CHDK - Canon Hack Development Kit, turn your compact into a "DSLR"

[Mads Barnkob]

I have used the CHDK custom firmware on a old Canon Ixus 70 for many years by now, and especially the scripts like motion detection is a very powerful feature that can be used to time a photo of something that changes the scene a lot, like the bright flash from a arc or spark.

I took many of the still pictures for my 333joule capacitor bank with this camera running the motion detection script: http://kaizerpowerelectronics.dk/pulse-power/333-joule-moc-capacitor-bank/

First picture is taken with a Canon Ixus 70 running CHDK motion detection script


Second picture is a long exposure photo taken with a Canon 550D DSLR


A normal DSLR only has 2sec or 10sec auto timer, so you would need to time your experiment to this, which can be hard, or pictures will be different because you need longer exposure time to capture the result, with motion detection this all happens automatically.

It also helps a great deal that you can put old and cheap cameras to use, especially place it near experiments where you would not place a expensive DSLR

Only downside to the custom firmware is a much higher power consumption, it can suddenly eat through batteries in fractions of what it normally would, solely because the CPU is being run at its absolute maximum and the heat dissipation can also be felt on the camera.

Website: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

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 more.

[AndreiRS]

Thats very good. Your first picture shows also the surroundings, not only the sparks. My camera is a "pocket" camera. Still a lot better on focusing than my cell phone. Taking pictures of stuff that happens too fast is just too hard, so I have to switch to video mode and then capture some individial frames on computer. It works, but at the expense of quality loss.

[Mads Barnkob]

Did you try this CHDK out on your pocket camera?