Canon added a few more details to its upcoming firmware update for the Canon 5D Mark II this afternoon, saying the forthcoming upgrade will make the camera's HD movie mode operate much like the 5D II's manual still mode.

"Once the firmware is installed on the camera, it will be very similar to shooting manual in still mode," Ken Rowe, Canon's technical specialist for the company's Professional Products Marketing Division, told reporters on a conference call today.

"You'll be able to independently set the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. And this will be full manual mode so you'll have to set each individually. There will be no Aperture Priority or Shutter Priority shooting modes for video (with this update)."

Rowe said he did not have information on whether the firmware update would allow photographers to change those settings "on the fly" or whether they would be locked in once you begin shooting HD video.

He also had no information on whether a 24p (24fps) shooting mode would come to the 5D Mark II in future updates. (24p video mode, which mimics the look of film, has been a highly requested feature among 5D II users.)

Rowe added that the update would allow photographers to shoot video in the full ISO range, including the High ISO (H1) setting of ISO 12,800 when ISO expansion is turned on in the 5D II's custom function menu.

Instructions for installing the free firmware will be included once it's made available, tentatively by June 2nd, Rowe said.

"We've been listening to the requests from people for months now and it's taken months of testing to assure that (this firmware update) meets Canon's level of quality," he added. "It was ready as soon as it was ready."