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  1. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    It'd never occurred to me that you could hack a camera; but apparently anything using an SD card can be modified.

    There is a website called CHDK that is for Canon cameras, and they can add functions like time exposures, wide dynamic range and RAW to most models.

    Just wondering if any of you guys have ever tried this?

    The software is free and apparently goes away when the camera is turned off, but still..:]
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  2. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Yeah, this stuff has been around a good 8 years or so. That's what Magic Lantern is all about. And it's not always as volatile/transient as you say.

    Scott
    Last edited by Cornucopia; 7th May 2015 at 09:28.
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  3. aBigMeanie aedipuss's Avatar
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    magic lantern modifies the firmware of the camera and is semi-permanent. you have to re-flash the firmware to stock to get rid of it. it voids your warranty. that said i've been using it on 2 canon dslrs for years and would never go back to stock. my main camera a 60d gives so much more useful info for shooting.
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    "a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303
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  4. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    Thanks guys, must be different software. No mention of magic lantern on their site, but here's what they do say:

    CHDK does not make any changes to the factory-installed firmware in the camera. CHDK is stored on the same memory card as your photos. When you remove the SD card or delete the CHDK files, the digital camera reverts to its original state.
    http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_for_Dummies
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  5. Banned
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    That's quite common and is also available for Nikon cameras. Can usually only be done after the manufacturer publishes a first firmware update.

    Most common request: overcome the idiotic video time limit of DLSRs, and no if you would like to run it another 10 minutes your DLSR does not explode due to heat as fairy tailers would like you to believe instead it is the politics of idiotic duty.
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  6. Couldn't find anything for Sony cameras.
    Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence -Carl Sagan
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  7. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by newpball View Post
    Most common request: overcome the idiotic video time limit of DLSRs.
    I read somewhere that is caused by the import description; if it does more than 10 minutes, it is defined as a video recorder and the duty is higher. Ain't globalization great?:]
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  8. Originally Posted by ahhaa View Post
    Thanks guys, must be different software. No mention of magic lantern on their site, but here's what they do say:

    CHDK does not make any changes to the factory-installed firmware in the camera. CHDK is stored on the same memory card as your photos. When you remove the SD card or delete the CHDK files, the digital camera reverts to its original state.
    http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_for_Dummies
    Magic Lantern is tried and true -- I would be extremely wary of using anything else.

    edit: --Oh, I see. This is for the lower market point and shoots where Magic Lantern isn't an option. Nevermind
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  9. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    afterthought: Does Magic Lantern have any special video features?
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  10. Member Cornucopia's Avatar
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    Plenty - RAW storage being the top of the list (but also in-cam metering/histo/waveforms/etc). Look on their website. YMMV, esp. depending upon the make & model of your cam. ML is also at this point still for use only with Canons.

    CHDK is also thoroughly sussed out by that enthusiast community - All mods/hacks are potentially risky, but CHDK is fairly robust & safe (if you follow their tutes to the letter).

    Nikons have their own hack community, but they aren't related to CHDK (which is particular to Canons, hence the name: Canon Hack Development Kit).

    Unlike what some would like you to believe, there are both technological and legal/tax reasons for separating "Video/Cinema" cameras and "Still/Photo" cameras, even though both might seem to have similar functionality.
    Yes, the limit is ~29Minutes for "Still" cams. Above that and it must be classified as a "video" cam (and it would be - think about it), and that does have higher import taxes (but not a lot higher).
    Yes, "Still" cams can be hacked to SOMEWHAT override this limit, but very often some kind of limit is still hardcoded into the chip (e.g. chip uses signed 16bit code for date/timestamp, filesize allocation, etc) and that kind of limit CANNOT be overridden (would require a re-write of basic code & new chipsets).
    Yes, "Still" cams can sometimes completely bypass the time limit, but there are very real limitations on sensor chip heat dissipation, and many/most "Still" cams are NOT designed with long running times in mind and so will NOT correctly dissipate the heat - to the point that some DO overheat & shut down (and a very few could overheat & break).

    Scott
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  11. Member ahhaa's Avatar
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    My biggest disappointment with less-than-prosumer video of any type is their atrocious handling of audio; and bad audio is an in-your-face flaw that really degrades audience interest. (Whenever I see a Cloverfield-type film, I snort as they get perfect audio under flourescent lights or in a dance club.)
    I thought Bluetooth would solve that; or at least get the mic off the camera.


    just fyi- As far as CHDK is concerned, I found 2 utilities there (ACID & STICK) that read the model and revision of your Canon camera- they do it by looking deeper into any photo taken with the camera. After auto-downloading the appropriate version of CKDK, I turned to formatting the SD card where I found so many caveats I stopped (for now) after simply clearing out and erase-formatting a test Class 10 card. Apparently there are two methods for installing CHDK on the card, which work differently and are a bit tricky; not to mention in further reading I found that CHDK RAW isn't quite the same as 'standard' RAW and while it is compatible with a couple graphics programs, it isn't with mainstream software, at least as far as I've read*. I will read more about using the added features before going ahead- I don't want to learn new graphic software just to get wide dynamic range capability on this pocket camera, especially when camera phones are improving geometrically.

    * their wiki has an awful lot of obsolete and obtuse information; it makes you appreciate Videohelp's streamlined design.
    Last edited by ahhaa; 8th May 2015 at 09:55. Reason: unsoliciated testimonial
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    Originally Posted by ahhaa View Post
    My biggest disappointment with less-than-prosumer video of any type is their atrocious handling of audio; and bad audio is an in-your-face flaw that really degrades audience interest. (Whenever I see a Cloverfield-type film, I snort as they get perfect audio under flourescent lights or in a dance club.)
    I agree with you completely! But not just less than prosumer video.

    If you want to have quality sound you must use either external microphones connected to the camera or use a separate audio recorder.

    And yes it is true an audience can tolerate a bad video with good sound much better than a good video with crappy sound.

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  13. Is there something similar to magic lantern but for Fuji ? I'm frustrated i can't record more than 30min (limited) in HD with the Finepix S6700
    *** DIGITIZING VHS / ANALOG VIDEOS SINCE 2001**** GEAR: JVC HR-S7700MS, TOSHIBA V733EF AND MORE
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