CHDK what? Help me, I'm a newbie!

[fudgey]

I'm a newby too... I have a S5 IS and I would like to use F16 and more shuter time, however it still with the original  F8 and 15''
What's wrong? :-/

CHDK doesn't alter Canon's menus or Canon's on-screen display. To get past Canon's limitations, go to CHDK menu -> extra photo operations -> shutter speed override / aperture override or use a suitable script.

[Astrobob]

Hello fellows,

I am new to CHDK. I did manage to install CHDK on my SD & run it manually but couldn't figure out how to take an exposure in manual mode longer than the default 15 sec of canon. I am in a testing phase to check CHDK's capabilities specially when it comes to long exposures & dark subtraction as I am a humble amateur astronomer < www.astrobob.tk >  & astrophotographer < http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrobob >

In Alt mode I entered to the "Extra Photo Operations" & edited:

Override shutter speed: 32
value factor: 1
shutter speed enum type: Ev step

& tried it in each of the 3 modes for "Disable Overrides", that is in "Disable", "On" & "Off"

but it never took an image with an exposure greater than 15 seconds 

any help please ?

thanks in advance

[fe50]

Hello & welcome, Astrobob !

...couldn't figure out how to take an exposure in manual mode longer than the default 15 sec of canon.

I want to be able to use my camera to take night shots (very long exposures) witn no flash.

* disable (close) the flash
* adjust the Canon camera settings, e.g. like this:
  P mode, fix ISO (100 or 200), select the longest available Canon exposure time (15 seconds)

Now, set up the CHDK overrides:
You can either choose one of the values in Override shutter speed - or you can use this setting in combination with the next menu item, the Value factor, for this set Shutterspeed enum type to [Factor]...

Sample:
Override shutter speed  [64]
  Value factor          [1]
Shutterspeed enum type  [Factor]
gives you 64 x 1 = 64 s exposure time.

The Canon OSD don't know anything about the CHDK overrides, it only shows values from the internal Canon list,
so on exposure times beyond the Canon limit of 15s the Canon OSD will always show "15s"...

You can enable the additional CHDK OSD values from the OSD (Misc...) menu to see the "real" override values...

See also:
* http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,4101.msg38363.html#msg38363
* http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Dark_Frame_Subtraction (Dark frame subtraction)
* http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Disable_Overrides (the "Disable Overrides" menu item"

[manit708]

Hi Guys,
I am new for CHDK. I have SX20 IS & tried to check the firmware as per the instruction given on the CHDK site. I got below details from the camera.
P-ID:31E4 PAL D
version is 1.00F ,
Firmware Ver: GM1.00F
E18
Jun 15 2009 15:28:22

Here instead of "No Error" i am getting E18 just want to know what does this number means. Is there any problem or I am doing something wrong.

Thanks in advance for helping me.

[whim]

Hi Manit708,

Welcome to the forum !

E18 means "zoom lens error", and is usually caused by the user accidentally turning on
the camera: if the lens motion is obstructed by for instance a hand, or the carrying case.
The camera always remembers the last error, so this could have happened long ago;
in short, no reason to worry, unless of course your lens behaves abnormally ...

hope that helps,

wim

PS Hint: type "E18 error" in the search box at the top of the page for more info

[manit708]

Hi Whim,
Thanks for the help. My Zoom is working fine only i get this error, so i am bit relax now.
Also I like to thanks to all the CHDK user who helps to newbies.

Keep up the work guys.
 

[Astrobob]

I want to be able to use my camera to take night shots (very long exposures) witn no flash.

* disable (close) the flash
* adjust the Canon camera settings, e.g. like this:
  P mode, fix ISO (100 or 200), select the longest available Canon exposure time (15 seconds)

Why the P mode ? What if I need to use different ISO ?

Now, set up the CHDK overrides:
You can either choose one of the values in Override shutter speed - or you can use this setting in combination with the next menu item, the Value factor, for this set Shutterspeed enum type to [Factor]...

Sample:
Override shutter speed  [64]
  Value factor          [1]
Shutterspeed enum type  [Factor]
gives you 64 x 1 = 64 s exposure time.

Why wouldn't it work if I choose something other than [Factor] ? I dont have my cam at hand to check what it is , but I think its [Ev step] or something as indicated in the manual.

The Canon OSD don't know anything about the CHDK overrides, it only shows values from the internal Canon list,
so on exposure times beyond the Canon limit of 15s the Canon OSD will always show "15s"...

aha

You can enable the additional CHDK OSD values from the OSD (Misc...) menu to see the "real" override values...

