As most of you know, I'm currently testing and working on a review of the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. I'm going to take the camera out for some mountain bike jumping photos tonight to give it a serious auto focus and frame rate workout. Since there have been numerous reports of auto focus issues, and the latest firmware is supposed to fix the problems, I just upgraded from version 1.0.8 to 1.1.0. Upgrading the firmware wasn't as straightforward as I expected. I checked the manual and CDs and couldn't find any instructions. Turns out they're all on the Canon Web site. And even then they're a little confusing. Here's a link to the page where you can download the firmware:
http://web.canon.jp/imaging/eos1dm3/firmware.html
The following is a description of my experience, using a Windows XP computer. Here's a link to the PDF with the instructions (at the bottom of the firmware page above): http://web.canon.jp/imaging/dc/PDF/eos1dmk3_fib-e.pdf
1) Download the .exe file to your computer and then click run. It won't work if you don't open the file.
2) After you run the file, a new file will be saved in whatever directory you're in.
3) Format a CompactFlash or SD memory card in your 1D Mark III.
4) Using a card reader attached to your computer, copy the extracted file (not the one you saved from the Canon site) to your memory card.
5) Make sure your camera battery has enough power or use the AC adapter.
6) Insert the memory card in the camera.
7) Click Menu > Setup 3 > Firmware Ver 1.xxxxx
8) Follow the directions on the camera's LCD
Note: Don't tuch any buttons while the firmware is updating!
My instructions aren't 100% complete. But I think they will help smooth out the process for people. The hole for me was actually running the self-extracting file I saved from the Canon site. If you don't open that file and save the new, extracted file to your memory card, it won't work. Nothing will happen. I tried.