These override functions are certainly turning out to be more complicated than I had thought!
I tested the aperture override as a function of zoom focal length (A610 and S3) with the following results:
A610: At minimum focal length (36 mm equivalent) the highest effective F number is F11. The highest F number increases progressively with increasing focal length so that F16 is obtainable at 140 mm (equivalent)
S3 IS: At minimum focal length (36 mm equivalent) the highest effective F number is F8. The highest F number increases progressively with increasing focal length up to about 300 mm, up to an effective F number of F11, and this value does not change as the focal length is increased further.
I then re-tested shutter speeds with maximum apertures and highest F numbers.
With the S3 I used auto Tv bracketing by 1/3 EV down from 8 x 1/100k. The indicated exposure decreased down to 1/3 EV faster than 4/100k (that is, close to 3/100k), but did not change beyond that point.
With the A610 (in a similar test) I encountered a strange bug with auto Tv bracketing in which all except the first picture were greatly over-exposed (this feature works OK in other situations). I had to revert to setting the shutter speed override manually, and again I found that the fastest setting that had any effect on the exposure was 3/100k sec.
I came across a post from Barney Fife (
http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php/topic,101.msg1404.html#msg1404 ) and agree with his remarks about the difficulty of estimating shutter speed when using a flash for illumination. However, it seems to me that by using constant light (the Sun) instead of a flash, the exposure change method should give a reasonable estimate.
I also agree that using a mark on a rotating disk should give a good estimate of shutter speed. However, I think it is necessary to know the particular physical arrangement of the mechanism, for example, strange effects can occur with focal plane shutters and streak cameras.
I would be useful to put such findings into the Wiki, but I would like some independent verification first.