Firmware: Canon EOS R5 v1.6.0 now available

I'm a life-long software guy. I can state that no matter what problems the hardware has, the software should not lock up.
I'm with you, but as a life-long hardware guy, I've seen hardware throw fits that software just couldn't work around, unless they didn't use the functionality at all. Fortunately, I can say that I've never developed hardware that daft.

Especially a PCI-bus deadlock comes to mind (PCI card wanted to do a IOMMU lookup in a table in the main memory of the PC, whenever the CPU wanted to do a write. The PCI host-bridge ordering rules forbid reads to pass writes and so happened the deadlock. Had to add a SRAM lookup table on the side of the PCI controller to get out of the deadlock).
 
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jam05

R5, C70
Mar 12, 2019
916
584
No, I haven't, but I know other users who have returned R5 cameras to Canon, and have been told that Canon can't reproduce the malfunction. I don't have a spare RF-mount body, so I don't want to be without a camera for 2-3 weeks while Canon tests it, especially as I anticipate that they'd devote insufficient time to testing it. Incidentally at least a couple of people here have reported that Canon have replaced the mainboard of their R5 in an attempt to fix the freezes, but that the problem persists afterwards.

I don't think an "auto-restart" feature would solve the problem, because switching the camera off and on again fails to fix it. The only way to get it operational again is to remove and reinsert the battery (this never fails).

Incidentally, these freezes don't seem to be confined to the R5. There have been reports of R3 freezes, and I have a friend whose Nikon Z9 suffers similarly.

Hardware and software is so complex in modern cameras, that unfortunately I think there'll always be a percentage of cameras that malfunction under certain conditions. This is very apparent from the number of references to "bug fixes", or "improved stability" in firmware updates, and the frequent appearance of phrases such as "under rare circumstances a phenomenon may occur in which the camera becomes non-operational"...

It could be hardware or software, or a conflict between hardware and software. In my case the camera is fine most of the time, but locks up in a specific bird photography scenario, i.e.

SERVO AF with animal-eye AF
Shutter half-pressed for several seconds while anticipating action.
Shooting a series of short hi-speed bursts in electronic, mechanical or EFCS shutter.

I only shoot RAW normally, and I use fast Delkin and SanDisk CF-Express cards, but I'll experiment with shooting JPEG (which should prove whether or not it is a buffer problem). When the camera locks up, the red "writing to card" light remains illuminated for at least a couple of minutes, after which I get fed up waiting and reboot the camera.
"write to disk" is the last step in processing an image after releasing the shutter. Try changing your storage card, and be certain that it is formated properly. And be sure that you are using a storage medium confirmed by Canon to function properly with the device as noted on the Canon website. Many people forget that "write to disk" is apart of image processing.
 
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entoman

wildlife photography
May 8, 2015
1,998
2,438
UK
"write to disk" is the last step in processing an image after releasing the shutter. Try changing your storage card, and be certain that it is formated properly. And be sure that you are using a storage medium confirmed by Canon to function properly with the device as noted on the Canon website. Many people forget that "write to disk" is apart of image processing.
That's good advice and I always format my CF-Express cards in the camera before using them for the first time, and I always format them again (in the camera) each time I re-use them. I have 3x 128Gb cards - 2 Delkin and one SanDisk. The SanDisk card is shown as supported on the Canon website, the Delkin isn't listed. The freezing occurs regardless of whether I'm using the Delkin or SanDisk cards.

It seems to be triggered by specific circumstances. i.e. shooting short (circa 1 second) bursts on RAW or C-RAW, while using SERVO AF and animal-eye AF. It makes no difference whether I'm using default button settings or using them mapped for BBF or other functions. I don't get freezes when shooting in single-spot or zone AF (either with SERVO or ONE-SHOT AF). If I shoot at maximum burst speed with electronic shutter I can almost guarantee the camera will lock up every few minutes. At lower burst speeds with EFCS or mechanical shutter I still get freezes, although less often.
 
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Dec 25, 2017
575
557
Many of us would prefer that Canon release these updates after extensive testing guaranteeing that the sensor or logic board won't get cooked. It would be detrimental if they had released these features earlier and caused the R5's to be less reliable.
Sure, but why does this take 2 years?
They could have put 10 cameras on 4k120fps in a warm room and keep them running for 3 month. Should be WAY more than enough time to figure this out...

