What's your experience with the 1.2.1 Canon 5D3 firmware update?

David_S85

I just installed the official Canon firmware update for the 5DIII. Always a pain to do, but this time I am astounded with what it allows with the AF and slow f/8 lens/TC combos.

I just tested mine, at night, with my 400 5.6 and Canon 1.4xTC mk.II. Not only does it autofocus (OK - a bit slow with the 5.6 400 as always), but I got the confo beep and red blinkies. One Shot and AI Focus both produce the red blinky, but not AI Servo. They said that the red blinky wasn't going to happen at all, but mine did it. Does anyone else's?

Here are my settings:
AF Beep is enabled.
I have the cam set this way in the Focus Menu:

Case 1
AI Servo 1st Image priority, equal priority
One Shot AF release proir, focus priority
Select AF area selec. mode (all are checked)
VF Display illumination, enable "ON"

The focus does default to center only; I tried moving the focus point around, and there are no choices other than center. Just stays there, but… I have focus expansion set to 5-point, and with enough contrast on a subject, not only do I get beep and blinky, but the side of the 5-point that has the contrasty point is the one that lights up. WOW!

I can't speak to the video side, nor have I played around enough with the 580EXII to ever notice a slow AF assist, but the main thing for me, the f/8 AF seems to have been addressed, and fixed.

IMPORTANT UPDATES BELOW: Please read those before you update.

David_S85

Ohhhh. There's issues. First, DPP crashes when Lens Aberrations corrections are used. This might be a deal killer for me (and others), as I use DPP as my front end editing software. The Lens Aberrations will turn an image green. This ain't good.

Image AF'd at f/8 with 1.2.1


same image from DPP with lens aberrations used (if it doesn't crash)


Others are reporting that non-Canon LP-E6 batteries will either not display serial number or power remaining, or the camera will not function at all. Canon has "fixed" the non-Canon replacement batteries, as in, made them unusable. Know this before you update.

EDIT: I just updated to DPP 3.13.0, which fixes the 1.2.1 issues seen above. Older DPP (just the previous one) can't deal with 1.2.1. I have also downloaded 1.1.3 firmware from Canon's site in case other software issues arise. Canon might yank the older firmware from their site soon, so I will have that as a backup.

David_S85

All lenses and DPP and 1.2.1 have problems. Crashes or turns them green.

DPP's DLO module also turns all images green.

Image, in DPP, no alterations


Same image with DLO module.


EDIT: I just updated to DPP 3.13.0, which fixes the 1.2.1 issues seen above. Older DPP (just the previous one) can't deal with 1.2.1. I have also downloaded 1.1.3 firmware from Canon's site in case other software issues arise. Canon might yank the older firmware from their site soon, so I will have that as a backup.

ziggy53

The Canon 5D MKIII firmware update announcement is here:

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/standard_display/EOS5DM3_firmware

The Canon 5D MKIII firmware can be found here:

http://usa.canon.com/cusa/professional/products/professional_cameras/digital_slr_cameras/eos_5d_mark_iii#DriversAndSoftware

Select your operating system and version, then click on "Firmware" and choose the current version, "EOS 5D Mark III Firmware Version 1.2.1". You will need to unzip the file and then follow the directions in the included PDF explicitly.

Per David's experience, also plan to update DPP to "Digital Photo Professional 3.13.0" and EOS Utility to "EOS Utility 2.13.0", both of which are found in the "Software" section of the same page as the firmware updates.

ziggy53

Per the above announcement page, the new firmware offers Canon 5D MKIII users:

Uncompressed HDMI Output
"... uncompressed digital video with embedded time code over HDMI output while simultaneously displaying the video on the rear LCD display and recording to internal CF or SD cards. Combined with an improved color sampling of YCbCr 4:2:2 8-bit video, this firmware update adds efficiency to video editing, improves color grading options, and enhances on-set monitoring. "

Cross-Type Autofocus Using Lens/Telextender Combinations With a Maximum Effective Aperture of f8 or Better
"The new firmware allows cross-type autofocusing with the center AF point when the maximum aperture becomes as small as f/8, in the same way that the EOS-1D X does."

"If AF point expansion is selected with an f/8 maximum aperture lens/extender combination, the four AF points surrounding the center point will act as AF Assist points. This option effectively expands the size of the AF detection area to enhance autofocus performance with subjects that appear small in the viewfinder and difficult to track, such as small animals and birds in flight. AF points above and below the center will be sensitive to vertical contrast, while points to the left and right will be sensitive to horizontal contrast."

(ziggy note: This is the first time that I can remember a video update component preempting a still image update component on a Canon still image camera. )

David_S85

Did more testing today in daylight. AI Focus and AI Servo both work with my f/8 lens combo, and very fast I might add. The red blinky confo doesn't much appear in daylight operation unless there is a very contrasty situation at the point of focus (like a black car tire meeting a bright aluminum rim). The confo beeps or red blinkies don't happen in AI Servo, but do sound in the other two more basic focus modes.

AI Servo and f/8 work great!
Bam

Bam

Bam

kdog

David_S85

More testing with the f/8 capability from fw1.2.1 and with the 400 5.6 + Canon 1.4x TC. I don't need to use the iffy Tamron 1.4 TC anymore. Yay!

1. First up is a RWBB.


2. American Robin along the ground.


3. And another Robin in the tree/bush.


All edited in DPP with help combining exposures in the compositing tool from RAW.