S3IS HDK Firmware hack

[jasenj1]

http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

This firmware hack augments - doesn't replace - the original firmware and adds a number of features including:

• RAW Support
• Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
• DOF-calculator
• Scripts

[Antares]

I've been kinda watching the developments of this as i'm interested in the RAW support.

[raimisch]

The hack has expanded well beyond just RAW support. For basicly just S3 information without wading through a lot of info for the hack on the A series camera you can go to this link
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/...d.php?t=305198

Grand the person who has done a lot of the work on the hack checks in on that thread occasionally and there are several people over on that thread who are keeping up to date with what is going on with the hacks.

If you haven't tried it yet I would strongly recommend checking it out, even if you dont want to use the raw feature the hack is well worth putting onto your camera. Its even better now that the autoload feature has been sorted out for the s3's.

[raimisch]

Well not sure who all has been keeping upto date withe hack for the s3, but figured I'd put up a little overview of some of the feautres(at lest the ones i've figured out so far).
Well the one that most people want is the RAW feature which in the latest versions is toggable by a quick press of a button.

The Live histogram has been improved upon, it now supports colour so are able to see any blown highlights or dark shadows of any any colour. And there are several differant styles that can be used. I really like the blended one.

There is also the zebra feature, where it will show you exactly where in your picture is over or under exposed. And the colours shown for these is completly customizable.

We now have a battery indicator that is extremly accurate and something that should have been put in by canon.

There is also the abilty to run scripts, and while yes you can do all those things yourself, it is easier for the camera to do it, Escpecially the focus script where you set your intial focus point and it will then adjust by single steps up and down. To do that by hand is so hard.

There is a text reader, that you can save books or a little helpfile you've written up your self and be able to open and read on the camera. That will be nice when you go out on a camping trip and dont have the space to carry a book to find it in pdf format and convert to a text file and then just read it on camera.

let's see what else...wel going back to the RAW feature you can now specify the file extension. There is also a depth of view information and hyperfocal, though these aren't quite fined tuned for the s3 yet as it has 129 focal zoom steps where as the a series camera is only 9.

You are also able to move the hack information to any point of the screen that you want, so that you can keep things seperate so you can see everythin you need to.

There is also a calander and clock that can be set up for those of us like me that have trouble remembering my own name.

Also to help pass the time tyou also have two games to play Reversi and sokoban.

Well thats it for now, actually there is wiki page that has alot of good info.
http://scratchpad.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
It also has links to the updated hacks.

[amw5g]

I posted a problem I'm having with this hack over on DPReview, but given the wider Canon scope there, I'm probably creating more confusion than I'm helping solve.

So I'll ask here re: the firmware hack on the S3:
1- Assuming you have the shortcut key mapped to a function (e.g. metering, white balance, colors), hit Flash/Audio + Shortcut to enter the firmware Alt mode.
2- Press "Menu" to activate the firmware alternate Menu. You should see the main menu for the firmware hack.
3- Did the function mapped to the shortcut key just change on you? E.g. does the metering mode/white balance/colors change?

I've tried this using the steps above; and I've also tried entering the alternate firmware mode by hitting only the shortcut key (not with Flash/Audio simultaneously). In either case, it acts like I've pressed the shortcut key, in addition to entering the alternate firmware mode.

Anyone else experiencing this?

[raimisch]

Well amw5g, I posted a response over on DPreview toy our question, but I answear here as well, because I do not know how many people are following both sites. Make sure that you are pressing and holding the flash button before and durring the time when you are pressing the shortcut button. When the flash button is also pushed your shortcut button doesnt engage the shortcut funtion, it will just bring up the {alt} screen. It could just be that your timing of pressing shortcut/flash is a little off and allowing the shortcut feature to run. Hope this helps.

[Segassem]

Originally Posted by amw5g

I posted a problem I'm having with this hack over on DPReview, but given the wider Canon scope there, I'm probably creating more confusion than I'm helping solve.

So I'll ask here re: the firmware hack on the S3:
1- Assuming you have the shortcut key mapped to a function (e.g. metering, white balance, colors), hit Flash/Audio + Shortcut to enter the firmware Alt mode.
2- Press "Menu" to activate the firmware alternate Menu. You should see the main menu for the firmware hack.
3- Did the function mapped to the shortcut key just change on you? E.g. does the metering mode/white balance/colors change?

I've tried this using the steps above; and I've also tried entering the alternate firmware mode by hitting only the shortcut key (not with Flash/Audio simultaneously). In either case, it acts like I've pressed the shortcut key, in addition to entering the alternate firmware mode.

Anyone else experiencing this?

I see your problem. You don't hold the flash key while entering alt mode, you have to hold it when you first push a key after you've already entered the mode.

[amw5g]

Originally Posted by Segassem

I see your problem. You don't hold the flash key while entering alt mode, you have to hold it when you first push a key after you've already entered the mode.

I think Segassem nailed it: after I am in the Firmware Alt mode, I have to hold down the Flash button when I hit Menu. If I don't do that, simply pressing Menu will show me the firmware menu, but will also activate the Shortcut button (even though I'm not pressing it).


I just need now to remember to press Flash + Menu when I want to access the new firmware options.
Thanks all, again!

[raimisch]

Ahh sorry about that amw5g. I was thinking you were having a differant problem. But glad that its gotten sorted out.

[johnsid]

for me it did not worked....I do not know a way to do it...

anyone tried this without a card reader on his s3?

[amw5g]

Originally Posted by johnsid

for me it did not worked....I do not know a way to do it...

anyone tried this without a card reader on his s3?

