CHDK

From CHDK Wiki

CHDK - Unleash the POWER in your Canon PowerShot!

What is CHDK?

  • Canon Hack Development Kit;
  • Temporary – No permanent changes are made to the camera.
  • Experimental - No warranty. Read about the risks in the FAQ
  • Free – free to use and modify, released under the GPL.

Features

  • Professional control - RAW files, bracketing, full manual control over exposure, Zebra-Mode, Live histogram, Grids, etc.
  • Motion detection - Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.
  • USB remote - Simple DIY remote allows you to control your camera remotely.
  • Scripting - Control CHDK and camera features using ubasic and Lua scripts. Enables time lapse, motion detection, advanced bracketing, and much more.
  • More - read the Manual & explore this wiki.


Install Guide
New to CHDK? Start here!

Download
Grab the latest build, updated nightly

Forum
Share results and ask questions

IRC
Chat with other users

TWITTER
Follow us

News / History

  • (2010 08 22) Porting for some new 2010 cameras started: SX210, SD4000, A3100
  • (2010 08 21) New beta versions are available for the following cameras: A430, SX20, SD900
  • (2010 08 17) 2010 model cameras SX210, IXUS130/SD1400, IXUS 300HS/SD4000, A3100 dumped with help from Canon Basic dumper.
  • (2010 08 13) Canon Basic scripting reverse engineered by corelabs forum link
  • (2010 06 27) A running beta version for the D10 is available: forum link
  • (2010 06 07) CHDK for the Ixus85/SD770 is online -> Downloads
  • (2010 06 04) New ports are in the pipeline, will be released soon (beta versions are already available from the forum): SX20, D10, Ixus85/SD770
  • (2010 04 26) CHDK (beta) for the PowerShot S90 with firmware versions 1.00c, 1.01a, 1.01b and 1.01c is available from the Download page (thx ERR99!)
  • (2010 03 28) The A480 1.00B port is in the trunk now: Download page (thx ewavr !)
  • (2010 03 21) CHDK for the G11 with fw 1.00L is out ! -->Downloads...
  • (2010 03 13) The IXUS100 / SD780 with fw 1.00C is in the trunk now, binaries are available from the DL page (thx HarpoMa !)
  • (2010 03 07) Ewavr ported the A480, a beta for fw 1.00B is available from the forum
  • (2010 01 31) We have 5 new CHDK family members in the trunk now:
    the G11 (1.00f, 1.00j and 1.00k)   (thx ERR99 & Microfunguy)     and
    the IXUS 90 / SD 790 (1.00c and 1.00e)  (thx ehmu)
  • (2010 01 17) A beta version for the G11 with firmware 1.00J is available from the forum (thx ERR99 & Microfunguy)
  • (2010 01 11) Beta versions for the IXUS 90 / SD 790 with firmware versions 1.00C and 1.00E are available from the forum (by ehmu)
  • (2009 12 30) CHDK for the IXUS 90 / SD 790 with firmware version 1.00D (BETA) is available from the DL page (thx to ehmu)
  • (2009 12 24) It's that time of the year again... the CHDK team wishes everybody a merry christmas and a happy new year! thanks to all contributors :)
  • (2009 12 13) SDM 1.82 released
  • (2009 12 3) Build 854 UBASIC bug nested if bug fix may break some existing scripts, see CHDK forum
  • (2009 12 2) Support for script control of play/record and capture mode was added in CHDK version 0.9.9 ([1])
  • (2009 11 13) A patch/diff to add A1000 to the trunk is available from the CHDK forum
  • (2009 11 08) CHDK for the SX10 firmware version 1.00C, 1.01B, 1.02B, 1.03A are available from the DL page
  • (2009 10 27) A beta version for the SD980 (Ixus 200) is available from the CHDK forum
  • (2009 09 26) Beta builds for SX200 with firmware 1.00C and 1.00D are now available from the Autobuild server
  • (2009 09 13) The A2000 with firmware 1.00C is now available from the Autobuild server
  • (2009 09 01) A beta version for the A2000 with fw 1.00C (by iax) is available ([2])
  • (2009 08 21) reyalP published 2 new CHDK ports: SD990 / Ixus 980 fw 1.01b and SX1 fw 2.01a
  • (2009 07 30) SDM 1.81 released - Serial communication with microcontrollers, new uBasic commands to start/stop actions at a set time & much more...
  • (2009 07 18) CHDK used in a professional music video by arman bohn ! (forum link, the album, his blog, some scripts)
  • (2009 07 12) New CHDK beta versions are available from the DL page: SX10 1.03A and A470 1.00e
  • (2009 07 04) CHDK for the SX10 firmware version 1.01B and 1.00C (BETA) are available from the DL page
  • (2009 07 04) CHDK News now on twitter! Details about what exactly ur gonna expect will follow later (CHDKnews@Twitter)
  • (2009 06 12) CHDK for the SX10 firmware version 1.02B (BETA) is available from the DL page
  • (2009 06 04) CHDK for the A470 firmware version 1.01a is avaisss


