5DmkII 2.0.4 firmware bug with Canon F2.8L IS 100mm Macro lens and it seems many others!

This has been reported by a number of people I know but I haven’t tried it yet! When using the Canon 100mm Macro IS F2.8L in manual focus mode the iris changed on it’s own. This happens only with the new firmware, not the old 30p only version. It happens in stills and video. For much more info please visit the 5DmkII improvements team’s website. From the looks of the comments it seems many other lenses are suffering from this too. Damn!

So I guess we can expect a 2.0.5 firmware at some point, I hope, as that 100mm lens is just gorgeous. I used it a lot in my Salton Sea piece with the T2i/ 550D

64 comments

    1. Please check the full detailed report to understand in what mode this issue occurs.

      Many users have confused Live View “Still+Movie-Exposure Simulation” with “Stills+Movie-Movie Display” (especially those who don’t shoot video)

      The REAL problem occurs in “Movie Display” mode, which is the correct mode to get “full manual control” in movie/video mode.

      Note that “Exposure simulation” can give this apparently buggy behavior, but it is normal because it’s not “full manual” on movie mode.

      It’s all fully detailed in our report, also including 2 VIDEOS (one showing the IRIS behavior, and another video showing what you can see on the camera’s LCD and the correct settings to reproduce the issue)

      PLEASE check it carefully at: http://5dmark2.wordpress.com

      Thanks.

  1. Funny you say that, I noticed the same thing with my 7D + 35mm f/2, when adjusting the aperture it sometimes goes smaller when I dial it larger and the other way around.

  2. Been testing the EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens with a 5D MK II for two weeks now. Had no exposure bugs so far, but i’ve experienced a LOT of those so-called weird noises (and i’m dealing with the real thing. No third parties lenses). Guess it’s all because of the Hybrid IS?

  3. I just noticed this problem this morning shooting with my non-IS 100mm macro. I had not shot much video with it before so the “effect” was new to me. Imagine my surprise to see it noted here (although for a slightly different lens…)

  4. Philip,

    The Canon 180mm f3.5L Macro is affected the same way. When racking focus you can hear the iris click and change exposure. Have you noticed this as well with 2.0.4?

  5. I believe its the exposure simulation mode. Ive been able to recreate it without using 100 macro(i dont have that lens so i used a 17-40 L) if you switch it to movie display mode i notice it doesnt happen.

  6. Hello,

    After 1 week of tests we have confirmed it.

    The REPORT refers to the non-L Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM version (otherwise we would have specified the “L” and “IS” in the model, and would appear on Video # 1 as well)

    Several users have tested with many different copies and camera bodies and found the exact same result. So we concluded without a doubt it is not an isolated lens or camera problem at all.

    We cannot confirm yet if the new “L” version has the same problem.

    But we received reports from many users about other lenses (especially from 3rd party) with similar behaviors. We discarded some of them due wrong camera settings, but others seem to be real issue.

    This malfunction is NOT exclusively to the Hybrid IS system.

    PLEASE check the FULL DETAILED REPORT at:

    http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/

    There is an explanation of the EXACT situation and settings where it occurs.

    We must say we have never seen any lens with this behavior with previous firmware versions (Canon 24-70 2.8L worked and still seems to work fine).

    Maybe this issue also happens on firmware 1.2.4. but since firmware 1.2.4 wasn’t widely adopted nor even tested by the community nor this Team, we cannot confirm that at this moment.

    NOTE: As we wrote in our report, we understand the HUGE work that Canon engineers have done with firmware 2.0.4.

    To fix this malfunction is a priority, but we SINCERELY hope Canon take this chance not only to fix this issue, but also to add a bit more fixes/improvements, so much requested by thousands of users since more than 1 year ago (that CAN be made via Firmware, even VERY easy in many cases).

    Thanks a lot to Canon and everyone supporting.

    -5D2Team

    P.S.: We also expect a new update in near future.

  7. I can NOT emulate this problem with the IS version of the lens…

    Problems described in the article on 5dmark2 site seems to be limited only to non IS version of the 100 mm macro (there is no mention of the IS macro in the article). $0.02

      1. All I am saying Philip is that I can not emulate the problem and the lens mentioned in the article is a different lens. I mean no disrespect.

        BTW, who else had a problem with the IS version (numerous people)? I cannot find any specific comments online… Thx.

        1. Correction: I can now replicate the aperture problem with IS version of the 100 mm macro. I guess I did not play with the focus hard enough before… : )

          : (

  8. Loud motor …….almost like the motor is working O.T on my canon 70-200 IS f2.8 when 5d is engaged in live mode. Anyone else have this problem? Phillip you have the same lense, any problem? Thanks guys and I hope they fix this.