I actualy sold one R5 and got an R5C - though I switched back because of the super unreliable AF and the bad battery performance. I could have saved that roundtrip, if Canon just released the firmware a year ago.
Anyway, I wil soon test it myself and see, how long the camera will run :)
 
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This is easy, most of the Canon R5s that were purchased early on, and possibly count for a majority of the ones in the wild are now past their manufacturer warranty. If the camera torches itself at this point, they won't be responsible for fixing many of them free of charge. Now they can try and get a 2nd surge of income from charging to fix peoples cameras.
My understanding is that most factory service centers operate at a loss. That is why Canon USA doesn't want to repair a unit sold by Canon Europe, for example.
 
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for all the WOBBLE CRY BABIES
umm have you guys heard of emailing canon support the engineers are very insightful and helpful
the WOBBLE on certain lens IS NORMAL ive had conversations with support Alot at least 6 months or so more ago about the same issues but for my Rf 70-200mm 2.8 lens THE WOBBLE IS THE IS and or IBIS modules they are not fixed and they move around
hopefully this stops your crying about it
I can't tell if you're joking or just being a jerk but it seems like you're talking about a mechanical wobble as you manipulate a lens that has IS functionality. This is not what is being discussed. What is being discussed is a wobble in the corners of a video recording shot with IBIS using an UWA lens.
 
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The waranty has expired. Motherboard damage due to setting placed in "High" will not be repaired for free if when flashing memery its discovered that the user had this setting
I pre-ordered so my R5 is 2 years old but Canon Australia has 5 year warranty so 3 years to go :)
I'll be changing it to high especially for 4k30 HQ
 
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I'll start by saying that I don't do video clips more than 30-60 seconds very often with my R5. But based solely on principle, it infuriates me that they left the 30-minute time limit after this firmware update. It's one thing to have a company stance so that you don't cannibalize your cinema cameras, but they have crossed that barrier with the R7. So my R5 which is higher end and over twice the cost has to have this artificial limitation but a lower end does not?!?! Anti-consumer software limitations make me want to kick people in bad places. *Deep breath in........and out*. Okay I'm better now.
I agree in principle but cannibalisation would potentially occur with the R5C
 
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This is easy, most of the Canon R5s that were purchased early on, and possibly count for a majority of the ones in the wild are now past their manufacturer warranty. If the camera torches itself at this point, they won't be responsible for fixing many of them free of charge. Now they can try and get a 2nd surge of income from charging to fix peoples cameras.
Canon Australia has 5 year warranty so I have 3 years to go :)
 
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danfaz

Coffee Fiend
Jul 14, 2015
919
1,727
www.1fineklick.com
Why would anyone be angry? If your cameras don't suffer from any malfunctions, I'm happy for you :giggle:
Oh, the last this topic came up and I said my camera hadn't froze up (yet), some folks got upset and said I wasn't being helpful, but downplaying their issues with their cameras. I was just trying to relay my experience. ‍♂️
 
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Thank you for being our "guinea pig" :D
Might update to 1.6 since I'm still on 1.4.x and haven't experienced any lockup issues so far.
Mine's had one or two lockups on every firmware version its been on over the last two years. I keep thinking one of these is going to 'fix' the issue, lol.
 
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Big_Ant_TV_Media

Hey Fellow Canon Shooters
Oct 13, 2014
321
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NYC
www.facebook.com
I can't tell if you're joking or just being a jerk but it seems like you're talking about a mechanical wobble as you manipulate a lens that has IS functionality. This is not what is being discussed. What is being discussed is a wobble in the corners of a video recording shot with IBIS using an UWA lens.
NOBODY CARES ABOUT VIDEO lol
 
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koenkooi

CR Pro
Feb 25, 2015
3,573
4,109
The Netherlands
This has been fixed by a firmware update several months ago. You can now set a „priority card“ in the menu of the R5. That way it will only write to the SD if you forget to re-insert the CFe
Thanks! I totally missed noticing that feature when it was added, I have it set to prioritize CFe now.
 
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