11Apr Canon 5d mark III HDMI firmware upgrade in the wild
I was hanging out at the Atomos Ninja booth checking out their new (and beautiful) Samurai Blade when I noticed a 5d mark III on display. I started playing around with the settings and suddenly I had a clean 1080p output. I grabbed one of the Atomos reps and he confirmed that this 5d mark III on display was in fact running the yet to be released clean HDMI firmware update.
The rep also explained that Atomos has been working with Canon to provide time code over HDMI to the Ninja and Blade which then have the ability to transmit timecode via their HDMI to SDI converter. The Atomos rep said that they’ve been using and testing the new firmware update for over 6 months.
It strange to me that there was no Canon announcement about the firmware update at NAB. Nikon has been adding clean HDMI to almost every new camera they release, while Canon keeps dragging it’s feet. It’s obviously possible and something that they could easily do in firmware, but Canon’s interest is in protecting their other markets.
Why buy a Canon C100 for $6000 when you could have a 5d mark III + Atomos Ninja for $3700. Sure your video image might not be quite as good, but with a ProRes 422 codec recorded by the Ninja you’ll have plenty of options to take care of that in post. I think the only reason Canon is even considering providing clean HDMI out for the 5d mark III is from the pressure put on them by Nikon’s D800.
Will we see clean HDMI output on any of Canon’s future releases? I find it highly unlikely, Canon will probably save clean HDMI output as a feature reserved only for their top end models. It’ll probably be another few years before they finally decided to provide it to the rest of their DSLR lineup. Canon could be taking over the market, but instead they keep doing the same old thing, while companies like Blackmagic continue to eat away at their market share.
April 11th, 2013 at 5:58 pm
It’s pretty obvious now that the 5dmkII was a happy accident.
April 11th, 2013 at 8:39 pm
agreed
April 12th, 2013 at 12:19 am
I was lucky enough to be at NAB this year and as soon as I heard Atomos had a 5d3 with the firmware I asked if I could see it. They let me record to prores HQ with it and view the footage on a 27″ iMac. It looks nice…but it still has the DSLR muddyness that all canon DSLRS (except 1dc) seem to be cursed with. (It might have had the sharpness up on the picture profile though…didnt check that)
You also dont get the 12 stops of DR you get on a C100. The 5d3 gets around 10. 2 stops don’t sound like much…but it is. The C100 is also converting a 4k image down to 1080p so the image is always MUCH sharper. I think this HDMI out is wonderful…but it doesnt make the 5d3 superior to a C100 or other cinema camera in any regard. I look forward to using it more and seeing how much room in post it opens up.
April 12th, 2013 at 1:27 am
I don’t think the combination of 5d mark III and Ninja will be superior, however I do think it’ll be more than adequate for most when you consider the savings. While I do agree that the C100/C300/C500 produce a sharper image, the step up in quality is noticeable to me but my clients could care less. Until they start to ask for higher quality, there isn’t any point in spending the extra on an upgrade. I’m guessing my 5d mark III’s will make it at least another 2 years possibly 3 before that starts to happen, if it happens at all.
April 12th, 2013 at 4:08 am
I was trying to record footage of Canon 1DC with Blackmagic Hyperdeck Shuttle Recorder through HDMI out of the camera. The AUDIO is not recorded but only video is recorded. In the manual of 1DC it is written in Page 53 “Audio is not output during HDMI output”.
April 12th, 2013 at 5:47 am
Not sure if that will be the case with the 5d mark III or not. If you are using A ninja I think they have an audio input for direct audio recording so that might be an alternitive option.
April 12th, 2013 at 7:16 am
No audio for sync? Come on Canon, start acting like you care.
April 12th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
I can’t wait for the release of the firmware….people always wanna bash Canon due to the new Cinema cam that are out. They forget that the 5Dmk3 is a stills cam 1st….ultimately this is the BEST hybrid cam out there penny for penny…..think about it
April 12th, 2013 at 12:30 pm
My complaint with canon is mostly about their misleading statements and flat out lies about their product line. Canon stated early last year that Clean HDMI out wasn’t possible due to hardware limitations, when they knew it could be implemented in firmware. Intentionally removing features from cameras like the 7d, then when they finally add them, they try to spin it like they’ve just done the impossible.
April 12th, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Lmao this is soo true…..BUT that’s business…..DeeJay can you a post on some other external recording devices that we can use with the Canon/firmware update other than Atomos Ninjas
April 13th, 2013 at 10:54 am
With this firmware update, do we get dual LCD and external monitor feeds, or does the LCD screen still go dark after plugging in an external monitor?
April 13th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
The demo unit had both screens active, but I have no idea if this will be enabled in the final release. It would be nice, but canon has said before that this was impossible, as you can see from the photo I grabbed at NAB it can be done.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:11 pm
According to the FXguide post NAB podcast, this booth was showing a pre-release version of the firmware and it does allow dual LCD & external monitor viewing. If that’s the case, I’m getting a 5D MKIII.
http://www.fxguide.com/fxpodcasts/fxpodcast-247-nab-2013-roadtrip-recap/
April 15th, 2013 at 12:45 pm
Yea, the unit they had out had the monitor and the camera screen working. I tried to make it over to the FXguide live broadcast at NAB, but I got my times wrong and missed it. I’ve been listening to the RC (formerly red centre) podcast since episode #2, great show if you are really into camera tech.
April 15th, 2013 at 12:59 pm
On a side note, if the final firmware has this feature, I’ll defiantly be ordering a Atomos Ninja or blade for the Proress 422 recording. The screen on the new blade (1280×800) looked as good as the high end Smallhd units… It’s on my want list.