would you know if chdk supports canon powershot sx10 nowadays? i have one and i would need RAW support and other enhancements.

hucht94@gmail.com

Not only can you do all the other programs can already do, but it also has built-in motion-detection among dozens of other great features. Works with all the Canon cameras that support remote operation (except newer EOS cameras will not be supported). They offer some free Cam4you Utilities, but I’ve not checked to see what those are for. (free ones at http://alkenius.no-ip.org/Cam4you/index.htm )

The application I am interested in is security cameras. Most security cameras have very poor resolution compared to normal handheld cameras such as the Cannon Powershots. Motion detection devices or software such as zoneminder could trigger the hi-res camera.

I have one camera that supposedly is remotely controllable by gphoto, the Nikon Coolpix 4500. However, when I issue the command to snap a picture, it “re-initializes” for up to 30 seconds before taking the picture.

Anyone who has looked into this sort of thing and has any suggestions can email me at rgr@sdf.lonestar.org

reply (sorry, I don’t do email):

While you can use CHDK to remotely operate your camera, it can only be done through automated scripts with timed events. For your needs check into a program called PSRemote from http://www.breezesys.com/ and their add-on utility called WebCam Zone Trigger from http://www.zonetrigger.com/ which has a special edition to work explicitly with Canon cameras and PSRemote. This allows you to set hot-zones in the Canon camera’s FOV to detect motion and snap off pictures when it detects motion. The link for the special edition (for Canon cameras and PSRemote) is available through PSRemote’s pages if I recall. It’ll do exactly what you want (but at a cost, unfortunately).

You can control everything (and even shoot video) over USB using Canon’s PTP extensions. See http://www.jalkapallo.org/superkolik/canon.html

The application I am interested in is security cameras. Most security cameras have very poor resolution compared to normal handheld cameras such as the Cannon Powershots. Motion detection devices or software such as zoneminder could trigger the hi-res camera.

I have one camera that supposedly is remotely controllable by gphoto, the Nikon Coolpix 4500. However, when I issue the command to snap a picture, it “re-initializes” for up to 30 seconds before taking the picture.

Anyone who has looked into this sort of thing and has any suggestions can email me at rgr@sdf.lonestar.org

13: “Warranty, what warranty? :P”
the hack won’t leave any sign of use to a camera. unless you forget to format the memory card… ;)

15: “SD series suck with their crappy bateries. They don’t hold a lot of charge and you have to hunt for power.”
…and vacation will be ruined when you find out the charger’s plug won’t fit to a socket on the wall. :)
anyway, i shot over 1000 pictures with my a610 using a good set of rechargeable batteries, 550 of them was shot within an hour. beat that, sd-series. ;)
and you won’t see flip-twist screens on them.

16: “Could those models that don’t have remote capture have this abilty turned “on” by new firmware?”
i’ve been told it’s a hardware thing but there’s no good proof of it. nobody has examined, for example a610 and a620, so carefully for different circuitry. i do think it’s software thing, it got to be.
but we’ll see if those russian guys will make it possible. the development is still going on! \o/

reply.

A 620 camera comes with remote capture software which will allow you manual control over the camera. But not focus pulling, the auto-focus can only be locked remotly. Witch is just enough to make it usable for time lapse.

This Remote Capture ablity is randomly distributed through A and SD camera models.

Could those models that don’t have remote capture have this abilty turned “on” by new firmware?

It could if the firmware could make the light meter work all the time and interpret the results as a histogram.
I wish I could modify the firmware on my Nikon D80, I have a few nice old manual lenses that I would like to use, but metering is disabled on them. (It would have to work via stop down metering since there isn’t an AI ring, but I don’t have a problem with that)

People are buying A series because they use regular AA batteries. It is a lot easier to get two AA batteries than to look for power outlets and charger all the time. You can get AA battery anywhere. You simply don’t have to think about charging your camera. Also, for that extra 50-75$ I can buy a lot of batteries or rechargables with charger and extra space on SD card. And check how much you have to spend on another battery for your SD. I will get another set of rechargables.

Size? Well… I have 20D with bg-e2, 24-70 and 580ex. Axxx is tiny compared to this, so it is not a case :D And rechargables that I use with Axxx can be put into my flash, mp3 player or even 20D. I`m a gadget man. Having one type of batteries for almost everything and chargers that work with many different devices that I have makes my life much easier.

PS. Sorry for my bad english. I think that you’ll understand what I’m trying to say.