CHDK

Quick facts:

• CHDK is free software – CHDK released under the GPL, allowing you to use it for free, and also create your own modifications.
• CHDK is a firmware ADDON – CHDK does not replace the original firmware, and does not make any permanent changes to the camera. Instead, it is loaded from the SD card, either at startup or using the built in menu.
• CHDK – stands for Canon Hack Development Kit;
• CHDK is experimental and comes with no warranty – Be sure to read the FAQ for discussion of possible risks and impact on your Canon warranty coverage.

[edit] Major CHDK features

• RAW - CHDK can record raw files, giving you access to every bit of data the sensor saw, without compression or processing. Raw files can be manipulated on the camera, or processed on your PC. CHDK also has experimental support for the open DNG raw standard.
• Override Camera parameters - Exposures from 2048s to 1/60,000s with flash sync. Full manual or priority control over exposure, aperture, ISO and focus.
• Bracketing - Bracketing is supported for exposure, aperture, ISO, and even focus.
• Video Overrides - Control the quality or bitrate of video, or change it on the fly.
• Scripting - Control CHDK and camera features using ubasic and Lua scripts. Enables time lapse, motion detection, advanced bracketing, and much more. Many user-written scripts are available on the forum and wiki.
• Motion detection - Trigger exposure in response to motion, fast enough to catch lightning.
• Edge overlay - Detect the edges in a scene, and display them later. Ideal for timelapses, stop-motion, stereography and much more.
• Live Histogram - CHDK includes a customizable, live histogram display, like those typically found on more expensive cameras.
• Zebra-Mode - Displays under and overexposure areas live on the screen.
• GRIDS - Create custom grids and display whichever one suits your shooting conditions.
• Multi-Lingual Interface - CHDK supports about 22 languages, and adding more languages is simple.
• DOF Calculator - Display detailed DOF information on the screen.
• Customizable OSD - Improved display of battery status, free space, camera parameters, and much more. Fully customizable with an on-screen editor.
• Filebrowser - Manage files without a PC.
• Textreader - Display text files on your camera.
• Games - Play Reversi, Sokoban, Mastermind or 4-in-a-Row on your camera.
• USB remote - Simple DIY remote allows you to control your camera remotely.
• Benchmark - Compare the performance of your SD cards.
• User Menu - Edit your own customizable User-Menu for fast access to often used features.
• there is even more → read the Manual & explore this wiki.

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 Usage Manual 1 - (Original GrAnd Build)

CHDK Usage Manual 2 - (Allbest Build Addendum)

CHDK Usage Manual 3 - (Morebest: Most Recent CHDK Addendum)

New User Guide April2009 - Allbest and Morebest combined, updated content and images. In .pdf format.

CHDK has become such a vast effort over the years that many features have been added to the original GrAnd build of CHDK. Today there is only one build, being called "CHDK". It is a compilation of all builds that have come before. Until someone volunteers to compile all the manuals together into one concise CHDK-Manual, you'll have to rely on all of these user-written manuals to effectively use all the features of CHDK.

• Articles in other languages:   → Bulgarian   → Chinese   → German  → Italian
• Camera Features Chart - Cross-reference chart of the new camera capabilities with CHDK by camera model. (User input still needed to fill in the blanks.)
• Scripts - Unleash the FULL power of your camera. Don't miss the user-written scripts and scripting tutorial section! Some features of CHDK, like USB-Remote and Motion-Detection are impossible to use without them. CHDK is a system of programming and scripts that run within it. You need both, CHDK and scripts!
• CHDK interface Languages
• Cheat sheets

• Tutorial: RBF fonts
• Tutorial: DoF Stacking
• Grid Tutorial & User Contributions
• Benchmark results of various SD cards
• HOWTO: Calibrating the distance of the A620
• For Developers
• Software - Overview / Link list ^New !

[edit] 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.

[edit] Other Info

Bug tracking and feature requests with Mantis

Change Log / Timeline: https://tools.assembla.com/chdk/timeline

Raw comparison, original "Raw enabler": digicanon.narod.ru

USB Specifications: [10]

[edit] 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

[edit] Other Wikis

Japanese: wiki.fyi.jp, Wikia Japanese version

Russian: tools.assembla.com

[edit] Web-sites

Russian chdk.clan.su

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

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

The autobuild hosts these versions:

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

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?)

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

• Lightning photography
• RAW
• HDR
• HDR Mosaic
• Unlimited DOF
• Timelapse movies
• High-Speed Shutter & Flash-Sync ^New!
• Facebook CHDK group
• 9,500+ World's-Best CHDK Photos Awesome Photography!

• Ideas, Suggestions, Feature Requests
• uBasic Script command suggestions
  (A new section just for uBasic)
• Express your vote of THANKS!