I came across this little utility called CHDK today, which claimed to be able to add extra functionalities to most if not all of the Canon point-and-shoot cameras. One of the super cool feature was to enable optical zoom in video recording mode. I couldn’t wait but grabbed my trusty Canon SD1000 camera, followed the online instructions (which involved loading some files onto the SD card, and then loading a software up in the camera, pretty straight forward), and it WORKED…! I was able to do optical zoom in video recording mode in addition to the standard digital zoom! The drawback was that the built-in mic picked up huge noise from the zoom motor, which I found was super annoying on playback. Well the optical zoom capability was invaluable though, I thought I would keep it set as the default. CHDK also added lots of other cool options to the camera, like saving files in RAW format (I was in shock pretty much when I got to know this), adjusting video file compression rate on-the-fly, displaying an icon that showed the level of remaining battery (super useful)….etc.

A list of CHDK’s cool 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 64s 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 13 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.

Lunar eclipse happened tonight around 7pm. I decided to drive up onto the Burnaby Mountain to take a peek… just to have a break from my insanely busy work schedule. Got there around 6:30pm, not too many people, but some “pros” already had their tripods and all their gears ready to go. People started crowding up around 7pm since it was said that the “prime time” (which is the moon getting completely blocked due to that the sun/earth/moon are perfectly aligned in a straight line or something) would occur around 6:55pm. It was a bit cloudly but the killing thing was the coldness! I was totally froze up and my hands were all numb. I could barely hold up the camera and my telescope…

Anyway, took a couple pictures with my Canon G9 digital camera, and had it zoomed all the way up to 24X (optical + digital). The pictures were reasonably clear without using a tripod (I couldn’t believe that I actually forgot to bring one…) The photo with the moon appearing red-ish was the moment when it was completely blocked. Pretty cool stuff I would say despite the coldness

Oh by the way, I was eating some Mcdonalds fries from the Junior Chicken value meal while gazing the moon with my car’s roof off. Can life be better than this? XD

I just sold my Fujifilm F50fd digital camera that I got from Ebay like 3 weeks ago…lol. Sold it to a guy on Craigslist for $350, not bad at all~ Reason selling it was to invest in this Canon G9 camera, much higher end than the F50fd even though both are 12 megapixels (here is a review, here is another one with sample images.) The F50fd was overall a great camera, slim, handsome looking, powerful… but the image quality was worse than expected so not too long after getting it I was already in search of a replacement 8O. After couple dozen hours of research, I ended up picking up the top-of-the-line Canon G9, which is a 12 megapixel with a 6X optical zoom and an image stablizer. Turned out to be one of my best decision made this year, the image quality is stunning. Great color, accurate focus, good low light performance (ISO 400 with not much noise), and solid steel sturdy body. Macro performance is amazing too, I was placing the lens as close as 0.5 cm from an object and it was able to focus with ease! Movie taking quality was great compared to the Fujifilm F50fd - color was accurate and I was able to zoom in/out during recording.

I’m looking forward to utilize my new camera to its max during my next vacation to China in the coming month!