Canon Upgrades for 5D

• Canon augmented the video menu of its EOS 5D Mark II through a firmware update. Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images

  Canon released the EOS 5D Mark II in 2008. Its popularity led to a wide range of companion accessories that had users, especially professional videographers, asking for changes to the way the camera's video mode operated.

  Firmware updates -- tweaks to a camera's operating system -- are common for digital SLR cameras, and the Canon 5D is no exception. The most important of these is version 2.0.3 released in 2009 to add more functionality to the video menu.

What Version 2.0.3. Added

• The following features were included in the update:

  -- Variable frame rates for shooting video. This added the ability to take video at 24, 25 and 30 frames per second, something requested by both professional and amateur videographers.

  -- Better sound control. The update gave users the ability to manually adjust the sound recording level from the camera's menu and to sample sound at 48KHz. This also was requested by professional users.

  -- Shutter priority and aperture-priority modes. This gave the videographer better control over lighting and mood.

  -- Histogram display during manual exposure shooting. This helped videographers pick the correct exposure.

How to Install Updates

• To install any update for the Canon 5D, you must first download the .FIR film to your computer. Insert the camera's memory card into the card reader and bring it up on your computer. Copy the .FIR file to the CF memory card.

  Once copied, eject the memory card from the computer and insert it into your camera. Go to the "Set-Up" menu and choose "Firmware." This will begin the installation process.

Subsequent Firmware Versions

• As of October 2010, the current firmware version for the 5D is version 2.0.8. Versions subsequent to 2.0.3 fixed minor bugs in the programming and made other small adjustments to the camera operation, such as brightening the monitor.