Canon R6, R5, and 1DX-III: firmware upgrade in December

[AlaskaMoose]

There is a firmware upgrade for the Canon R6, R5, and 1DX Mark III coming up in December that adds a few new features as follows:

Canon's Next Firmware Update Will Bring Some Great Upgrades and New Features

Canon shooters using the EOS R5, R6, and/or 1D X Mark III, will have reason to smile soon, as an upcoming firmware update will bring some notable improvements and new features that will make their lives easier. The update came from Canon UK, who announced the upcoming versions of firmware of the...

fstoppers.com

R5 and R6

• Enhanced subject recognition
• Addition of vehicle tracking for cars and bikes
• Improved people autofocus tracking, with better eye and face detection when subjects are wearing a mask
• Addition of body detection
• Ability to set a custom white balance in Live View
• EOS R5 support for EOS VR system and RF 5.2mm f/2.8L dual fisheye lens

1DX Mark III

• Improved head detection for subjects wearing goggles or helmets for shooting winter sports
• Ability to use one button for simultaneous voice memo and image rating application
• Ability to disable the Multi-Controller for FTP transfer

 

[mackmgg]

When they initially switched to machine learning autofocus, I was wondering if they had made it possible to update the models or if they were too big. Looks like the answer is that they are updating the models, which is exciting!

Also good to see that they're adding better face detection when wearing a mask, since it seems like that's still going to be needed for the foreseeable future.

Though it's interesting only the 1DX mentions improved detection for winter sports. I wonder if that's built-into the "enhance subject recognition" that the R5/R6 get but the 1DX only gets that part of it. I guess I'll find out soon, because it's winter sport season now and I'll put this on my R6 when it comes out!

 

[AlaskaMoose]

When they initially switched to machine learning autofocus, I was wondering if they had made it possible to update the models or if they were too big. Looks like the answer is that they are updating the models, which is exciting!

Also good to see that they're adding better face detection when wearing a mask, since it seems like that's still going to be needed for the foreseeable future.

Though it's interesting only the 1DX mentions improved detection for winter sports. I wonder if that's built-into the "enhance subject recognition" that the R5/R6 get but the 1DX only gets that part of it. I guess I'll find out soon, because it's winter sport season now and I'll put this on my R6 when it comes out!

The machine or vehicle focus and tracking sounds very interesting for photographers shooting at the racetracks.

 

[mackmgg]

Looks like the official release notes are posted now! Here’s what it says for the R6:

Firmware Version 1.5.0 incorporates the following fixes and enhancements:

1. Improves head detection performance to support helmets or goggles in winter sports.
2. Adds [Vehicles] selection to [Subject to detect] selection in the [AF] tab to support the detection of automobiles and motorcycles in motorsports. Adds [Spot detection] when [Vehicles] is selected as the helmet of the driver or rider*. *Detection may not be possible for ordinary passenger cars or bicycles, or for motorcyclists performing stunts or kicking up dirt and dust.
3. Improves detection performance for eye detection when:
   – there are shadows on the face.
   – hair is hanging over the eyes.
4. Adds support for torso detection of a person. If the eyes, face or head are hidden or cannot be detected, a person’s torso will be detected and tracked continuously.
5. Adds the ability to import manual white balance (MWB) data from the Quick Control screen when capturing still images.
6. Eliminates the center press operation of the multi-controller to prevent accidentally transferring images during FTP transfer.
7. Adds the ability, when using EOS Utility or Browser Remote for remote shooting with two cards inserted, to set the recording method and to select which card to be recorded to.
8. Adds [Suppress lower frame rate] to [Smooth] in [Disp. performance], enabling the shooting screen to be displayed with less drop frame rate even in dark locations.
9. Changes the default value of [FTP server] → [Passive mode] to [Enable].
10. Improves operation stability during FTP transfer.
11. Optimizes controls of In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) when using specific EF lenses not equipped with the image stabilization function.
12. Fixes an issue, in which noise occurs along the edges of bright subjects when using Canon Log for movie recording.

Updating the ML for the AF is definitely welcome! I’m looking forward to better AF for winter supports (if winter ever actually comes in Colorado this year…). And vehicles/torsos/hair over eyes will probably help too.

Still no support for changing the frame rate with the electronic shutter though. Not a huge problem for me, since I rarely need more than 12fps (or know what to do with all those files). But kind of a pain it’s either up to 12 (adjustable) with the mechanical shutter or a fixed 20fps electronic.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Looks like the official release notes are posted now! Here’s what it says for the R6:



Updating the ML for the AF is definitely welcome! I’m looking forward to better AF for winter supports (if winter ever actually comes in Colorado this year…). And vehicles/torsos/hair over eyes will probably help too.

Still no support for changing the frame rate with the electronic shutter though. Not a huge problem for me, since I rarely need more than 12fps (or know what to do with all those files). But kind of a pain it’s either up to 12 (adjustable) with the mechanical shutter or a fixed 20fps electronic.

I agree with you 20fps is good to have, but I haven't had any need for so many shots in one second. Twelve shots is plenty fast.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

This is a short preview of the EOS 1.5x firmware update: