For anyone with a Cannon Powershot camera you will be very interested in this:

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK_in_Brief

This is a firmware add-on. It does not change anything on your camera. It loads from the SD card.

Some feature

- Record in RAW!!!

- Override shutter speed down to 1/25000 of a second /w flash sync.
- Override Aperture and Exposure times (up to 65 seconds)
- Record video up to an hour
- Motion detection accurate enough to take lightning photos.
- Auto Exposure Bracketing for HDR Photos
- Auto Focal Bracketing for Focus Stacking. (This is my favorite feature, I can take macro photos with everything in focus back to infinity. No more blurry backgrounds.)
-Flash Sync up to 1/64,000 of a second
- On screen histogram and zebra

Here are some example, keep in mind these are all with a normal point and shoot not a DSLR.

HDR samples: Powershot A610

http://www.zonebattler.net/?s=Galerie+der+Kontraste%26nbsp%3B

High Speed Shutter & Flash Sync:

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Samples:_High-Speed_Shutter_%26_Flash-Sync


Unlimited DoF:

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Samples:_Unlimited_DOF

Lightning taking with motion detection:

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Samples:_Lightning_photography




Enjoy!!

--scott

I agree CHDK is awesome stuff. I've used some of the intervalometer scripts to do sunrise/set timelapses. The histogram can be useful, too. Haven't played with the motion detection one yet, but many have had great success. Hadn't tried the focus bracketing either.

It doesn't work with older Powershots unfortunately (Digic I processor). Digic II and many Digic III cameras were covered when I found this last summer. Perhaps things have changed though.

Hi Scott
Great stuff! I had seen some of those tricks but not gone back to it 'cause it's for Canons only.
I wonder if someone will tinker with the Sony Bionz and or the Pana Venus engines that are creeping into their compacts.
A few years back to do high speed flash sync, unlimited DOF ,intervallometers or "staking" would have required highly specialised equipment (difficult to use and expensive) . To have them all in a pretty low end camera it's amazing.
Thanks for the reminder.
Franco

Is there anything like that available for the Ricoh GX200?

Miguel
Canon owners can be annoyingly smug about their pet product ( a bit like Franco and Tarptent) but they do come up with clever tricks...
I am not aware of anything available for the Ricoh apart from the Ricoh release revision 1.2
http://www.ricoh.com/r_dc/download/firmware/gx200/
Read the Revision History at the bottom of the page to see if any of those tweaks is relevant to you.
Revision 1.2 contains all of the others as well.
To see the version on your camera :
switch it off ( if it is off already omit this step...)
Turn the dial to the Scene mode
Press the Macro and play buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
The screen will display the firmware version .

Hi Franco! I didn't even know until just now that you had replied! Thanks for the information. I've updated my firmware. Thanks!

Version 1.25 is ready now...
Franco