Canon 1D Mark 3 - Firmware update

Roll of drums...............


http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eos1dm3/firmware.html

As usual, camera serial number is required - I'm off to install it - will report back as soon as I can

Out of interest - it's version 1.1 NOT 1.09 as reported elsewhere previously

Barrie :)

Just in case, I have only updated one of my bodys so far. All very simple and quick as are all Canon firmware updates in my experience.

One of the issues corrected, is with the LCD screen. It's a not very widely reported issue, and it might seem trivial to some people, but the preview was absolute crap with the previous version (to put it mildly). When I shot my first images, I thought there was something wrong with the cameras as the 3 inch preview screen image was showing the images with a colour cast and so blurry they look as if they were taken with bottle glass (the files themselves were perfectly fine).

Now the images are sharp and vibrant - excellent. I'm happy for this change alone!

Early days with regards to anything but the main thing is - the camera still works!

Couple of points for those not used to doing firmware updates.

1. Make sure you use the camera with a fully charged battery or connect it to the mains

2. During the update process, DO NOT TOUCH ANY OF THE CAMERA BUTTONS

Barrie :)

Cheers Barry.

Interesting that they appear to have fixed something beyond the fix that they provided to RG.
Looking forward to seeing what RG has to say now, hopefully it will put this focus speculation to bed once and for all.

Addendum, maybe not, this is what has changed.. RG update . Looks as if the focus speculation will continue for a while yet.

T

It's only addressing one or two of the reported focus issues mainly to do with high contrast, brightly back lit scenarios. One of the alleged issuesRG consistently reports is not being addressed (or so I understand).

Not that anyone I know has ever encountered it but that's another story......(probably because we don't seem to have had any brightly lit scenes to photograph this summer!)

"probably because we don't seem to have had any brightly lit scenes to photograph this summer!"

You had me laughing outward and crying inward!

Just downloaded it and will try it tomorrow on my falconry day as the weather is forecast, ho ho ho, to be good. Not sure what difference it will make to my working mk3 but then again I am not RG I guess.

Hi Barrie and Andy

Looking forward to your conclusions as I still haven't taken the plunge largely due to RG's findings!

David

Hi David

I'm not going to repeat mine here as it's not a Canon gear forum and it will probably bore the pants off most people. Suffice to say, pop over to www.eos-forums.com and you'll see lots of write ups from a number of people based on hands on experience

Barrie

cheers Barry... interesting reading

Hi Barrie

Thanks for that - interestingly my preferred dealer rang me about an hour ago to offer me another (having declined one some 6 weeks ago) at the price I want to pay. As it now appears Canon has acknowledged there is or maybe a problem in some cameras I feel confident that if anything other than a firmware update is required in the future Canon will put this right So I am picking up mine on my way back from Gatwick tomorrow!

Regards
David

David, it must be the only one in the country! I missed my opportunity about a month ago because of all this 'focus talk'. I'm kicking myself. Now I just can't get hold of one and I've only got 3 weeks til I leave for Africa!

There are loads around Elliott.

York Cameras in London had a few on their shelves yesterday as do Mifsuds in Devon right this very minute if you are quick (I have just spoken to them). Calumet get them in every week as does the Southampton branch of LCE.

Must try harder

Barrie

Hi Elliott

Walters Photo emailed me today saying they have them in stock too.....

www.waltersphotovideo.co.uk

cheers

Sean

Testing proved interesting yesterday in very challenging and contrasty conditions. Considering the subject matter, and that you have to take all action shots with a pinch of salt, I would say that the firmware seemed to make little difference to the autofocus performance of the camera. It still worked great, as it did before I installed the firmware. Of course there were situations when it did not get it at all, but then again this happens all the time with every other camera I have used so no hot news there. I did test it with a barn owl and bald eagle flying against tree backgrounds and it did maintain the lock on very well indeed with the sequences sharp across the range. I did have one sequence where it focussed on the background and not the subject, but that was shooting into the light into very contrasty grass so have no issues there, if I had used the ring of fire points rather than the central one then I may have got better results. Sometimes I actually held the camera down until the last minute then put it straight onto the subject without any acquisition time, mostly it locked straight on.

So all in all not very conclusive as it works as it did previously for me. It's not perfect, but then again nor am I and I suspect that a lot of the misses were down to the general difficulty of getting erratic birds sharp in flight and my low shutter speeds caused by over-exposing to maximise sensor efficiency. But in my opionion it is a lot better that what I have already and I will nail more action sequences with it, and more importantly I trust the MK3 to do it.

Cheers for the fedback Andy.

I am awaiting the news about the feature set of the 1DS3 before I splash the cash, so roll on the 20th when the info 'possibly' will arrive.

T

Hi Chaps,

Thanks for the retail outlets "with stock". Now on the ball!

Andy, if I bump into you in the mara, can I borrow yours for the day!?