    1. Note: I have been playing around with 70-200 in liveview…figure out it is only when I have my stabilizer on that I get motor noise from lens. I’m not sure if this was happening before the firmware or not. Regardless, I have to be able to shoot with IS on when in Video-without it is just nuts. Anyone got ideas if this is normal or not? Cheers

  9. Another side effect I experienced with the latest firmware is when you set it all manual and trigger the recording : A fraction of a second later, it seems that the ISO are going automatic again and you loose your exposure settings 🙁

    Let’s say that you are shooting a dark ambiance, you are like -2IL from what the DSLR would like to expose. As soon as you trigger, you notice the picture starting to get brighter…

    I have reported to a Canon Tech Guy who was surprised but could not find a logical reason for it (tested with a 24-70mm f2.8)

    I wouldn’t know if it was like this on previous firmware as I did not use 5DII until they were able to do 25fps.

    1. We would like to know more about that.

      Are you sure you have set Live View to “Stills+Movie-Movie Display”?

      If so, please could you explain step-by-step all the procedures to reproduce what you describe?

      Include all camera settings please, so we can check it too.

      Thanks.

  10. We updated the Report, including the link to a video that one reader has sent to us.

    He tested his Canon 300mm F/4L IS, showing the same issue. Proving this is not only related to Macro lenses.

    Please check the updated report, and watch the two videos included: one showing the iris jitter, and another the image suffering from that jitter.

    Check: http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/

    We feel confident that Canon will fix it at some point.

    We really hope this also encourages Canon to take this opportunity fix and add some features (many of them are really easy, and hugely requested), why not?

    It is a GREAT chance to demonstrate once more that Canon is really listening to customers, and doing their best, being steps ahead of the competition.

    That’s our hope, because we love this camera and know its huge potential.

  11. We posted a Report UPDATE, with more videos and details: http://5dmark2.wordpress.com

    We do this with the sincere hope this will be fixed, and maybe some additional features implemented (at least those that are really easy..)

    If someone do a video test on other lens to show the IRIS jitter, following all the correct settings and showing full details, please feel free to contact us. We might post other lenses tests too if they show a real issue.

    Please note this is a firmware issue, not a lens issue. But it’s only noticeable with some lenses, most of them “Macro”, but not limited to that kind of lenses.

    Thanks a lot.

  12. happens on my sigma 150mm macro also, posted a video on youtube. copy this in to youtube search:

    iris shift sigma 150mm 5d mark2-desktop.m4v,firmware 2.0.4

    sorry im not the greatest narrator but it shows the problem.
    there is something going on!
    thankfully people are on it. lets hope they fix it!! cos i like this lens a lot!
    thanks

    1. Was about to purchase a 5D mk11 body to use with my Olympus om zuiko lenses but presumably this iris changing problem will still occur with these lenses too whenever I pull focus? In that case I may have to settle for the 7D and sacrifice the frame crop, which seems a shame as I’ve got some nice wide primes. Though judging by an earlier comment something similar also happened with the 7D! ? ? Anyone ?

      1. If you use “manual” lenses (with aperture ring), on which the camera has no aperture control, then you won’t experience any iris issue at all.

        Please check the reports if you still have any doubts. We posted video tests with 3 different lenses and reported 2 additional affected ones.

        But please note this is a firmware issue, mostly affecting “macro” lenses and some very few other non-macro ones.

        5D Mark II is a GREAT camera, don’t let only this issue change your final decision.

        We are confident Canon will fix it, because it’s a real malfunction. But maybe Canon doesn’t make any official statement until the fix/new update is released..

        It seems Canon is aware of this problem, as we report in our latest post.

        We will publish more news when we get them. We are also working on an additional report regarding an improvement (not a bug!) on the latest firmware.

  13. has anyone suffered an audio fault with the new firmware. I was filming for a good hour with the 5DmkII with the 70-200 2.8 L – everything ok for the first 20 minutes – then a horrible loud permanent clanking audio sound throughout all recordings appeared on the rest. Im sure I hadn’t touched/altered the audio levels just by holding the camera!

    Anyone else had this?

  14. If you analyze the footage “frame by frame” on your NLE software, you won’t find dropped frames (or duplicated frames). That can you give you full confirmation the footage is fine.

    Instead, we found the refresh rate of your display is a key factor when you see “stuttering” issues on your footage when played back.

    If you set it to a multiple of 24, the footage looks normal (with the inherent “progressive 24p stuttering”, but not much more than that. Of course don’t expect 24p to be as smooth as 30p). The same applies to 25p and 30p (29.97fps)

    If you set the refresh rate of your monitor/display to 75hz and playback a 29.97fps (30p) 5D2 footage, it will appear with noticeable (“randomly”) stuttering.

    We tested this on many displays and found it’s amazing how it can change the showing experience.

    25p recorded by 5D Mark II and played back on a 100hz monitor/display looks smooth as 25p should be.

    Besides of that, we found a specific improvement (at every frame rate). We’ll write about it on our Blog.

    1. Actually it does do actual, true, 100% real frame drops at times, almost like it suddenly does a little book keeping and you get a hitch like a video game that is not carefully programmed and decides to do some disk access or memory allocs or something and hitches the frame from time to time.

      It seems to be easier to get it happen if you do a bunch of really fast pans, maybe it sometimes overwhelms the compressor or something?

