Camera Selection Question from Home Inspector Wanting to do Roof Inspections

Accupro

25

Re: Camera Selection Question from Home Inspector Wanting to do Roof Inspections

« Reply #20 on: 10 / March / 2014, 13:38:15 »

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Thanks Zeno for your response and clarification.

I did a little more research on my end. I have several Canon point and shoots as I typically go through a camera a year in my business for different reasons. I take like 150 shots or more a day doing inspections, carry them in the dusty attic, generally bang it around, etc. Several years ago I got a long leash and I now keep that around my neck so if I drop it, it does not go far.

Anyway I currently have working an A2300 (my current principle camera), an ELPH 300HS, and a SD940IS. I downloaded and installed CHDK on both the 300HS & SD940 successfully. One or both of them come with an AV cable that plugs into the USB port, additionally they both have seperate mini-HDMI video outputs.

I plugged the USB cable in and connected the video out to a TV and I see video while running CHDK once I turn the camera on, I can zoom, shot a picture with the shutter button, and see everything on the display. It looks like maybe the 300HS does NOT focus during zoom, while the SD940 DOES focus during zoom. It does not seem to be a problem as once you zoom in on the subject, if you use half shutter, the camera auto focuses just fine.

The ELPH 300 HS seems like the best one to use for my application as it has a wider 24mm lens with 5X optical zoom. Both of these Canon's weight around 140 grams with batteries verses the GoPro at 75 grams so I would have to deal with a little weigh

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doc_vogt

5

exactly how did you get CHDK installed on SD940IS - i am stumped

« Reply #21 on: 11 / January / 2017, 22:03:45 »

greetings,

ive installed CHDK on a few cameras... some were really difficult, but it was supposed to be trivial to install on my SD940IS ELPH.... but i have tried everything, and cannot get it to boot up. 1) there is NO Firmware Update menu choice, so i 2) made a bootable SD the same way i have made it for several other cameras... i used EOS to make it bootable with a FAT[16] partition... i found what appears to be the correctly labeled .zip file with my camera's firmware version (1.02c)... but no matter what i do, during power up - no CHDK icon ... and no key pressing gets me to any CHDK menu.

help. what exactly did YOU do... what files, from where, what order, what exact SD card....

thanks

Doc

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waterwingz

12139

Re: exactly how did you get CHDK installed on SD940IS - i am stumped

« Reply #22 on: 11 / January / 2017, 23:27:18 »

Quote from: doc_vogt on 11 / January / 2017, 22:03:45

what exactly did YOU do... what files, from where, what order, what exact SD card....

Well, to start with, I created the actual port for that camera. My first of several. So I'm pretty sure it actually works as well as any other CHDK port. Nothing special required beyond the standard CHDK setup things. Note that the camera was released prior to 2011 when following any instructions.

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ive installed CHDK on a few cameras... some were really difficult, but it was supposed to be trivial to install on my SD940IS ELPH.... but i have tried everything, and cannot get it to boot up.

When you say you tried "everything", does that include configuring your SD card using STICK? Highly recommended if you want it to "just work".

But if you also want to read up on the other methods, there are a lot of bad, incomplete, or just plain wrong web pages out there. This is the only web page where the information on installing CHDK is guaranteed to be correct : Prepare your SD Card

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1) there is NO Firmware Update menu choice,

You only get to see a Firmware Update menu choice if you have a valid ps.fi2 file (in the case of your camera) in the top level folder of your SD card AND you start the camera by pressing the Playback button on the back of the camera - not the On/Off button.

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so i 2) made a bootable SD the same way i have made it for several other cameras... i used EOS to make it bootable with a FAT[16] partition... i found what appears to be the correctly labeled .zip file with my camera's firmware version (1.02c)... but no matter what i do, during power up - no CHDK icon ... and no key pressing gets me to any CHDK menu.

A few initial question :

How do you know your camera firmware is 1.02c?
EOS card will setup the boot stuff corectly but it does not format a card. Are you sure you had a valid FAT16 parition on the card?
Did you unzip the CHDK distribution file preserving the folder structure from the zip file?
Did you set the SD card lock switch to the "locked" position after configuring it?
Are you by chance trying to use a Mac to format the SD card?

These may seem like stupid questions but from experience they are the most common things people screw up when configuring CHDK.

