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

[wickidwombat]

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/eos_slr_camera_systems/eos_digital_slr_cameras/eos_5d_mark_iii#DriversAndSoftware

Shows a 1.1.3 available as of 06/19/12 under Windows 7 x64. No changelog posted yet? Downloading now.

it doesn't do much

no fixed autoiso

no zebra, focus peaking, higher bit rates or crop modes for video

no customisation of the rate button 

[drjlo]

It's got nothing I need, so won't be doing a firmware update (with inherent possible dangers of any firmware update). 

[V8Beast]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

[wickidwombat]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

you got ripped off I got 16 more M E G A P I X E L S! 

[briansquibb]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

you got ripped off I got 16 more M E G A P I X E L S! 

... and gave APS-H crop mode

[Wideopen]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

you got ripped off I got 16 more M E G A P I X E L S! 

Same here! 

[AvTvM]

and most importantly .. "Corrects mistakes in the Dutch, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, and Swedish menu screens"

looks like Canon management still did not get the message ...   

[John Thomas]

That having said, all customization of current dslrs is a joke given the fact that you've got an embedded computer in your hand. Even on my 25 year old eos620 with date back, I could program in custom shutter-aperture curves!

How did you that?

...btw, the "embedded computer" from our hands is a monster, (especially if we talk about DiGIC 5) with a screen which has 1,040,000 dots. Remember, desktops and after that laptops had for many years a resolution of 1024x768 which means 786,432 dots...

I think that their main problem is that they are locked in pre-iPhone mindset. We have a super-CPU to do just one thing and it can do just in one way. Today the cameras are digital but still built with a mechanical mindset.

Guys, unlock that potential...

[John Thomas]

Sorry, I cannot follow re. spin control .. what would that lookk like ... got a picture? 

I do not have the impression that Nikon's fine-tune feature is logarithmic ..  but I agree with you, that users should have even more direct control over Auto-ISO behaviour ... which parameter (Av,Tv,ISO) should be adjusted first, which second, which third and under which circumstances (min - max ranges, focal length used, IS active or not).

Having the Nikon UI metaphor means that you are limited by the screen in showing values (see the attached image), while a spin edit (a box which increments or decrements values based on dial movements) allow much more values to hold inside. See for example the 2nd (animated) picture from the top at

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canon-eos-5d-mark-iii/10

...besides that, yes, the real solution is to provide a professional GUI for exposure cuboid adjustments and save them as settings. What is exposure cuboid (aka incorrectly as "exposure triangle") see Matthew Miller's answer here:

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/6598/what-is-the-exposure-triangle#12441

Any takers in how this GUI/workflow would be?

[Marsu42]

That having said, all customization of current dslrs is a joke given the fact that you've got an embedded computer in your hand. Even on my 25 year old eos620 with date back, I could program in custom shutter-aperture curves!

How did you that?

It was the hard-to-find digital back for film eos bodies (not the one that just printed the date into your picture). It was quite some time ago I used this, but you basically you could program a custom "creative setting" like the ones built-in (sports = max. shutter, landscape = max. aperture). And it had a tiny keyboard to attach, those were the good ol' times of Canon being innovative :-) ... see http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography/hardwares/classics/eos/eoscamera/620/index3.htm

[LetTheRightLensIn]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

Hmm I didn't get any of that, still same old, same old dynamic image, no zebras, no peaking, there was a proposal from a super model embedded in the new firmware and I just married a super model, but yeah damn this firmware was a total disappoint, damn. All I really care about is dynamic range and instead I just have to settle for a super model. Thanks Canon.

[V8Beast]

I don't know what you guys did wrong, but I downloaded the new firmware and got an extra three stops of dynamic range A $500 rebate check magically ejected out of the card slot, too

Hmm I didn't get any of that, still same old, same old dynamic image, no zebras, no peaking, there was a proposal from a super model embedded in the new firmware and I just married a super model, but yeah damn this firmware was a total disappoint, damn. All I really care about is dynamic range and instead I just have to settle for a super model. Thanks Canon.

You got the better deal. Can you please post some pics of your new wife ?

[mirekti]

Is it technically possible to improve the dynamic range of 5DIII via firmware update and if so how much do you think it would go?

[VirtualRain]

Perhaps it will upgrade the 5D3 to match the performance of the 6D

[knifez]

I think that their main problem is that they are locked in pre-iPhone mindset. We have a super-CPU to do just one thing and it can do just in one way. Today the cameras are digital but still built with a mechanical mindset.

Guys, unlock that potential...
[/quote]

MagicLantern has been the activist in that regard. Hacking that little computer and make it do things the developers omitted. Would like to see others give that a go personally, a hackanon perhaps?

As for dynamic range, I would have though is a hardware limitation. These types of products take years to develop, and sensors are most probably selected in early in the development process and the rest is build around that.

RED, BMD & Phantom seem to be companies which can adapt a lot quicker to technological advances are they can focus their R&D teams on less products at a time and hence pump the latest sensors into their gear.

All subjective ideas there to stir the debating pot.