How to Unlock Extra Functions on Canon Compact Digital Cameras
Canon like most manufacturers employ product crippling on their firmware to create different product options. An enterprising software development CHDK has hacked the firmware for a range of Canon compact cameras.
The upgrade gives users access to options normally reserved for SLR level cameras. Examples include longer shutter speeds, live histogram display, saving RAW files and changing bitrate used for video clips. Scripts are also supported allowing time-lapse photography and motion detection which has been used to make lightning photography easier.
I have just had this running on my Canon SX100 IS. Normal maximum shutter speed is 15 seconds, CHDK allows me to override to 64 seconds. The live histogram display allows me to see if the exposure is OK before I take the photograph. My high quality video is normally around 15000 kbs, using CHDK I got 47000 kbs.
The upgrade sits on your SD card and is loaded each time the camera is turned on. No permanent change is made to the camera. Check out the project here :
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
As mentioned in the comments below it is worth while reading all the details. The array of options available is huge and development very active.
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yes, you definitely want to convert your raw files to a standard raw format
there is a tool to convert your PowerShot raw files to Adobe's Digital Negative (DNG) format here:
http://dng4ps2.chat.ru/index_en.html
Be aware of the freeware programs Raw Therapee and UFRaw for manipulating RAW files.
Caution: UFRaw caused a (hopefully) false alarm on Kaspersky when I tried to install it. The program installed ok under Spy Sweeper AV and a full scan by Kaspersky after installation showed no problems.
I think if you download the latest Adobe Camera Raw you should be able to see and edit .crw files in Photoshop
Is there any known tricks such as this for Olympus cameras? I have a SP 550 UZ that has some annoying features such as 15 seconds of video at a time, going into sleep mode too soon/when I don't want it to, etc. Takes great sunny day-time pix and hard to beat the 18X opt. zoom for the price so I don't really want to get rid of it just yet. Any ideas/recommendations?
-John
I've been using CHKD for the last few months.
You REALLY need to read all the WIKI info to get the most out of this hack. There are so many options it is mind blowing.
I had a lot of trouble setting up CHKD on a Canon A650 IS until I discovered this program which formats the SD card and makes it bootable. It's called Cardtricks. Get it here:
http://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=229629&use_mirro...
I've had problems with getting RAW images consistently. Sometimes they don't show up for multiple photos, then they start collecting again. Somepeople on the forum were guessing that maybe I was disabling CHKD in real time using the +/- button in ALT mode on the camera, but I don't think so.
There is a CHKD forum where you can get help:
http://chdk.setepontos.com/
Realistically though, I only use CHKD to get RAW shots and show the battery power icon. If Canon would enable these functions themselves, then I probably wouldn't bother with CHKD.
Hand's down, coolest thing I've seen on this site yet. Thanks!
THANK YOU (re:cardtricks)
I have been trying to figure out how to copy files to the SD for a month now.
I too just recently found and installed CHDK on my Canons SD630. Yes it does a pretty darn good job and the fact that I now can save images as RAW is great. One word of caution. The write time for saving RAW images is much longer than that of just saving a JPG file. So don't be too quick on the shutter or power switch. I've lost a couple of the RAW images, but the camera did save the JPG version. Even with this minor drawback, I love this mod.
Oh, BW, the RAW format is not directly accessible by Adobe Photoshop CS2. I needed to download a third party file converter to convert the images to a DNG format. Not a biggie, but it just adds another step in the work flow.
John Newton
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