The NYT, of all places, has taken notice of one of my favorite projects: the Canon Hack Development Kit (CHDK).
CHDK is basically alternative firmware for the Canon PowerShot cameras that allows you to expand the camera’s capabilities. For example, you can store images in RAW format rather than JPEG, set the camera up to do time lapse photos, or do motion detection…or even write your own software in the CHDK development language.
Even better, CHDK isn’t a permanent modification; if you want to put the camera back the way it was, all you have to do is take the CHDK firmware off the SD card, or swap in a different SD card.
The CHDK Wiki is here. I’m hoping to spend some more time working with CHDK now that school’s out. I’d be interested in hearing from folks who are already working with CHDK.