Would be more interesting to find Av, Tv in cameras without them ! Sounds possible or I'm missunderstanding something ?
Like canon uses the same base for all firmwares for all cameras so the mode are in every camera but just hidden in some cameras ?
Av will never be found from cameras that don't have it. If I'm not mistaken, Canon already puts Av mode in all cameras that have an adjustable aperture (iris).
Yes, all cameras share code with a whole lot of other Digic II/III/IV cameras, and the set of mode names is largely common to all. Choosing which modes to put on the dial is one of the things they can change with ease when the camera is almost ready for production as long as it has all the required hardware.
Most modes that aren't on the dial but still have some handles in the firmware won't work properly, because the software lacks some parts required for that mode. E.g. my a570 can be forced to custom modes C, C1 and C2 using events, but there's no user interface to work those modes. Similarly switching to Tv mode in a camera that doesn't have that in the mode dial would likely be useless, because the user interface for Tv adjustment probably wouldn't appear.
It would seem on sx10 some of the "hidden" modes could actually be useful. This stuff is of course worth trying, that's how you find out whether any of it works... in some cameras Canon may have decided on the final mode set late and fully implemented more modes than those that ended up on the mode dial.
Yes, I agree with what you are saying here. I know the modes aren't really "hidden", they are just part of the generic software that are either added in or not to particular camera models. Just because they are there and we can force them, it doesn't mean they have the software/hardware to actually use the mode.
Also, as I stated in my original post, the only mode that actually has a designated icon in REC mode is the Kids & Pets, the others only show show up in Play mode as icons and in the exif as names.
For example, there is an ISO6400 mode in the SX10, but it doesn't do anything (certainly not ISO 6400!). It would be curious to know why that is there. From what I can find, there are only DSLRs that actually have this mode. So, 1) is it experimental or reserved for future development on P&S; or 2) do the DSLRs actually share code with the P&S to a certain degree?
I have verified that at least the Digital Macro, Fast Shutter and Slow Shutter modes still appear to do what they should be expected to do.
Av mode would not be of use to cameras without an adjustable aperture. What cameras don't have a Tv mode? If Tv mode was enablable, do these cameras have the appropriate buttons to adjust the mode, or would it end up just being a dead mode?
I didn't really implement it as a patch, I just used what's there. The "SetCurrentCaptureModeType" function was recently added to the trunk, but was still commented out. All I did was uncomment it and add the LUA syntax registration so I could use it in a script. As I noted before, the setprop function doesn't seem to work for modes, this function is the code that actually changes modes as if the dial has been changed. I have had some instability with it. If I switch to a hidden mode and shut down the camera, it locks up if I enter PlayBack mode, requiring a battery pull (although, I'm not entirely certain that this is the cause, as it does lock up at other times as well). If I switch to a normal mode and do a half shutter press (so that all the mode settings kick in) before shutting down, this seems to fix it.
Whenever the "SetCurrentCaptureModeType" functionality is officially added to the build and LUA/UBASIC, others would be able to use it (unless it is implemented to limit to only available modes).
To add it as a full CHDK override type function, there would need to be a little work and experimentation before doing it officially.
