New 5D Mark II Firmware Released Early

The long-awaited 5D2 firmware was released today by Canon (obviously), and can be downloaded here. The updates are mostly for video (list to follow). For us video fans, this update is enormous... it's a whole new camera. Oh, since the feature list has now expanded, there's actually a new manual that you can download here.

The update only offers a still photographer one new thing: it fixes a bug where a lens may not be recognized after manual sensor cleaning.

For video, here's a great list from www.canonrumors.com:

Adds or changes the following movie frame rates.

NTSC:
1920×1080 : 30 fps (changed – actual 29.97 fps)
1920×1080 : 24 fps (added – actual 23.976 fps)
640×480 : 30 fps (changed – actual 29.97 fps)

PAL:
1920×1080 : 25 fps (added – actual 25.0 fps)
1920×1080 : 24 fps (added – actual 23.976 fps)
640×480 : 25 fps (added – actual 25.0 fps)

Other Functions
Adds a function for manually adjusting the sound recording level (64 levels).

Adds a histogram display (brightness or RGB) for shooting movies in manual exposure.

Adds shutter-priority AE mode (Tv) and aperture-priority AE (Av) mode to the exposure modes for shooting movies.

Changes the audio sampling frequency from 44.1 KHz to 48 KHz.

So, does this mean we petition Jom Erhardt to now host wildlife video clips?? Yikes, the NPN ISP bill will triple!

Very cool, I do video work with my 5D II, and all of this is welcome news. I'll have to DL the firmware later. Now if they could just add auto focus while filming it would be perfect.

When you go to the site now, they have taken off the download due to a malfunction in the firmware. They are fixing it and will make it available later on. Bummer :(