SX40, upping fps in movie mode?

051r15

21
SX40 HS

« on: 28 / November / 2011, 17:37:20 »

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Hello community! I'm new to the forum, and a new Canon user as well. I absolutely love my SX40, even more so with RAW thanks to CHDK! I'm familiar with hacking and modding all my devices (writing to you on a hackintosh), and I'm very interested in the development and scripting of CHDK- though I'm a n00b as it stands now.

Here's my question: is it possible to get 60 fps in 1080 or 720 in movie mode? Or vary the framerate at all? The camera is capable of 120 fps @ VGA resolution 640x480, and the DIGIC V is fast.

Can this be done? Is anyone planning to implement this feature in an autobuild? If not, could a few experienced forum members point me in the right direction to start working on this capability myself? I promise to share any good results!

Oh, and thanks for existing! I support all who expand the off the shelf capabilities of expensive tech/gear to bring increased value and versatility to our tools. And I look forward to being an active participant in the community.

Thanks in advance!
-051r15

--p.s. Mods, feel free to move this topic as it has to do (I think) with a software mod. I meant to post in General discussion and assistance forum instead, or anywhere the topic would be more relevant. Thanks!

« Last Edit: 28 / November / 2011, 18:34:24 by 051r15 »

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reyalp

13947

Re: SX40, upping fps in movie mode?

« Reply #1 on: 28 / November / 2011, 21:48:42 »

Quote from: 051r15 on 28 / November / 2011, 17:37:20

Can this be done?

No one knows for certain. This idea has come up many times on the forum.

Quote

Is anyone planning to implement this feature in an autobuild?

No, it's not know whether it is possible, so no one is planning to do it. As far as I know, no one working on the P&S cameras is actively investigating this, although srsa_4c has touched on some related areas http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=7067.0

I believe the people working on DSLR hacks have done some investigation in this area without success, but I don't follow them closely. Their work won't be directly applicable to a P&S, but might provide some ideas. Edit: see the dslr subforum and http://magiclantern.wikia.com/wiki/Magic_Lantern_Firmware_Wiki

My personal opinion is that the available readout modes are most likely fixed in hardware, and cannot be arbitrarily tweaked in software. That's just a gut feeling though, and even if it is correct, it is possible there are some settings available beyond what Canon has exposed. That said, if the hardware were capable of 60fps HD without any issues, I'm pretty sure Canon would use that as a selling point rather than hiding it.

Quote

If not, could a few experienced forum members point me in the right direction to start working on this capability myself? I promise to share any good results!

Disassemble the firmware, look for movie related tasks. Canon has helpfully left in all their debug asserts with filenames, various debug logging messages, and named "event procedures" http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Event_Procedure

General developer information can be found at http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/For_Developers

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051r15

21
SX40 HS

Re: SX40, upping fps in movie mode?

« Reply #2 on: 28 / November / 2011, 23:52:44 »

Thanks for the help there. I was wondering why I couldn't find much info on this at all on the net, at least relating to Powershots.
I could be wrong but gut feeling is there's a hack for this somehow. There are some other cameras in this range that offer 60fps, although the lack of other features compensate this. I'd like to take a look at some firmware dumps of some of the DSLR's and see if we can't figure something out. The new models share CMOS and DIGIC V in common.
All in all thanks for a good start on some research.

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