Hack Your Canon Camera. I have several cameras, the main two i use being a Canon 50d and a Canon Powershot SD780is. Both are great, but in time i found myself wanting more from each for the 50d i would love to have video, and the 780 i would love to be able to shoot RAW images. Enter Magic Lantern and CHDK these two projects provide 3rd party firmware that runs on your camera to give you access to features that you would not have otherwise. This instructable is more of pointing you in the right direction then anything, the two projects have tons of WARNING WARNING WARNING Like all firmware hacks there is a risk of bricking your device when doing this so be aware of that before proceeding.
High-speed Photography with Arduino and CHDK. This project uses an Arduino microcontroller and a laser break-beam trigger to fire via USB remote a Canon camera modified with CHDK (Canon Hack Development Kit) firmware. Immediate influences are the high-speed flash photography triggered by sound or light project by Glacial Wanderer and the Laser Triggered High-Speed Photography instructable by Saskview. The first uses a laser break-beam and an Arduino to trigger a flash in a dark room and capture action while the second uses two 555 timer ICs to generate a signal to trigger the camera. The second method does not require a dark room.
The approach described here requires a Canon camera modified with CHDK, uses the Arduino to do the electronic heavy lifting, and does not require a dark room. My intention was to keep things relatively easy -- no etching circuit boards, no cramming stuff in to small spaces &c. That said, there is some careful soldering and fabrication required but nothing beyond that. Intervalometer for Canon and Nikon cameras. This instructable is teaches you how to make an intervalometer that can be used with virtually any camera. It has been tested with Canon and Nikon cameras, but making adapter cables for other cameras is just a matter of figuring out the camera pinout. This intervalometer has the following features: Intervalometer mode with options to change delay time and exposure time Sensor mode with built in light sensor and connector for external sensor input Manual mode allows intervalometer to act like a simple remote cable Integrated 2x12 LCD display Fully optically isolated interface to camera Total package is roughly 1" x 2.5" x 3" finished Electronics small enough to fit in a mint box Source code is available for download so that you can change programming as desired Available as a kit from www.ottercreekdesign.com Below are some pictures of the intervalometer.
Easy Time Lapse for Most DSLR'S. This is a step by step build guide to making your own intervalometer on the cheap, allowing you to take timelapse footage. The problem: I filmed timelapse footage before using my CANON A480 compact camera, which was made very easy using CHDK (the canon hack and development kit) firmware hack. How ever I really wanted the footage to be of higher quality so I wanted to use my Nikon D40. My Solution: Most low end DSLR's like mine, have an Infrared remote as the sole external trigger. Other cameras may have pre-made wired intervalometers onsale, but these cost hundreds of dollars. Yet the majority of them have IR remote cabability. Are You Brave Enough To IR-ize Your Camera? While it is pretty common to use Infra Red (IR) filters for IR photography, there is yet another, braver and non-reversible way to do it – remove the IR filter that’s placed in front of the CCD. The reason for removing the internal IR filter rather than using an IR lens filter, is that you get way (WAAAY) more infra red light to hit the sensor.
On the down side, you will be doing a non-reversible, non-refundable, warranty-voiding surgery on your camera. So: A – you must really love infrared photography and B – you do this at your own risk. If you kill your $28 camera don’t come crying, you knew this was an option. Anyhow, photographer Mario Pereira takes us through the path of doing an open heart surgery on a Canon PS A300. This is the camera that we will be converting – the Canon PS A300. One side of this camera have only two screw. The other side, where the batteries are (2xAA), there are 4 screws inside the battery lid, remove them too. Remove the battery next the LCD. The back. P.S. DIY Ring Flash with an Old Strobe and a Plastic Container. One of the things about macrophotography is that you either have to shoot wide open (and have a depth of field of about 1 micron or so) or stopped down to get some decent DOF (but have ridiculous shutter speeds making everything a blur).
The solution: put a strobe on it! Given that you are so close to your subject, it’s hard to properly light it. A ring flash is a good choice and at the tiny distance it is used from the subject, it has the effect of a large softbox creating even lighting. Now, I already salvaged an old strobe for free, surely enough this can be transformed into a ring flash! A quick search on the interwebs show lots of DIY ring flash designs. Some use two reflecting bowls, other shoot through a diffuser, and a particulary nice design used a pizza box and some styrofoam. On the right you see the ring of my ring flash.
Anyway, here is an inside view of the actual ring (covered with aluminum foil) next to an unmodified bucket: Transform Your DSLR into a Supercharged, Professional Video Camera. @ForestFire0: On the contrary, these cameras are already getting a lot of play in independent and commercial video for the following reasons. 1. They're relatively cheap. A camera with the same image quality as these runs at least $2,000 higher. 2. 3. 4. 5. And while there's only been a few commercially released projects that have been shot on these cameras, more and more shorts are popping up on Vimeo that were shot on them, and a lot of people are getting behind this at the independent level. Unlock the Secret "Pro" Features of Your Canon Point-and-Shoot with CHDK.
Yeah, we talked about it a few years back, but the process has changed a bit, so we thought we'd do a new guide (with video). Hopefully those that didn't know about it (or were never motivated to try it) will give it a shot now! Yep. Of course, there are over 150 articles on LH that refer to CHDK. The LH "Always Up-to-Date" guides are great for smartphones, maybe this would be a good jumping off point for a "Always Up-to-Date Guide for your P&S Camera"... thanks, Whitson! Also an aside, thanks to you and the rest of the LH editorial staff for keeping LifeHacker relatively free of all the bleeding heart liberal garbage that the rest of the gawker sites are spewing out.... as if anyone was looking for an unsolicited liberal slant on sports (deadspin) or video games (kotaku) or even autos (jalop). also i stopped reading gizmodo years ago after they couldnt get Apple's d*** out of their mouth.
Transform Your DSLR into a Supercharged, Professional Video Camera. DIY Photography Equipment. Camera Optics Theory.