Hacking your A640 to shoot RAW and other neat stuff too!

[AZ ChopperCam]

I'm going to try this on my A640

_______________________________________

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK/FAQ

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK/HDK_firmware_usage



After loading of СHDK firmware you can get the following functionality:

* Shooting in RAW
* Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
* Zebra mode (blinking highlights and shadows)
* DOF-calculator
* Battery indicator
* Scripts execution (exposure/focus/... bracketing, intervalometer and more)
* File browser
* Text reader
* Calendar
* Some fun tools and games :)

[Tonystott]

That looks very interesting DJ. Being the brave soul that I am, I will wait to see how you go! :D:D

[Efliernz]

ditto Tony!!!

DJ, if you are really brave, feel free to video it going "well"... :wink:

[MarkWebber]

I'm with you, Tony. Happily, DJ's willing to put his 640 on the hacking block :D

[dreslism]

Sissy's!!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


There's not really any hacking. I did this to mine about a month ago.

The firmware "hack" actually gets loaded in addition to the standard firmware that is already in your camera.

You put the hack firmware on your SD card, and then tell it to load it. You have to do this everytime you power up, so there is no permanent change to your camera, or if you don't want to manually load it every time you turn your camera on, then lock your SD card, and then it will auto load it every power up.

When you cycle your camera power, it is gone, so no harm done that I have found or can see.

[AZ ChopperCam]

When you cycle your camera power, it is gone, so no harm done that I have found or can see.

YUP! it's no biggie.

[Tonystott]

Gotcha. Looks like another job for the weekend

[MarkWebber]

Sissy's!!!


HEY NOW...I resemble that remark :D

[LoopBaCK]

Now we're talking. RAW is the only holdup I've had with the smaller cams. I use the Panasonic LX1 (shoots RAW) but the noise is frustrating. If I can get this thing to shoot RAW with little to no noise then... Sounds good to me!

Maybe you guys who've applied the firmware addon can post a couple test shots. Say a ground subject with all the typical settings for a typical aerial without the firmware then the same one with firmware.

COOL!

[d-bledsoe]

Yep it works really well. Raw was the one thing holding me back on this cam. I found this hack and then bought the cam. The software mod works great. i have had no problems shooting raw on the camera. The hard thing is remembering how to change the custom settings.

-Derek
-flyboyAP.com

[furyphoto]

Did it, Love it.

I installed the interval script too, great for shooting without a trigger. I don't even know why Canon would make a 10MP camera without a raw mode, so this is a godsend.

-A

[AZ ChopperCam]

those of you who shoot and process raw files, what software do you use for conversion ?

[bullaculla]

If photoshop doesn't work, try the pixmantic rawshooter.

[LoopBaCK]

So far I process all RAW shots with DxO Optics Pro and/or Photoshop CS2. I'm hoping they will be able to handle RAW processing from the A640. Anyone know?

[Hovernut]

Here is a newbee question, pardon my ignorance, but what is RAW and how does it differ from the regular format on my A640?

Thanks
Tony

[AZ ChopperCam]

RAW is the raw data from the CCD. it is uncompressed and I believe the bit depth is greater than standard .jpg.

This means more non-destructive processing/editing abilities when color correcting in post.

[terje]

those of you who shoot and process raw files, what software do you use for conversion ?

I used to do it with pixmantec but now it's all done in Adobe Lightroom

[tcgliderguy]

To follow up on the explanation of RAW...... the biggest advantage in my mind is that the RAW file is essentially "locked". All of the information from your CCD chip is recorded in the file..... and you have to use some sort of conversion process to convert it into either a TIFF, a PNG, or some other format. In the conversion process you can adjust color balance, contrast, etc.... but the changes only apply to the converted image. So.... short of just plain losing the original RAW file, there is nothing you can do to screw it up. This means that you will always have ALL of the original image data, and can go back and re-adjust as your needs or taste change.

It's just like having the original color negative..... and being able to fiddle around with a variety of looks when you make a print......

RAW is great!

-Taylor

[aramsdell]

Gotta love it. I did this . It was toooo easy. Why wouldn't you want to do this to an A640. Do you want to be stuck with 5 bit color??????? The RAW files are a little odd. You may have to download a free converter. Some photo editing programs do load them though. You end up with 10 bit color in RAW. It may confuse you for a short time.

[aramsdell]

follow the links and read them . Basic install instructions below.


first stop is here for info

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ

read that then you'll want the newest update for the A640

http://ewavr.nm.ru/hdk/allbest-a640-100b-33.zip

Save it in some place convenient like 'My Documents'.

Plug in your SD card and go to 'My Computer'.

Open the Canon_DC(k) file or whatever that card reader comes up as.

On my computer it is drive K.

Open the zip file and copy the 2 files into the sd card root directory.

Put the card in your camera. Set switch to playback mode.

Turn on camera. Press menu. Press the scroll UP button until you see

'Firm Update?' or similar. Press func set button. press right arrow to
'OK' and press func set again.

Move the switch to record pcitures from the play mode.

Press the blue direct print button. This gets you in alternate mode.

Press the menu button to get your new hidden menu.

Press the direct print button again to exit the menu mode.

Scripts are little prgorams tha can run on the camera for things like focus,Tv,Av and DOF bracketing, time delay etc. If a script is loaded it will run when the alt mode is selected and you press the shutter. It will stop and/or start again as you press the shutter again.

There are some scripts online for download.

There may be a couple included with the download. Check the scripts entry in the alternate menu. You would choose the script from there and change some parameter if desired.

If you aren't running a script then you must get out of alt mode by pressing the Dprint button.

There is a ton of stuff on here that I don't understand yet but a lot I like. You'll have to experiment. You can move things around on the screen like a battery poser icon, histogram(s),depth of field calc. etc. Enough so your lucky to see what you're shooting.

[aramsdell]

DNG for powershot. Available for free on the CHDK page that explains RAW processing. It just converts your files to a format that is a litltle more standard than the 10 bit(i believe) RAW from A640. You can process in something else then.

[KarbonBird]

A variation on this hack??

http://owenjm.googlepages.com/chdk

[aramsdell]

Alas, they are all related and all build upon one another. This is open source stuff. I'll look through your page ,there may be something I want there.

If you do store the files on your SD card make sure to use 'delete files' not 'format' or yu'll be reloading the programs.

I particularly like the focus bracketing (among others!)that is in the build I used. I'm not too keen on the A640's focusing. It always seems to be less than it could even in bright light and well chosen exposure.