Firmware: Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM v1.1.0

Canon Rumors Guy

Canon EOS 40D
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Billybob

800mm f/11 because a cellphone isn't long enough!
May 22, 2016
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I guess this is a "must do" update for anyone acquiring the R3 since I suspect that most will use electronic shutter most of the time. However, I wish there were more choices than just 3, 15, 30fps. Hopefully, that will change. I'd like to see, at minimum, 10 and 20fps added as options.
 
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I guess this is a "must do" update for anyone acquiring the R3 since I suspect that most will use electronic shutter most of the time. However, I wish there were more choices than just 3, 15, 30fps. Hopefully, that will change. I'd like to see, at minimum, 10 and 20fps added as options.
Yes, I'll update my lens firmware using my EOS R, in advance of getting my pre-ordered R3.

I suspect we will not see anything other than 3 / 15/ 30 fps for the e-shutter fps options on the R3. That sort of thing is generally not something Canon will change in a firmware update. I'd expect the R1 to be more customizable regarding fps selection, those sorts of adjustments are the province of 1-series bodies.
 
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Billybob

800mm f/11 because a cellphone isn't long enough!
May 22, 2016
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Yes, I'll update my lens firmware using my EOS R, in advance of getting my pre-ordered R3.

I suspect we will not see anything other than 3 / 15/ 30 fps for the e-shutter fps options on the R3. That sort of thing is generally not something Canon will change in a firmware update. I'd expect the R1 to be more customizable regarding fps selection, those sorts of adjustments are the province of 1-series bodies.
You're probably right, an artificial product differentiator. It strikes me that the choice of electronic shutter speed between the minimum and max rates is mostly if not entirely a software matter. However, I suspect Canon will be grasping for as many ways to distinguish the R1 from the R5, and frame-rate options is an easy one.

Anyway, I suspect that I'll (should I not cancel my pre-order) use 15fps most of the time for action photography. I shot a 2-day cross country meet this weekend using my R5's 20fps e-shutter and ended up with over 6,000 images to process. That was not fun! Notably, the 100-500 performed like a champ. Despite my initial skepticism about f/7.1 at 500mm, this lens produces magic at every focal length.
 
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You're probably right, an artificial product differentiator. It strikes me that the choice of electronic shutter speed between the minimum and max rates is mostly if not entirely a software matter. However, I suspect Canon will be grasping for as many ways to show that the R1 is superior, and frame-rate options is an easy one.
There are many of those. For example, the 1-series bodies let you apply up to a stop of 'background' EC and FEC, which they term AE and FE microadjustment and can be set in 1/8-EV increments.

Do keep in mind that there is a cost associated with implementing any function, even in software. On the surface, it seems like it should be a simple matter to take a feature in one camera and implement it in another, and that doing so should be 'free'. But that's not the case.

As a counterexample, when the 1D X came out there was a bug in the AF Microajustment such that the lens-specific values were not stored...but only if the option orientation-linked AF point was selected. Both features were available on previous cameras, but when implemented on the 1D X one setting borked the other. It took me and another forum member to get to the bottom of it. I found the AFMA bug, but not the association with the orientation-linked AF point, the latter enabled Canon to reproduce the issue and led to them developing a firmware update to fix it. So two 'free' features from previous cameras...weren't so free.
 
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Billybob

800mm f/11 because a cellphone isn't long enough!
May 22, 2016
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There are many of those. For example, the 1-series bodies let you apply up to a stop of 'background' EC and FEC, which they term AE and FE microadjustment and can be set in 1/8-EV increments.

Do keep in mind that there is a cost associated with implementing any function, even in software. On the surface, it seems like it should be a simple matter to take a feature in one camera and implement it in another, and that doing so should be 'free'. But that's not the case.

As a counterexample, when the 1D X came out there was a bug in the AF Microajustment such that the lens-specific values were not stored...but only if the option orientation-linked AF point was selected. Both features were available on previous cameras, but when implemented on the 1D X one setting borked the other. It took me and another forum member to get to the bottom of it. I found the AFMA bug, but not the association with the orientation-linked AF point, the latter enabled Canon to reproduce the issue and led to them developing a firmware update to fix it. So two 'free' features from previous cameras...weren't so free.
I wonder if part of the problem may be a difficulty in precisely selecting intermediate burst rates. For example the 15fps may be 12-18fps depending on a number of factors including lens choice, and the 3fps may be 2-5fps. The 30fps may, akin to the Sony A1, fluctuate between 23fps or 25fps and 30fps, again, depending on conditions. Thus, the limitation on choices may be due more to an inability to precisely control the electronic mechanism enough to add more options. Again, I'm just speculating and trying to give Canon the benefit of the doubt.
 
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entoman

wildlife photography
May 8, 2015
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I wonder if part of the problem may be a difficulty in precisely selecting intermediate burst rates. For example the 15fps may be 12-18fps depending on a number of factors including lens choice, and the 3fps may be 2-5fps.
Yes, achieving precise burst rates is virtually impossible, as it depends on:
  • lens design
  • distance to subject
  • type of subject movement (erratic/steady)
  • angle of movement relative to camera
  • rate of subject acceleration/deceleration
  • shutter speed
  • battery state
….and numerous other variables.

That’s precisely why Canon and other brands state the *maximum possible burst rate under ideal conditions*, and ambiguous settings such as “high”, “medium” and “slow” burst rates.
 
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Yes, achieving precise burst rates is virtually impossible, as it depends on:
  • lens design
  • distance to subject
  • type of subject movement (erratic/steady)
  • angle of movement relative to camera
  • rate of subject acceleration/deceleration
  • shutter speed
  • battery state
….and numerous other variables.

That’s precisely why Canon and other brands state the *maximum possible burst rate under ideal conditions*, and ambiguous settings such as “high”, “medium” and “slow” burst rates.
But with the 1-series, Canon lets you specify that maximum ‘ideal conditions’ frame rate for the H, M, and L settings. For example, on the 1D X III the defaults are 16, 10 and 3 fps, but you can set H from 3-16 fps, M from 2-15 fps, and L from 1-14 fps, all in single-fps increments. The same is true on my 1D X, with correspondingly lower top ends of the ranges. As expected, there’s the caveat the selected frame rate may not be achievable under all conditions.

My point is that although that level of customization isn’t available outside the 1-series, I bet it will be possible on the R1.

@Billybob no need to give Canon the benefit of the doubt – a user-defined max frame rate is quite possible, but Canon reserves that feature for 1-series bodies. It’s simply product differentiation. I’d really like AF point-linked spot metering on my R3, but I’m not getting it…because it’s not the R1.
 
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entoman

wildlife photography
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....the 1-series bodies let you apply up to a stop of 'background' EC and FEC, which they term AE and FE microadjustment and can be set in 1/8-EV increments.
It’s by no means a deal breaker for me, but this is a feature that I wish all cameras had.

My R5, and all of the Canon DSLRs I’ve owned in the past, have tended to over-expose (for my usage) at default metering settings, causing me to set minus 1/3 or minus 1/2 stop as my baseline setting.

AFAIK, on most modern Nikon cameras it is possible to set up to a stop of what you refer to as “background EC” in 1/6 stop increments, at least that was the case with my D610.
 
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entoman

wildlife photography
May 8, 2015
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I don’t understand why this “improvement” to image stabilisation is only applicable to electronic shutter.

Could it be the case that in electronic shutter mode there is some form of digital stabilisation, in addition to IBIS and OIS. Seems unlikely, unless it is only active in video mode.
 
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