Firmware update fixes 5D Mark II black dots problem
January 7th, 2009
Good news! Canon just released a firmware update for the 5D Mark II, and it looks like the black dots problem is fixed. Before installing the new firmware, I setup my camera and a test subject and took a series of images. Then I installed the new 1.0.7 firmware without moving the camera and reshot the same images. You can see the comparisons below.
(The swatches are bigger than in the original test from a few weeks ago, because apparently I had my camera closer to the subject this time. I didn’t notice until afterwards, and there’s no way to rollback the firmware and reshoot.)
| Original (1.0.6) firmware | New (1.0.7) firmware | |
| ISO 100 | ||
| ISO 200 | ||
| ISO 400 | ||
| ISO 800 | ||
| ISO 1600 | ||
| ISO 3200 | ||
| ISO 6400 | ||
| ISO 12800 | ||
| ISO 25600 |
So it looks like everything is okay. Hopefully people who photograph city lights and other problematic subjects will confirm my findings with real-world images.