Canon EOS Digital software disks

[Chilli]

I purchased my 50D dslr several months ago. I have never bothered to install the accompanying 2 software disks.
Is this necessary if I am using Photoshop/Adobe Bridge for all downloading and editing ?
and what happens with Canon firmware updates ?
how to ?
Thanks for your help.

[MarkChap]

Short answer - No

Firmware updates can be applied direct from a CF card

[Art Vandelay]

If you're happy with what you're using then there's no need really. The firware updates are seperate from the software.

Keep an eye on the canon site and download direct from there.

[Chilli]

Short answer - No

Firmware updates can be applied direct from a CF card

Thankyou Art and Mark.

Mark, my menu on camera reads firmware 1.0.6 then says Memory card containing firmware is required to update .
Can you enlighten me further please ?

Thanks.

[SnowA]

You download the firmware updates and save them to your CF card (through a card reader, usually), then do the update from the CF card, in the camera.

[MarkChap]

To do a firmware update, you download the update, and the instructions from the canon site, Click Here

Follow the instructions to load the update onto the Compact Flash Card and then run the update from the camera

[Chilli]

okay, thankyou guys, much appreciated

[etherial]

The only think I use the software for is for remote control of the camera or tethered shooting (rare but sometimes useful). And now Lightroom will do it now too.

One thing I did find useful was I could add some metadata, owner and copyright info into the camera via the software that I don't think I could do on the camera itself.

[Art Vandelay]

Another thing, the DPP software is handy for checking the focus points used.

[RaoulIsidro]

The software in the CD can read and slightly edit RAW images from your camera if you don't have Photoshop or other RAW readers.
Software Updates that are downloadable from the manufacturers website are corrections the camera maker puts out to rectify bugs in the camera OS, plus updates so it can recognize newer lenses that came out after the model was released.

[Chilli]

That is very interesting Raoul, thankyou.

[FTT]

The software in the CD can read and slightly edit RAW images from your camera if you don't have Photoshop or other RAW readers.

PS can't edit .CR2 RAW files directly anyway; they need to be converted to TIFF or equivqlent (can you get integrated PS RAW convertors? I would think so, but extra $$??).
As I - and many others I assume - can't or don't want to fork out for Photoshop, I tend to use DPP for post-processing my RAW shots. It works very well and I'm happy with the results in both digital and printed form. Considering it is a freebie and can handle the Canon Picture Style files for extra control, fixes CA/Noise to some extent, does hue/saturation plus all the other image attributes, saying it 'slightly edits RAW' is doing it a disservice. Sure, you can't do some of the fancier touch-ups that PS can do, but once they're converted to JPG you could run them through open source products such as Paint.net - unless you're semi-pro and then you'd probably invest in PS anyway. Us hobbyists should find DPP or equivalents more than suitable.

[SnowA]

I also find DPP can do quite a lot.

You can also batch convert and export to a 3rd party editor - PS, Gimp, etc - which leaves your raw files untouched.

[MarkChap]

PS can't edit .CR2 RAW files directly anyway; they need to be converted to TIFF or equivqlent (can you get integrated PS RAW convertors? I would think so, but extra $$??).

The OP has already they are using Photoshop

Photoshop comes with Adobe Camera Raw, a Raw processor that is much more powerful than DPP.

And I have never had to convert to TIFF before opening in Photoshop ?

[acko]

Question for anyone who has done an upgrade on say, a 40D or 50D, from your CF card.
What exactly was upgraded, and did you notice any difference afterwards?

[SnowA]

What's upgraded depends on the changes in the firmware. You'd have to read the release notes for each version.

Some are minor - eg. inserting descriptions so that new lenses are recognised and recorded in exif, (un-noticeable until in PP); others are more major, eg. one of the updates for the 5D Mk II allowed full manual control in video shooting.

(Mine was done on a 30D)

[RaoulIsidro]

Question for anyone who has done an upgrade on say, a 40D or 50D, from your CF card.
What exactly was upgraded, and did you notice any difference afterwards?

Perhaps this question would be best with a new thread?
Anyway, I'll try to contribute some tips...
For anyone who has a DSLR and would like to check for new firmware updates that enhances camera functiuons and fixes bugs, just Google the words... "[camera model]", "firmware", "update" and chances are the top search would be the website of the camera manufacturer offering the latest firmware download. Follow the instructions on the website.
This is what they don't tell you... you have to drag the downloaded file into the CF card. This file is still compressed. Once on the CF card, double click on the file icon and the file will "self extract" and create a new file, popping up a new icon. This new icon is the one that the camera will recognize and not the one you dragged previously.
Place the CF card on the camera and proceed with the update.
Always have a fully charged battery in doing the update.
Any interuption, via power failure or just pressing ANY button during the update will transform your $$000 camera into a piece of brick.
All the best!

[mynxt]

I found this when doing the google search as Raoul suggested. Note that it is for my Canon 350D, but I think the instructions are brilliant and you should be able to find similar ones. I'm not trying it until recharging my battery though.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosdigit...irmware-e.html

[acko]

Thanks for that.
Perhaps it is a case of "If it's working just fine, don't mess with it!"
I would hate to stuff it up.

[FTT]

Photoshop comes with Adobe Camera Raw, a Raw processor that is much more powerful than DPP.

And I have never had to convert to TIFF before opening in Photoshop ?

The version of PS I borrowed - albeit CS2 - didn't allow me to open .CR2 files natively. Maybe something was missing, I'm not sure?

When you select 'Open in Photoshop' from DPP, it loaded the .CR2 images into CS2 as .tiff files.

If CS4/CS5 works differently, I stand corrected. But CS2 and DPP worked how I described it.

And as I mentioned, for average-joe user, DPP & GIMP [which are free] will do more than sufficient work on my Raw files. If you already have - or can obtain - PS, all the better. But I'll use my $$ on other things as I can't yet justify the cost:usage ratio of PS.