Edit : I'm also curious why you picked this forum thread to attach your question to? One of the forum moderators might move this somewhere more appropriate? @reyalp

« Last Edit: 11 / January / 2017, 23:37:26 by waterwingz »

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

doc_vogt

5

problems with CHDK on SD940IS

« Reply #23 on: 12 / January / 2017, 01:18:19 »

first off, much thanks for the quick reply. it was unexpected.

i chose this thread simply by searching for any thread reporting successful installation of CHDK on SD940... this thread won. if theres a better catagory for it... i just appreciate the assistance.

i started by only using links and files from this site, http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK, and no others... except where a link here sent me for another product somewhere.

i used STICK 1.10C for inspecting some photos taken with my 940, and STICK reported i have firmware 1.02C. when i prepared my SD card i did create the ver.req and vers.req files and used them to trigger the firmware report in the camera display... both agreed - i have 1.02c

i had two different 2 GB SD cards... formatted both on the camera itself, with Low Level Format checked...

i found the build i used at http://mighty-hoernsche.de/ ... bottom of the page... ixus120_sd940-102c-1.4.1-4742-full.zip (773KB) this had my model number and firmware version number.

i extracted the above .zip file directly to the root of my 2 GB SD card, using Windows Explorer (no mac's involved). i got 1 folder and 5 documents including a PS.FI2 file... which is what the instructions told me to expect.

I followed a link for EOScard.exe and used it to check that my SD card was formatted Fat (i tried both Fat[16 by default] and Fat32... same results when all done.

I checked to make sure I had a folder named 'CHDK' at the SD card root level, and documents changelog.txt, DISKBOOT.BIN, PS.FI2, readme.txt, and vers.req

i locked card.. .inserted, and powered up using PLAY > button....

results -no CHDK icon, no apparent way to activate the <ALT> menu...

i tried many combinations... new 2 GB SD card, formatting in different order...

all i get upon boot... is a quick message that my card was locked, and no new CHDK menu or features....

so .... back to someone who was successful where i wasnt...

can you give me some hints about where to find the Firmware Update menu when a valid PS.FI2 file is detected?

and, why no boot?

help is appreciated -

Doc

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waterwingz

12139

« Reply #24 on: 12 / January / 2017, 03:55:22 »

Quote from: doc_vogt on 12 / January / 2017, 01:18:19

i chose this thread simply by searching for any thread reporting successful installation of CHDK on SD940... this thread won. if theres a better catagory for it... i just appreciate the assistance.

SD940 (IXUS120) porting thread would have been a logical choice. It doesn't matter now.

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i used STICK 1.10C for inspecting some photos taken with my 940, and STICK reported i have firmware 1.02C. when i prepared my SD card

I'm wondering why you did not continue to use STICK, let it download the correct files, format your card, and install those files? That should have been all you needed to do.

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I followed a link for EOScard.exe and used it to check that my SD card was formatted Fat (i tried both Fat[16 by default] and Fat32... same results when all done.

Per my previous comment, you don't need to use EOScard.exe if you follow all the steps with STICK. But if you do use it, the interface is a little strange. Referring to the first picture here - EOScard Screenshot - you don't press the "Save" button to activate it. You need to click on the CHDK logo instead- it turns out to actually be a large "clickable" button itself.

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all i get upon boot... is a quick message that my card was locked, and no new CHDK menu or features....

That "card locked" message means that the step of writing the string "BOOTDISK" to the SD card boot block (which triggers the whole SD card lock boot mechanism on startup) was not successful. Hence my guess that you did not press the logo button using EOScard (or complete the STICK install process).

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can you give me some hints about where to find the Firmware Update menu when a valid PS.FI2 file is detected?

If you started the camera by only pressing the playback button (the one labelled with the blue triangle inside a blue rectangle) on the back of the camera (and NOT the On/Off button on top of the camera) then the firmware update will be the last item in the Canon menu that opens when you press the Menu button immediately after so turning the camera on.

Note : For this booting method, you might need the SD card lock switch in the unlocked position though - I can't remember right now if that's necessary.

« Last Edit: 12 / January / 2017, 04:08:00 by waterwingz »

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

doc_vogt

5

frustrated SD940IS owner now up and running CHDK correctly...