From what I have read, and from my own experience, no, you cannot do this through USB connected to the camera. You must have a reader or built-in slot for the SD card.

[gerrydee]

So would anyone be kind enough to post the steps again in order to install the hack simply enough so that we newbies don't screw up our S3's beyond repair? Like:
1-xxx
2-xxx etc...

[raimisch]

Alright I will post up the step by step of how to install the hack.

1)Goto http://grandag.nm.ru/hdk/
2)find the hack that has s3 in the file name and download it
3)extract it to anywhere on your computer
4)put your SD card in your card reader
5)copy the files to your sd card.
6)Put SD card into camera
7)Turn on camera in playback mode
8)open up the menu
9)goto firmwire update
10)update to version 1.0.1.0 (not sure on those numbers but just update to whatever the numbers are)
11)Go back to shoot mode.
Now that gives you the hack, and the next steps will tell you how to set it to autoboot.
12)press the shortcut button
13)now you will be in the alt features, press menu
14)scroll down to the debug option and hit set
15)scroll down to make card bootable and hit set
16)turn off your camera
17)take out the sd card
18)toggle the lock swtich to the locked postion
19)re-insert the sd card into the camera
Now whenever you turn on the camera the hack will autoload.

Hope this helps, and with this hack you can not really do any damage to your camera as it is not really changing anything with your firmwire it is just a program that is run on the camera, so you can always just unlock your card and format to remove the hack and you camera goes back to how it was straight from the factory.

[gerrydee]

Raimisch, thank you for taking the time to put up these instructions in laymen terms. Too bad they do not use "stickeys" in this forum or this definitely should have been one. Thanks again-Gerry

[O_T]

Raimisch, thank you as well. I used the RAW hack a lot when it first came out, but this one sounds incredible. Is it the same one that has been enhanced?
I do agree. Should be a sticky.

[mamagarrett]

I downloaded this and started using it last night, based on this post. The histogram and zebra feature that highlights over/underexposed areas are great in and of themselves. I also like the battery level indicator. I am just starting to try to understand RAW, and how to manipulate those files. I was worried about trying this, but so glad that I did!

[johnsid]

I own a SDHC 8gb card and I was wondering if it works as well on this kind of cards...

Thank you in advance

John

[DirePenguin]

Originally Posted by mamagarrett

I downloaded this and started using it last night, based on this post. The histogram and zebra feature that highlights over/underexposed areas are great in and of themselves. I also like the battery level indicator. I am just starting to try to understand RAW, and how to manipulate those files. I was worried about trying this, but so glad that I did!

This is my experience, too.

I wasn't really interested in RAW (the original hack) as I'm not much of a Photoshop guy (I don't even own it!).

But, an ACCURATE battery level (something this camera should have had!), the zebra function and the color histograms are well worth it! Also, it's got games and a text reader ... I was thinking of possibly making a text version of the manual to put right on the camera for a quick look-up!

[raimisch]

Unfortunatly the hack doesnt not support SDHD cards, and it doesnt even really work with any card that has the FAT 32 system. From what I have heard the hack will not work on 4gb and above cards. And it is the same hack as before, but it has just been enhanced.

[Papi11on]

Originally Posted by raimisch

Alright I will post up the step by step of how to install the hack.

1)Goto http://grandag.nm.ru/hdk/
2)find the hack that has s3 in the file name and download it

I'd really like to donwload this bit of software for using its battery level indicator. Unfortunately when I click on the link, none of the files say anything about s3. I just get the following.

Which one should I click on, please?

[mrbelloso]

You have to download the last one:

test1-pre12-s3is-100a-12.zip

[Papi11on]

Originally Posted by mrbelloso

You have to download the last one:

test1-pre12-s3is-100a-12.zip

Splendidly helpful fellow - thank you!!

[mrbelloso]

Can you use the hack without taking raw files, i'm interested in the other features but not in the raw files

[raimisch]

Yep, the raw photo taking is completly optionable and toggable

[speedracr]

my .crw files won't open in photoshop and when i try to use the camera raw converter it tells me it cant parse the files. any ideas? do you guys have to convert your files to another format, and if so, what do you use?

[DirePenguin]

Originally Posted by speedracr

my .crw files won't open in photoshop and when i try to use the camera raw converter it tells me it cant parse the files. any ideas? do you guys have to convert your files to another format, and if so, what do you use?

I've been using UFRaw for the GIMP 2.0.

[mamagarrett]

Originally Posted by speedracr

my .crw files won't open in photoshop and when i try to use the camera raw converter it tells me it cant parse the files. any ideas? do you guys have to convert your files to another format, and if so, what do you use?

Using Raw Therapee (a free download) you can see and manipulate the files. I don't know if it converts the files or if it is the RAW file itself, but it works.

[DirePenguin]

Originally Posted by mamagarrett

Using Raw Therapee (a free download) you can see and manipulate the files. I don't know if it converts the files or if it is the RAW file itself, but it works.

When I tried Raw Therapee, all of my images were very green-tinted.

[LeeSC]

Originally Posted by DirePenguin

When I tried Raw Therapee, all of my images were very green-tinted.

I am noticing the same thing. I went to adobe and downloaded/installed their RAW reader for PS but I got the Parse error.


DirePenguins solution with Gimp/UFRaw works. Thanks!

[raimisch]

The green tint that some of you are getting when bringing in your RAW photos, is just the preset colour settings and white balance of the raw convertors you are using. These can be changed or if you are using the newest version of the hack where you can specify the file extension of the raw photo you can set it to something that will be useable by most things. Not sure how this will work for photoshop but setting the file format to .crw they open up perfectly well in photoline 32.