Canon pocket camera users

[sandbender]

Wired Magazine has an article here...

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Supercharge_Your_Camera_with_Open-Source_CHDK_Firmware

About 'hacking' your cameras firmware, expanding its abilities...

"Digital cameras have powers beyond what is immediately available to the user. On a standard Canon, for example, the fastest shutter speed option offered is 1/1,600 second, but the hardware can handle much more than that -- up to 1/60,000 of a second.

CHDK, the Canon Hacker's Development Kit, is an open-source software project that can be loaded on cameras using Canon's DIGIC II or DIGIC III firmware platforms. It unleashes new features including RAW file format, live histogram display, a battery readout, and the ability to run scripted actions on a camera."

 

[buckley]

Thanks for this mate

 

[ilovemybed]

I've had a tinker with this. It's very flexible and the nice thing is it's a soft fix, so delete the file from your memory card and the camera will be back to normal. No risk in mucking up the firmware. You don't even update the Firmware in the camera so there's no risk.

The only obstacle I've found is that it's difficult to process the RAW files on a Mac. Not even Photoshop's RAW converter likes it. There are a few pieces of software out there that work but they're quite clunky.

One of the best improvements for my A710 IS is the facility to show areas of overexposure live in the display. (Zebra mode, I think it's called) There are loads of things - but some knowledge of photography and a lot of knowledge about computers is required to really get the most out of it.

There's also a couple of games in the firmware too, if you get bored waiting for the light!!