      It appears to be exceedingly rare if you are shooting without panning or only doing, ever, very gentle pans.

      Perhaps panning over alternating bright dark like tree trunks in teh winter quickly in 24p makes it most likely? Hard to say why it will be perfect much of the time and then suddenly drop some frames.

  15. hi everyone
    just got a new lens 120-400mm sigma and its all good exept when i zoom in i see the iris change. well im not zooming much so its not an issue really.
    but i think it shows that there is something going on that should not happen.
    well just wanted to let you know.im sure when they fix the issue with the macro lenses that will be salved too.
    cheers
    matthias

  16. “Thank you for contacting Canon USA product support, and for your
    interest in the EOS 5D Mark II. We appreciate the opportunity to assist
    you.

    I am not able to comment on information posted on third party websites.
    The information I am able to provide is based on information available
    on the Canon USA website at http://usa.canon.com.

    We haven’t found any issues with iris jitter.”

    ??

  17. Dear Sir/Madam,

    “Thank you for your email reply.

    Be advised that Canon Europe have not issued such a release regarding “Iris Jitter” thus far and as such I cannot give you an estimated release date for a quality issue that has not yet been publicised by Canon Europe. If such a statement is made in due course by Canon Europe, it will be published via the FAQ section of the Canon Europe website.

    Hopefully you have been sufficiently informed but should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to reply directly to this email by navigating to the link below.

    Best regards,

    X – Canon Support Centre”

    not good at all.

  18. * 300 2.8 IS jitters at times, not a real lot

    * 300 2.8 IS + 1.4x TC always jitters crossing from 20m to infinity focal, but seemingly not otherwise, very odd indeed

    24 1.4 II – can’t seem to make it jitter

    70-200 f/4 IS – can’t seem to make it jitter

    * 100 2.8 macro USM – does it and does it a REAL lot (and not just in macro zone, up in 1m,2m,3m,infinity zone too)

    50 1.4 – does not seem to do it at all

    28-75 2.8 (tamron) – does not seem to do it at all

    135 2 – doesn’t seem to do it at all

    I don’t really see any sort of a clear pattern emerging.

  19. I have several L-lenses from Canon but have only experienced the problem with the Canon F2.8L IS 100mm Macro. I have a 7D. It’s actually quite annoying and a pity, since the lens is very good otherwise.

  20. We posted a LIST of Lenses affected and NOT affected by IRIS jitter problem:

    http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/list-of-lenses-affected/

    Feel free to give your feedbacks. What we only request is to be as accurate as possible, giving full details on your findings.

    Regarding the 7D, we would need some users to do the tests and make a video to show the problem (we can post only youtube videos).

    Don’t forget to report it to Canon.

    Thanks to everyone supporting.

  21. NEW UPDATE:

    We can confirm with 100% accuracy that some lenses are affected by the IRIS jitter WHEN ZOOMING on firmware 2.0.4.

    Aside the fact that the light decreases in a non constant aperture zoom lens when zooming, some zoom lenses also suffer “IRIS JITTER” when zooming in and out (ironically they seem to be not affected while changing focus).

    One of those lenses is the:
    Tamron 17-35 f/2.8-4 SP (canon mount, obviously)

    Yesterday, a reader has reported this same iris malfunction with two Canon EF zoom lenses mounted on a EOS 7D in our latest LIST OF LENSES – UPDATE post:

    http://5dmark2.wordpress.com/2010/05/03/list-of-lenses-affected/

    Indeed, we will keep updating this, because it’s 100% clear that this issue DOES EXIST, and is affecting lot of lenses and not only Macro lenses, and Canon USA is still not giving a clear answer.

    WE HOPE CANON FIX IT SOON. This “iris jitter” issue appears not only while changing focus in some lenses, but now we also confirmed it occurs while zooming in and/or out on some lenses.

    We’ll probably post a new report about it, with a video example.

    We encourage all users to politely REPORT it to Canon with full details CLEARLY explaining that you ARE experiencing this problem and not only re-reporting what a website is telling. (To help users, we provide full Canon contact information at our blog).

    The IRIS jitter is VERY easy to reproduce with a 100mm 2.8 Macro lens (even easier with non-L version), but also with the lenses listed on the Blog post.

    So there is no chance to delay the investigation and work to fix it. We reported it with full details and videos one month ago… And we’re still updating the information to help Canon and Canon users.

    1. SORRY, this is WRONG.

      We made more and deeper tests and found the iris behavior during zooming in or out when using variable aperture zooms is normal (or can be considered as normal)

      IF the zoom is a “constant aperture” lens and it suffers some kind of iris change/jitter whilst zooming or focusing, then that could be an issue or abnormal behavior that needs to be investigated.

      So far, there are VERY few reports of that kind and we couldn’t confirm it.

      HOWEVER the “iris jitter” reported when using 100mm 2.8 Macro lens (and some other lenses) IS a real issue/malfunction that needs to be fixed.

      Sorry for the previous wrong post.

      We updated and corrected our Blog post as well.

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