timothy's Journal: Glad Tidings! No 4: CHDK's nice website

I finally ordered a digital SLR earlier this week, after more than a decade's worth of wanting one, and watching the prices go from crazy, crazy, only AP-photogs-need-apply (and with a grant, too) for modified Fujis and Nikons (including the early Kodak/Nikon venture), to something like cheaper at entry level than I paid for my own used entry-level film gear not that many years ago. (And while it's not exactly apples to apples, that comparison is at least Pentax to Pentax; Pentax K1000, though with a nice bright 50mm lens and in quite good shape, compared to a Pentax K-x with an 18-55mm kit lens, used "very good" from Amazon.)

Thinking about digital cameras more generally, though, has led me to look at lots of pictures created with CHDK, the Canon Hack Development Kit. (I believe that's what was used to shoot the cool near-space photos mentioned on Slashdot a few days ago).

CHDK's page may be rather busy, but it beats the public face of many software products, by explaining in simple terms just what it is, right on the front page, and having labels that make sense to technical people at least subtitled for the non-initiates. ("IRC" / "Chat with other users," "Forum" / "Share results and ask questions.")

Maybe one day I'll pick up an older but CHDK-friendly Canon through Craigslist or similar in order to add some of the cool features it brings; for cheap, mid-grade digital cameras, the images possible through High Dynamic Range bracketing and motion detection are amazing.