The Canon Camera Hackers Manual by Berthold Daum (Rocky Nook, $29.95 USD) addresses “geeky” owners of Canon consumer cameras, such as the Powershot and IXUS, who would like to explore the possibilities of their cameras and eventually tweak them to do things way beyond their original specifications.
The hacks are based on the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK), free software maintained by a group of enthusiasts. Many scripts are already published on the web, and this book teaches how to use existing scripts and how to write new ones.
Canon cameras allow the user to temporarily upload so-called add-ons into the camera through the memory card. The next time the camera is powered on, the add-on is active; when the camera is switched off, the camera returns to its original state, so there is no risk of losing the manufacturer’s warranty.
Some of the things you will be able to do are:
* Produce RAW (or DNG) files in addition to the camera’s JPEG output
* Manually control aperture, shutter speed, and ISO
* Expand shutter speeds way beyond the specification limits
* Enable bracketing
This article was last modified on December 14, 2022
This article was first published on June 3, 2010
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