Basic Articles

The basics: how to install and use the CHDK firmware

  • CHDK In Brief - What is CHDK? How do I get started?
  • CHDK for Dummies - The very first steps.
  • FAQ / Instructions - Lots of good stuff here. (Installation Instruction,Supported Camera Models,Troubleshooting etc.)
  • Mac FAQ Answers and instructions for Mac users.
  • CHDK Installation Guide New ! A pdf format Installation Guide for download, print and keep for offline use. Supplement to the CHDK UserGuide 2009 below. (Updated May 2010)
  • CHDK User Manual New ! (Has links to the old resources).
For offline viewing, and a printable manual, go to:-

Advanced Articles

Links

LINKS

If you are interested in the History of CHDK or want to see some interesting links, head on over to the LINKS page. That page should be updated with all the latest and links and stories.

Other Info

Bug tracking and feature requests with Mantis
CHDK change log / timeline: Changelog, SVN timeline
Raw comparison, original "Raw enabler": digicanon.narod.ru
USB Specifications: [3]

Forum Discussions

Got a problem or a question? Please check the FAQ first, but if you're still stumped, try one of these forums. Note: The new CHDK Forum is the most active of the English forums. Dpreview's forum used to be used most in the past. There you'll find the most extensive (English) history of CHDK's development. An active CHDK thread usually still exists at dpreview (thanks, 'zdravko'!) but the dpreview discussions are rapidly losing favor to the new CHDK Forum.
English: The main "CHDK Forum", dpreview.com, s3users.com, TX-1 users CHDK thread
Finnish: Astronetti, Afterdawn CHDK-thread
German/Deutsch: zonebattler's homezone, CHDK-Forum
Greek: Wikia forum
Italian: HWUpgrade Forum
Japanese: hobby10.2ch.net
Portuguese: digiforum.com.br
Romanian: softpedia.com, fototarget.ro by ursamajor
Russian: forum.ixbt.com - 1, 2
French/Français: CHDK sur Hardware.Fr
Polish/Polski: canon-board.info, CHDK Motion Detection
English: dPreview History: 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Persian: Can i use RAW format in S3 IS?
Persian 2: CHDK & All about it
Chinese: Discussions on forum.Xitek.com

Other Wikis

Japanese: wiki.fyi.jp, Wikia Japanese version
Russian: tools.assembla.com

Web-sites

Russian chdk.clan.su
Russian (CHDK+ with timestamp) canons5is.clan.su


Articles by categories, Recent wiki changes, Recent changes in discussions, Map of visitors

Supported Cameras

Read the FAQ and Firmware Usage articles before downloading appropriate version.

The autobuild hosts these versions:

*1 - 1.00d with CHDK version for 1.00e
*2 - 1.00i with CHDK version for 1.00g
*3 - 1.01a with CHDK version for 1.01b
*4 - 1.01b with CHDK version for 1.01a
*5 - 1.00d with CHDK version for 1.00e
*6 - 1.01a with CHDK version for 1.01b
*7 - 1.00f with CHDK version for 1.00g and 1.00h with CHDK version for 1.00i
*8 - 1.01b with CHDK version for 1.01a

      → the autobuild already has these versions for download
*9 1.00e is not compatible, update to 1.00f

Under Development

Check out the "For Developers" page to see what progress is being made to port CHDK to additional cameras and firmware versions. You'll also find articles describing the porting process there. (Maybe you'd like to help?)


Sample pictures

We couldn't have done it without CHDK...

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