It was promised at the back end of last year, but finally, the new firmware for the EOS 5D Mark II has arrived. Praise be, this makes the camera a real powerhouse in the world of film making.

The changes are thus:

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)

- 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.
- Fixes a phenomenon where communication between the camera and the attached lens is sometimes interrupted after manual sensor cleaning. (This phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.4.)

 Having had a play with the new firmware at Focus on Imaging last week, all I can say is that it's not come too soon! The audio features will solve the requirement for double system sound, and those that have invested in Zoom, Edirol or Tascam units or the like can now use them for ambient sound recording. It will also mean more sales of small shotgun mics like the Rode VideoMic or Sennheiser MKE400, as well as (for the more serious practitioner) Juicelink and Beachtek boxes that allow XLR inputs to be fed into the camera. 

With the 48KHz recording and maual gain control, you can now record all audio with the camera - a big advantage in time saving from having to syn audio later (although PluralEyes is a fantastic piece of software and still has a place in the workflow arsenal). 

If you've got an EOS 5D Mark II, then you should update your firmware even if you don't think you'll use the movie features. 

I can't wait to get to using it in the real world. In fact, I'm thinking that since I'm in Dublin, maybe I'll make use of my day off tomorrow to go take a look around the St PPatrick's Day parade. 

To download the firmware, go here.