5d2 2.0.7 -> stealth fix?

regarding below info..

anyone still have 2.0.4 on their 5D2 that can confirm a before/after firmware update for high iso pictures?


http://www.canonrumors​.com …rmware-info-cheap-primes/

You wouldn't have to have 2.0.4 still installed. Anybody who thought they saw a problem before could recreate a similar shot with 2.0.7 and compare. That wouldn't be me, because one of the first things I did when my camera arrived a month ago was The Acid Test - a shot with the lens cap on at 1/1000, f16, ISO 100. Examined at 300% zoom in LR3b2 with a +3.0 Exposure boost and no sharpening or n.r. A bit of random noise, sure; pattern banding, none-nada-zilch.

Still have 2.04 on mine. Probably won't update firmware until I get home next week. Maybe I'll do it while I'm starving myself in preparation for my medical - ummmm - "exam".

can someone explain or show what type of banding issues occured pre- 2.0.7?

With the lens cap on and taking a completely dark picture, there are no issues. But take a severely underexposed picture, and do +3 EV. Mine still has the banding then. But maybe the banding fix was not for shadow noise banding ...

RDKirk wrote in post #10257169
...nor can I seriously imagine Canon fixing anything and not crowing about it.

I've worked in the software telco business for a long time and stealth fixes happen a lot. If the problem has not bee widely reported the last thing we want to do is tell folks we are fixing a problem they have had all along. It makes people nervous. However, since the banding issue has been discussed at length on this forum as well as others, I agree that for this issue you think Canon would be crowing about it. It's not exactly a secret.

gjl711 wrote in post #10257190
I've worked in the software telco business for a long time and stealth fixes happen a lot. If the problem has not bee widely reported the last thing we want to do is tell folks we are fixing a problem they have had all along. It makes people nervous. However, since the banding issue has been discussed at length on this forum as well as others, I agree that for this issue you think Canon would be crowing about it. It's not exactly a secret.

So are you saying that Canon still has not fixed this problem yet?

ilumo wrote in post #10257404
So are you saying that Canon still has not fixed this problem yet?

I don't know. I tried to reproduce the issue with both my 7D and 5DII and never was able to. I know some have it, I've seen the pics, but I don't seem to have the magic.

Of course, I prefer to properly expose my pics and not under expose and push by 4 stops in post processing.

gjl711 wrote in post #10257190
I've worked in the software telco business for a long time and stealth fixes happen a lot. If the problem has not bee widely reported the last thing we want to do is tell folks we are fixing a problem they have had all along. It makes people nervous. However, since the banding issue has been discussed at length on this forum as well as others, I agree that for this issue you think Canon would be crowing about it. It's not exactly a secret.

Canon has, however, reported as repaired previously unknown problems in firmware updates before, so there is no reason to think they ever would not. And nobody has ever reported something fixed that Canon had not identified as fixed. There is no evidence that Canon has a practice of "stealth fixes."

I have seen people claim all sorts of undocumented improvements after firmware updates. "The camera focuses better." "The colors are better". Etc. I have usually suspected that it is a sort of placebo effect.

tzalman wrote in post #10257885
I have seen people claim all sorts of undocumented improvements after firmware updates. "The camera focuses better." "The colors are better". Etc. I have usually suspected that it is a sort of placebo effect.

I'm talking about a problem previously identified by usersthat was never acknowledged by Canon --such as the patterned noise in shadows of the 5D2--disappearing after a firmware upgrade.

RDKirk wrote in post #10257864
Canon has, however, reported as repaired previously unknown problems in firmware updates before, so there is no reason to think they ever would not. And nobody has ever reported something fixed that Canon had not identified as fixed. There is no evidence that Canon has a practice of "stealth fixes."

I have seen a stealth fix or atleast as best as I can gather it to be a stealth fix.
back when I first bought my XSI I was getting error 99 off and on when using live view. could never figure out the exact reason as to what would cause the error 99. at first I thought random fluke but it kept happening under different situations would pop up and only pop up when using live view on the camera. wouldn't happen all the time but often enough that I didn't use live view all that much anymore. they ended up putting out a firmware fix that never mentioned anything about the error 99, live view fault but yet once I installed the update I have NEVER managed to get that error 99 since then. been almost 1 1/2 to two years or so I believe and haven't received it once or installed any other firmware updates. everything else is the same. same lens, same memory card only difference was the firmware update and error 99 never came back yet before I was getting it often enough.

I'm not the only one who has had the issue either and have posted about it back in the day when I finally got tired of it, but i never really heard a lot of people griping about it though either so it might of been one of those fixes put in to sneak the problem under the radar I'm not sure but that firmware as best as I can tell fixed my problem even though it wasn't a listen fix.

would you have any counter explanation as to what this would be if it wasn't a secret fix?


tzalman I could see your reasoning with the focus, colors, noise stuff like that as they are things that at times are a bit harder to really point out at point out and could be very subjective and also based upon shooting conditions and the subject. the error 99 issue though is one it's hard to get a placebo effect over. it's either there or it isn't and after the changing firmware it wasn't.

well i tried some iso6400+ shots and i still see similar banding on my shots compared to shots from firmware 2.04. shadow or not.. the banding throughout thoughout the entire image.. whoever reported it... must be placebo.

wem wrote in post #10257154
With the lens cap on and taking a completely dark picture, there are no issues. But take a severely underexposed picture, and do +3 EV. Mine still has the banding then. But maybe the banding fix was not for shadow noise banding ...

Why would you do that, is there any meaning for this approach in real life situation ? Just curios ...