Canon has announced that firmware version 1.0.9 will be released soon for the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. Among other things, it sounds like this will address the 1D Mark III autofocus problems that a lot of people have been complaining about.

The full list of fixes, from Canon’s press release:

  • Improves the look of images when enlarged on the LCD monitor. Applies a slightly stronger sharpness setting to the LCD monitor when images are enlarged.
  • Improves the consistency of AI Servo AF under certain conditions. Reduces the tendency of the camera to autofocus on high-contrast backgrounds when shooting in conditions where AF detection is difficult, such as when the main subject is not completely covered by the AF frames or if the main subject’s contrast is low.
  • Provides countermeasures for Main Dial response errors (Main, Quick Control, Vertical-grip Main). Fixes a rare response error in the Main Dials in which they either did not respond when rotated or would change several clicks’ worth even if only clicked once.
  • Corrects errors in the Italian and Simplified Chinese menu screens.

Interestingly, Canon has put out a press release saying that this firmware will be available for download soon (“at the end of July”) but it’s not available just yet. I guess they were hearing enough complaints about the autofocus problem that they decided they need to let everyone know that they were taking care of it.

Anyone want to take bets on whether or not this update will fix the autofocus problem for good, or if it’ll take a few more firmware updates before they really take care of it? Wagering lines start to my left.