Regarding this, would the image I take with an exposure above 15 sec be embedded within the metadata of the image ? When I checked the details of a 64 sec image (in playback mode) i took within G9 it shows an exposure 15 sec. Will this also be in the metadata. This would make it a pain to take countless image a night in the dark & cold withouht being able to check what the real settings were when I took this or that image. It will also coz lots of issues when downloading & processing the images. Any tips/suggestions/ in this regard ?

Moreover, is it possible to speed up that saving of images time ? The time the cam takes to process & save the image. In astrophotography, you miss lots of stuff during this time (e.g.; if i am taking a series of images of a celestial event & need the nearly the same with different settings to then use in processing, the time for waiting for the cam would make it harder & harder the greater the exposure is).

See also:
* http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,4101.msg38363.html#msg38363
* http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Dark_Frame_Subtraction (Dark frame subtraction)
* http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_User_Manual#Disable_Overrides (the "Disable Overrides" menu item"

thx for the links
any post regarding how to preconfigure my cam to do some work on its own ? I think i read something about this but cant figure where.

thx

[reyalp]

Why the P mode ? What if I need to use different ISO ?

Then use different settings. e.g. means example. You probably want to use P mode (assuming your camera doesn't have M) because it lets you control the most settings in the canon firmware.

Regarding this, would the image I take with an exposure above 15 sec be embedded within the metadata of the image ? When I checked the details of a 64 sec image (in playback mode) i took within G9 it shows an exposure 15 sec. Will this also be in the metadata.

Depends on the camera and which part of the meta data you are looking at. The canon "maker notes" are generally more reliable than the regular exif.

If you are shooting using a script, you can log the values your script set.

Moreover, is it possible to speed up that saving of images time ? The time the cam takes to process & save the image.

The actual saving time cannot be changed, this is obviously a hardware limit. On some cameras the "iso3200" or other high iso mode has shorter saving time, but resolution is reduced. If you mean the canon dark frame subtraction (long "busy" screen after shooting a long exposure) this can be controlled as fe50 described.

any post regarding how to preconfigure my cam to do some work on its own ? I think i read something about this but cant figure where.

Script.

[SkyWalker9]

Moreover, is it possible to speed up that saving of images time ? The time the cam takes to process & save the image.

The actual saving time cannot be changed, this is obviously a hardware limit. On some cameras the "iso3200" or other high iso mode has shorter saving time, but resolution is reduced. If you mean the canon dark frame subtraction (long "busy" screen after shooting a long exposure) this can be controlled as fe50 described.

In addition to @reyalp's info, there is something else you may want to check. I ran benchmarks & real world tests on the SDHC class of cards I was using and found that for the SX20 a class 4 improved my times moderately. You may want to test using a higher class of SDHC card to see if it will reduce your times as well. Here is a link to my benchmark/real world test posting: http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,5665.msg55052.html#msg55052

[Astrobob]

Then use different settings. e.g. means example. You probably want to use P mode (assuming your camera doesn't have M) because it lets you control the most settings in the canon firmware.

Well my Canon G9 does have a manual mode M & it's the mode i have been using to do astrophotography.

Depends on the camera and which part of the meta data you are looking at. The canon "maker notes" are generally more reliable than the regular exif.

I took a couple of images with 64 seconds & downloaded them to my computer but the properties, nevertheless, show a 15 sec exposure.  [Plz check the remark at the end. its very imp]

If you are shooting using a script, you can log the values your script set.

I didn't (up to my knowledge) use any script but the default one, which runs along with CHDK. I am still clumsy about using CHDK & the menus but slowly learning. I did a bit of shallow reading about scripts in CHDK but havent totally grasped the idea of how to use it or how to load them onto the card. Anyways, for time being, I would like to make sure that the basics I need (i.e.; longer exposures & exif & metadata are possible) without any backdraws. I still can't understand why CHDK or the cam would not (by default) register the correct exif like the exposure ?!

The actual saving time cannot be changed, this is obviously a hardware limit. On some cameras the "iso3200" or other high iso mode has shorter saving time, but resolution is reduced. If you mean the canon dark frame subtraction (long "busy" screen after shooting a long exposure) this can be controlled as fe50 described.

