Would you like to start in the world of professional photography but you only have a compact camera? Itâs okay, just if your camera is a Canon IXUS or PowerShot, maybe youâll be lucky and be able to install CHDK to turn it into practically a SLR.
El firmware CHDK o Canon Hack Developmen Kit es un hack muy Ăștil para las cĂĄmaras de Canon que tengan como procesador los conocidos DIGIC II, III y IV. Estos son los procesador utilizados por Canon desde hace mucho tiempo, tanto en sus cĂĄmaras rĂ©flex como en las compactas y gracias al CHDK podrĂĄs activar las fotografĂas RAW en tu compacta.
One of the functions that has always been in the professional segment but that has rarely transcended the consumer segment has been being able to save photos in RAW format, which is a format without any compression that many experts in the field love because it allows you to modify the digital image much better. In addition, CHDK also allows you to play with exposure times, activates a lot of manual controls, improves taking consecutive photos, allows the execution of scripts, in addition to many other advanced functions that will be activated by magic. Although, yes, as long as your camera technically allows what the CHDK firmware activates (for example, you will not gain more ISO if your camera does not allow it)
But the best of all is that the power of your compact increases exponentially thanks to a firmware like this. The best thing is that the firmware is not even installed! No problems with the camera! One of the biggest fears of any user who dares to modify the firmware of any gadget is that something will go wrong and the device will become completely unusable. This cannot happen with CHDK because it runs from the SD card, and only by turning off the camera and removing the card, when you plug it back in, the firmware that will load will be the official one that Canon includes by default. Quite a wonder!
You can see a complete list of the features you will get and the number of compatible cameras in the FAQ on the project website. And cheer up! Installing and using CHDK is not very simple and without any danger! You can see how to get started at this link, although that is just the tip of the iceberg of everything that can be done.