3 needs a sales boost like the 7d now.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I would like to see some optimizations that would extend battey life.  BG-E11 will help.  But the battery life could use some improvement.  There are a lot of bells and whistles to power on this model...and the addition of lighted focus points in servo mode wont help.  Hope that is configurable when it's fixed.

Id also like to see the annoying problem of having the camera switch the default card when a card is removed (EVEN WHEN THE POWER IS OFF!).  Very annoying to have to reset that.  The default card should remain the default card unless it's powered on with one of the cards missing.

Makes me think maybe we have a battery drain issue when powered off if the camera can detect that cards have been removed and re-inserted.

The default card switching is driving me nuts, i would love to see that fixed.

Its not broken, all Canon Pro cameras work that way.

[bdunbar79]

I too am irritated by the 1/250th limit in Auto ISO in Av mode.  If I'm in Av mode, I should be able to automagically have a shutter speed higher than that and have the ISO go to to whatever it needs.  I guess that is a fairly complex thing for a camera to do, but it would still be nice.  So, you switch to manual mode.  But with auto ISO there, no EC.  So if you shoot the 5D Mk III, you really have to do most or all of your exposure compensation via ISO #.  Well not really, but you know what I mean.

[Marsu42]

I guess that is a fairly complex thing for a camera to do, but it would still be nice.  So, you switch to manual mode.  But with auto ISO there, no EC.  So if you shoot the 5D Mk III, you really have to do most or all of your exposure compensation via ISO #.  Well not really, but you know what I mean.

While I don't have access to Canon's firmware sourcecode, I'd say this is less "complex" but more like "trivial". But as I wrote, I suspect this and disabling ec on m is intentional, I have no other explanation for it. And this is the reason I almost never use m on my 60d, too - I'm used to quick ec changes with auto iso from the av mode.

[bkorcel]

Doesnt mean it's not broken, just never been fixed.  Power off should be power off.

I would like to see some optimizations that would extend battey life.  BG-E11 will help.  But the battery life could use some improvement.  There are a lot of bells and whistles to power on this model...and the addition of lighted focus points in servo mode wont help.  Hope that is configurable when it's fixed.

Id also like to see the annoying problem of having the camera switch the default card when a card is removed (EVEN WHEN THE POWER IS OFF!).  Very annoying to have to reset that.  The default card should remain the default card unless it's powered on with one of the cards missing.

Makes me think maybe we have a battery drain issue when powered off if the camera can detect that cards have been removed and re-inserted.

The default card switching is driving me nuts, i would love to see that fixed.

Its not broken, all Canon Pro cameras work that way.

[Pixel]

My 1D Mark III and my Mark IV maintain the same card when you pull one out. The 5D3 definitely doesn't work the same way. No matter what, the 5D3 always goes back to Card 1.
It needs fixed.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

I too am irritated by the 1/250th limit in Auto ISO in Av mode.  If I'm in Av mode, I should be able to automagically have a shutter speed higher than that and have the ISO go to to whatever it needs.

Removing the 1/250th limit is not complex at all! It may be as simple a re-typing a SINGLE NUMBER in the code and, at worst, it would mean adding a dozen or so numbers to some list. We are talking like 1 minute of coding time at most (and that is an extreme worst case scenario  ). Even the logic routines for the whole thing are awfully simple. It was probably one of the simplest things in the entire camera to code  . In fact if someone gave you a one hour lesson on programming I bet you could write the pseduo code for it in no time.

[LetTheRightLensIn]

Firmware releases usually fix problems, and seldom add features.  The 5D MK II did have new features added, but that was due to pressure from the pro video industry who wanted a few million dollars worth of cameras, and it ended up selling a lot more than that.
 
I doubt that the 5D MK III will add new features.

The video blogs had a pretty meh reaction to to it so I'm still hoping, but I think Canon is too stuck in it's new old ways to get it, sad to say, so I'm probably kidding myself. It's surely the bean counters and MBA types making a mess of it all and not the engineers.

I mean they did finally get it enough to add 1 series AF to 5 series and boost to a full 6fps and all so they improved and they did get much of it right, but was it because they got it or because they were still just laying back and only reacting when they had to? Had they not, if you think about it, the D800 woulda made the 5D3 look silly. The fact they still muddled up some video features and autoiso (and by muddled i basically mean crippled for ridiculous reasons) you do wonder. And the fact they thought they could just let the low iso sensor performance sit there in the same spot for a full half decade now makes you wonder too. They did get the basic body specs pretty sweet finally at least, for whatever reason.

[AvTvM]

I too am irritated by the 1/250th limit in Auto ISO in Av mode.  If I'm in Av mode, I should be able to automagically have a shutter speed higher than that and have the ISO go to to whatever it needs.

Removing the 1/250th limit is not complex at all! It may be as simple a re-typing a SINGLE NUMBER in the code and, at worst, it would mean adding a dozen or so numbers to some list. We are talking like 1 minute of coding time at most (and that is an extreme worst case scenario  ). Even the logic routines for the whole thing are awfully simple. It was probably one of the simplest things in the entire camera to code  . In fact if someone gave you a one hour lesson on programming I bet you could write the pseduo code for it in no time.

EXACTLY!

[Bob Howland]

Are any of you complaining to the right people, namely Canon, or are you just making your cases here? I've sent e-mails to Canon USA about the 1/250 maximum and EC omission with "M" and Auto-ISO. Just a suggestion.

[RichATL]

Well, just a logical observation here...
If in Manual mode... why not just adjust your exposure yourself instead of setting the camera to do it?  (probably cannons logic)

HOWEVER... with Auto ISO engaged, I agree that it should be available.