Aha. well its not just about the dark frame subtraction. I tried both on & off for the subtraction with no big saving time difference, up to what i recall.

any post regarding how to preconfigure my cam to do some work on its own ? I think i read something about this but cant figure where.

Script.

could you plz link me to appropriate resources ? or is the manual just fine ?

Very IMP Remark: When I took the 64 sec images of the night sky, I had this particular "blue" light on the upper right corner of every image i took. You can check it out here:

IMG_8459.JPG by BOB Merhebi, on Flickr

Is it related to vignetting  ?

In addition to @reyalp's info, there is something else you may want to check. I ran benchmarks & real world tests on the SDHC class of cards I was using and found that for the SX20 a class 4 improved my times moderately. You may want to test using a higher class of SDHC card to see if it will reduce your times as well. Here is a link to my benchmark/real world test posting: http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,5665.msg55052.html#msg55052

thx SkyWalker9. I will recheck your post sometime later. Its interesting, though I will currently stick to learning CHDK & how to use scripts, before I move on. But one question I have is: do the new types of cards like extreme work on cam's that haven't been certified for its use, maybe coz the cam was manufactured before this new card type was introduced ?

Just recalled: in a previous post i mentioned about reading about something that makes the cam work on its self after setting it to do so. The "something" I meant was the "Intervalometer": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intervalometer. CHDK is mentioned in the 2 lines under Photography.

thx

[SkyWalker9]

[...do the new types of cards like 'extreme' work on cam's that haven't been certified for its use, maybe coz the cam was manufactured before this new card type was introduced ?

Before I tried the new cards in my SX20 I searched to see if anyone else had tested in the SX20, but I didn't find any postings, so I just took a chance and tested on my SX20 and found that they worked.

I've been VERY pleased with the faster cards because I shoot almost exclusively using DNG enabled - in many cases, the Canon JPGs can really be off even when using the other modes such as Manual. I find that the DNG results are almost always perfect. Although the cards are more expensive, the faster cards shortern the times between shots as well as save a lot of time later when transferring to PC.

[reyalp]

I took a couple of images with 64 seconds & downloaded them to my computer but the properties, nevertheless, show a 15 sec exposure.  [Plz check the remark at the end. its very imp]

As I said before: Depends on the camera and which part of the meta data you are looking at. The canon "maker notes" are generally more reliable than the regular exif. You won't find this in windows file properties, but some imaging programs and exif tools will show it to you. Google is your friend.

I still can't understand why CHDK or the cam would not (by default) register the correct exif like the exposure ?!

Because CHDK is a hack. When you are twiddling the guts of a completely undocumented system, you don't always have the luxury of doing exactly what you want.

Aha. well its not just about the dark frame subtraction. I tried both on & off for the subtraction with no big saving time difference, up to what i recall.

If dark frame subtracton is enabled, the exposure will take exactly 2x as long as normal, with the camera displaying "busy" for the second half.

could you plz link me to appropriate resources ? or is the manual just fine ?

I suggest the scripting sections of the forum and wiki. It sounds like you want an intervalometer.

Very IMP Remark: When I took the 64 sec images of the night sky, I had this particular "blue" light on the upper right corner of every image i took. You can check it out here:

Looks like amp glow (google it). There is a reason canon doesn't offer 64 sec exposures. Dark frame subtraction should reduce this. Stray light (from LEDs on the camera etc) could also give this effect, but lots of amp glow is expected at 64 sec.

[xartzmax]

I have a Canon SX200 IS with 1.00D Firmware. And loaded "sx200is-100d-0.9.9-955-full".
But it says 100C in the pop up image at the startup.

Is this normal or is something wrong?

[xartzmax]

I have a Canon SX200 IS with 1.00D Firmware. And loaded "sx200is-100d-0.9.9-955-full".
But it says 100C in the pop up image at the startup.

Is this normal or is something wrong?

I got the answer to the showing 100C problem from here : 

Also these versions both use the same CHDK code, when you load 1.00d CHDK it reports as 1.00c.
This is because only 1.00c is coded and built but a copy is then renamed as 1.00d

But there are some issues with the CHDK which are,

1) Appearing green ghosting when the shutter is half pressed  **** Of which I m most concerned***** 

2) and zooming out all the way back automatically sometimes when shooting videos.

I m going to stop using the CHDK unless someone say it's normal for the current version of CHDK for SX200 IS or give a link to a more stable version. 

Thank you for your help.

[fe50]

xartzmax - this is your 3rd post for the same issue