Adding New Camera Features

8. May 2008 by admin.

I love my Canon SD700 compact camera, even though it’s missing a few desirable features. However, as I discovered yesterday, there’s a way to add those features to my camera. No, it’s not a firmware upgrade, but rather an open-source add-in program called CHDK (Canon Hacker’s Development Kit).

This program is available for many of the existing Canon “point and shoot” cameras and even their DSLR’s. It adds several desirable features such as:

Raw mode
Real-time histograms
Battery charge indicator
Better compression
Zoom during video recording
Macros

What? Macros? Yes! CHDK contains a mini Basic interpreter that has special keywords for camera features. I’ve found a macro that adds a feature useful for HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography - the ability to take bracketed shots with different exposures.

HDR photos require you start with identical photos, with the only difference being the exposure level. Typically this includes one normal picture, one under-exposed, and one over-exposed (or even two on either side of normal for a total of five). This is difficult to do manually but not impossible, but with the macro all it takes is one shutter button press.

I’ve only just begun trying to figure this program out, but I’m very enthused. I’ll post more once I get the HDR photography working.

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