Canon USA Announces EF 300mm, 400mm, 500mm and 600mm L IS II Lens Firmware Version 1.1.1

[jeffabbyben]

Getting my canon 300 mm 2.8 II back from Irvine today with the new firmware. Can't wait

 

[krisu]

I spoke to the Canon US service center in Irvine yesterday, and was told:
a) the firmware itself is not yet available; keep watching the support site
b) the newest bodies (e.g. 1DX, 5D3, 4Ti) will be able to update the lens firmware

So if you have one of the affected lenses, but not one of the newest bodies, find a friend that does so you won't have to ship your lens to a service center.

After waiting patiently for the firmware to post, I finally called Canon USA again. Turns out that only the new 40mm can be upgraded via the newer bodies, so I do need to send my 300 in. The good news is that they sent me a prepaid shipping label.

 

[Studio1930]

Was the "issue" for the 5d3 and 200/2 addressed?

The 200L backfocus issue was resolve for the 1DX via the 1DX firmware update but I don't think the firmware fix has been released for the 5D3 yet. Good news is that my 200L appears to be spot on with my 1DX after the firmware update so hopefully it will be fixed for the 5D3 soon as well.

 

[altenae]

I spoke to the Canon US service center in Irvine yesterday, and was told:
a) the firmware itself is not yet available; keep watching the support site
b) the newest bodies (e.g. 1DX, 5D3, 4Ti) will be able to update the lens firmware

So if you have one of the affected lenses, but not one of the newest bodies, find a friend that does so you won't have to ship your lens to a service center.

After waiting patiently for the firmware to post, I finally called Canon USA again. Turns out that only the new 40mm can be upgraded via the newer bodies, so I do need to send my 300 in. The good news is that they sent me a prepaid shipping label.

The 300/400/500/600 II will also be upgraded by Canon service centers with the 1Dx,5D3,4Ti, but the firmware of these super telelenses will not be made public like the firmware of the 40mm !!


Edward

 

[AlanF]

To repeat my reply on another thread, I took my 300mm f/2.8 II to the London Canon Centre (Elstree), where it was upgraded on the spot in about 10 minutes. It has improved the reproducibility of autofocus on my 7D so it is spot on just about every time whereas before it was bit erratic - I use the lens for bird photos about 10-50 yards away and if the focus is not absolutely perfect the shots are useless.

 

[dolina]

The process of upgrading the Super Telephoto Series II lenses firmware is the same with the 40mm pancake firmware.

My guess is that the recall was done for the following reasons

- Canon doesn't want the firmware dissected by competing companies. Thus the controls put in place
- Only 2012 Canon bodies can do lens firmware upgrades. As indicated in the 40mm pancake firmware announcement
- Canon wants to inspect recently bought lenses for any defects

It took less than 5 minutes to do. I went through 2 hours of traffic to get it done. It was OK as I was also getting something near by.