With this firmware hack, you can add RAW image format support (removing a lot of the in-camera processing that the camera does to an image), manual control, bracketing (taking several shots at different settings), additional onscreen info, motion sensing, time lapse, auto triggering, interval shooting, enhanced video capture, USB remote, and even games like Tetris. As you guessed it, this hack only works with Canon cameras.

Supported PowerShot models – and there are many – range from the budget A10 to the more sophisticated G15, but you can head to the CHDK’s Wiki page for a full list. But if you own certain Canon PowerShot models, you can add some nifty features without upgrading to a more advanced model by using what the Canadians used: the Canon Hacker’s Development Kit, or CHDK. On its own, a point-and-shoot camera is a basic device for capturing photos. CHDK A Canon PowerShot G7 hacked with CHDC. If you want to try out a hack for fun but afraid of damaging your equipment, get a cheap, used PowerShot to try with CHDK, to get yourself acquainted. While the hacks are stable, there’s no guarantee they’re 100-percent foolproof. These hacks aren’t “illegal,” but they aren’t supported by any of the companies mentioned. Note: Making any unauthorized changes to a product’s original setting is done at your own risk (duh). (Set aside a weekend to study up on the guides before you attempt.) If the inner MacGyver in you is up for some tinkering – and you happen to own a Canon camera, in particular – here are some hacks that will unlock your camera’s hidden potential and add extra value. While cameras are often already loaded with features, software-based hacks can add new shooting capabilities not mentioned in the instruction manual. This image from space was taken by a Canon PowerShot camera hacked with CHDK. And hacking the camera might actually be the easy part, thanks to an open-source firmware update. While it sounds like a complicated science project, it’s actually something many have successfully accomplished (Ho and Muhammad just made theirs unique by sending the little Lego guy with it and, oh, they’re teens). To document the event from liftoff to crash-land, they rigged a basic Canon point-and-shoot camera to continuously snap photos.

Last year, two Canadian teenagers, Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, successfully sent a Lego mini figure up into space using a weather balloon as the vehicle.

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