After a false start with problems in firmware 2.0.3 that caused the camera to fail to record any audio at all, today, Canon followed up with firmware 2.0.4 that adds manual audio controls to the 5D Mark II. Here's my 5D2 with the controls displayed.

[caption id="attachment_1613" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="5D Mark II with Firmware 2.0.4"][/caption]

I still don't see a link to this firmware on the U.S. Canon Web site. It's available on the Japan site here, although you might want to wait for this to become available on your local Canon Web site, or the U.S. site.

http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eosd/firm-j/eos5dmk2/firmware.html

[UPDATE - Mar 22, 2010] This firmware is now available from the US site too.

Either way, this is a big release. Not having these controls has been a pain for a while, for people shooting video. This update also reduces the 30fps that the 5D Mark II has shot since its launch to 29.97, which is a more standard frame rate, and it adds 24fps (strictly speaking 23.976fps) video.

Nice move Canon!

By the way, I shot this with my new Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS II Lens. Stay tuned for a comparison to my old version one 70-200mm F2.8 L IS lens next week.