5d

Amazon.com has the Belkin N+ F5D8235-4 Wireless Router for $71.46, after $48.53 savings.

Save $48.53 on the Belkin N+ F5D8235-4 Wireless Router from Amazon.com >> Regular price is $119.99 >> Sale price is $71.46 >> Savings $48.53 (40.45%) >> Click here for deal

Canon 5D Mark II's manual video controls arrive

Half a year after the camera's debut, Canon released promised firmware that updates its vaunted EOS 5D Mark II SLR with the ability to manually control camera settings while shooting video.

The much-desired feature lets users set aperture, ISO sensitivity, and shutter speed manually. It was the first Canon SLR to support video, and the only one so far that can shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second, but previously it only could shoot video in a fully automatic mode.

The firmware 1.1.0 update is available from Canon's Web site, as are update instructions (PDF). … Read more

Manual video control coming to Canon 5D Mark II

Updated 7:16 a.m. PDT with further details from Canon in Europe, and 9:20 a.m. with further details from Canon USA.

Canon plans to release firmware June 2 to address a common complaint about its EOS 5D Mark II, a $2,700 digital SLR that's generally been lauded for its image quality but criticized for its lack of manual controls when shooting video, the company said.

SLR cameras give photographers close control over settings including shutter speed, aperture, and ISO sensitivity, and the enthusiasts and professionals who buy high-end cameras often understand and use those options. Since the 21-megapixel 5D Mark II was introduced a half year ago as Canon's first SLR to feature video abilities, the video operated in a fully automatic mode in which the camera selected those settings.

That became a common cause for complaint. For example, people couldn't select a wide aperture, or F-stop, to ensure a shallow depth of field that would direct attention to a video's subject while making the background an undistracting blur. The lack of manual controls contrasted with two big video advantages of the 5D Mark II, the ability to shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second, and a large, full-frame sensor that's particularly good at dealing with difficult low-light conditions.

"This new firmware will accommodate a great number of user requests for manual exposure control in the EOS 5D Mark II video mode. Manual exposure control while shooting video on the EOS 5D Mark II is expected to make a big impact with cinematographers and videographers using the 5D Mark II for high-end HD video production," Canon said.

A customer newsletter said the feature will permit control over ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. Canon's European press release was more forthcoming, saying that shutter speed would range from 1/30th of a second to 1/4000th and that ISO would include the camera's regular span of 100 to 6400 and also the extended H1 setting of 12,800. … Read more

Q&A: Canon helps usher in the video SLR era

The camera industry and photographers, having just gotten accustomed to the arrival of video in point-and-shoot cameras, just now are beginning to grapple with its arrival in the more serious SLR realm.

Chuck Westfall, technical adviser for Canon's professional products marketing division and a 26-year veteran at the Japanese company, is in the thick of it. Nikon was the first to market with a single-lens reflex camera equipped with video, the D90, but Canon offers video in two SLRs: the high-end EOS 5D Mark II, with a large sensor the size of a full frame of 35mm film, and the Rebel T1i, a more affordable, mainstream model.

These cameras combine high-definition video--1900x1080 pixels at 30 frames per second in the case of the 5D Mark II--with SLRs' advantages when shooting in dim conditions and with a broad variety of lenses. But even though today's video SLR features offers hold some appeal to enthusiasts and professionals, they're something of an awkward afterthought. SLRs and those who use them that haven't yet had much time to adapt.

Welcome to the world of digital photography, where change is incessant. In an interview with CNET News, Westfall talked about not just video, but also OLED displays, the arrival of rival full-frame SLRs from Sony and Nikon, changing flash card and file format standards, wireless networking, and more.

Question: The age of the video SLR has begun. A lot of people in the high-end camera market are set in their ways, and video is a radical difference for a lot of them. How does that change the camera design, the marketing, and everything you have to do to sell a camera?… Read more

CRUTCHFIELD has the LG 47LB5D 47" 1080p LCD HDTV for $1999.99, after $600 savings, plus free shipping.

Save $600 on the LG 47LB5D 47" 1080p LCD HDTV from CRUTCHFIELD >> Regular price is $2599.99 >> Sale price is $1999.99 >> Savings $600 (23.08%) >> Click here for deal

Canon EOS dSLR thumbdrive won't take pictures

Over here at CNET Asia, we've seen some quirky thumbdrives, but this might hit the sweet spot for some photographers. The acclaimed Canon EOS 5D Mark II has been miniaturized to fit a USB plug into the lens rear, which can be screwed into the faux camera body to protect the contact points.

We're guessing this USB peripheral is as petite as the Glico-issued Nikon collectible, though the difference is that the Canon thumbdrive actually works and is available in only 4GB capacity. It can be found on eBay for $95. I wonder if we will ever see … Read more

Has your Canon EOS 5D mirror flipped out?

Not everyone's ready to chuck their old Canon EOS 5D in favor of the shiny new EOS 5D Mark II. So if you're afflicted with one of the rare instances in which the older model's mirror becomes detached, you'll be glad to know that Canon will fix it for free. How do you know if it's detached? It won't display an image in the viewfinder.

Canon fix looks good for SLR's 'black dot' glitch

Updated at 8:25 p.m. PST with preliminary test results, and at 10:36 p.m. PST with another photographer's results.

Canon on Wednesday released new firmware for its EOS 5D Mark II camera that the company said "improves and mitigates" the "black dot" problem that marred some images from the high-profile, high-end SLR.

Version 1.0.7 of the 5D Mark II firmware software is downloadable from Canon's Web site. (I encountered some dead ends on the site, but eventually found the 9MB download on the U.S. site at this address.)

I've just run some tests. My preliminary opinion is that there's grounds for optimism that the firmware indeed seems to have taken care of the problem. See the shots below taken at ISO 800 and 3,200, magnified to three times regular size. … Read more

Apple software supports 5D Mark II camera

Apple has added support for raw photo files from Canon's vaunted if imperfect 5D Mark II to its Aperture 2 and iPhoto 08 software less than a week after rival Adobe did so with Lightroom.

The Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.4 also supports Canon's high-end compact, the PowerShot G10, and the Pentax K2000/K-m (presumably the white version, too), according to Apple. It requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or Mac OS X 10.5.3 or later.

Also supported is Leaf's higher-end digital photography hardware, the AFi-II 6, AFi-II 7, Aptus-II 6, and … Read more