« Reply #25 on: 12 / January / 2017, 09:57:20 »

ww,

i found some answers in your reply, and wanted to say thanks again. I shouldnt need to post to this thread again.

i originally wasnt impressed by STICK, when i tried to use it, many features that were supposed to be handy simply didnt work. I had overlooked the notes about what command to launch from, and was launching it incorrectly (i used stick.jar vs. stickx.cmd). this had exactly the described impact and made features not work - that's why i did the install 'by hand' for my SD280.

this AM, when i launched stickx.cmd, it performed correctly, through all steps, and i have two SD cards set up and working correctly on my SD940.

one odd thing that exacerbated my confusion yesterday - EOScard. i have used it before, successfully, to help set up other camera including recently my SD280. i do know what buttons to press, and on the 4GB cards in my SD280 they are set up and respond correctly as bootable... but for this SD940 project, each time i used EOScard to set up a 2GB SD card it reported all correct, it saw the card in the drive, it reported successful write, no errors... so i expected my cards were now bootable, ... but this AM when i scanned these cards using STICK.... STICK reported that neither card was bootable, even tho they did have the correct files on them.

i dont know how to address this problem, but now that i know how to launch STICK correctly, it seems moot.

i have specific drone-related needs for CHDK on some developmental sensors, and have been modifying scripts and testing. i will be happy to share them when done...

and, again, thank you for the prompt attention and assistance.

DocV

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waterwingz

12139

Re: Camera Selection Question from Home Inspector Wanting to do Roof Inspections

« Reply #26 on: 12 / January / 2017, 10:30:52 »

Quote from: doc_vogt on 12 / January / 2017, 09:57:20

i have specific drone-related needs for CHDK on some developmental sensors, and have been modifying scripts and testing. i will be happy to share them when done...

FWIW I'm just glad you weren't also trying to use the Card Tricks utility.

Did you check this out?
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/KAP_UAV_Exposure_Control_Script

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16

doc_vogt

5

Re: Camera Selection Question from Home Inspector Wanting to do Roof Inspections

« Reply #27 on: 12 / January / 2017, 10:41:55 »

I am just learning what scripts are available.... I was not aware of that kite script. I have been involved in remote sensing R&D for the DoD for decades... and have been bringing it to small hand-launched drones as I spent years working on military projects related to them.

When stitching together a large mosaic image from many smaller ones (what we are forced to do with smaller drones operating well below the Manned Airspace) it is very helpful, if not required, to maintain a fixed exposure throughout the imagery set - else neighboring images cannot be stitched accurately, and, when analyzing the ground cover by reflectance the values will change and that alters the actual 'data' gathered.

I have found a couple intervalometer scripts that have the basic exposure lock and focus control that i expect to use... along with knowing my airspeed, operating altitude, and FOV of the cameras should allow me to gather predictable results. Our small business spun off from some successful government funded projects... we have the largest fleet of civilian research drones in the Midwest... many specialized cameras and sensors... but using the Canons and CHDK is a departure from our normal procedures, and why I am exploring this area. There are many groups already well-versed in utilizing the Canon's for crop and ground cover analysis, but these cams have been too large for our routine deployments. This past year we increased the size of some of our base aircraft and now have the capacity to evaluate heavy cams like the Canons again... so you will see us here at these forums a lot. (esp when good help is available).

You are doing this as a hobby?... do you get involved in the remote sensing/drone world outside of here? If you're interested, I would be pleased to get you involved in our work so you can see what we have been up to.

Cheers

DocV

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waterwingz

12139

Re: Camera Selection Question from Home Inspector Wanting to do Roof Inspections

« Reply #28 on: 13 / January / 2017, 09:16:26 »

Quote from: doc_vogt on 12 / January / 2017, 10:41:55

When stitching together a large mosaic image from many smaller ones (what we are forced to do with smaller drones operating well below the Manned Airspace) it is very helpful, if not required, to maintain a fixed exposure throughout the imagery set - else neighboring images cannot be stitched accurately, and, when analyzing the ground cover by reflectance the values will change and that alters the actual 'data' gathered. I have found a couple intervalometer scripts that have the basic exposure lock and focus control that i expect to use... along with knowing my airspeed, operating altitude, and FOV of the cameras should allow me to gather predictable results.

How fast do you want to shoot? Most Canon P&S cameras take at least 2 seconds to focus, set exposure, shoot, and store the image to an SD card. The kap_uav.lua script has a continuous shooting mode (actually, a couple of modes depending on how you want to trigger it) that will shoot at sub one second speeds depending on the camera model. In that mode, the exposure gets locked on the first shot. I've been looking at adjusting the exposure on the fly in this mode but have not done a lot of work on that yet. Sounds like it's something you would not need for your projects.

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Ported : A1200 SD940 G10 Powershot N G16