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Canon Digital Rebel Hacked Into A Pseudo-10D
Reverb9 writes "When Canon introduced the Digital Rebel, the world's first entry-level Digital SLR camera, many remarked on its similarities to the 10D , its $500 more expensive big brother. In fact, the two cameras share much of the same technology and so Canon implemented a number of software-based limitations to avoid destroying sales of the professional-oriented 10D. Now, a new hack that restores a previously hidden menu along with a few additional tricks has added nearly all of those 10D features to the Rebel, with an arguably superior user interface to boot. Canon has so far said little on the hack but certainly cannot be happy with its potential effect on sales. This is, however, a reality that more corporations are having to confront. In an era where programming labour is relatively cheap and computer connectivity more frequent can artificial, marketing-driven, barriers between technology products, last?"
Just to mention that the 10D does have different hardware, so this hack won't give all features,
notably the faster frames per second and frames that are buffered.
The EOS-300D will shoot 4 frames at 2.5 frames per second and the EOS-10D will shoot 9 frames at 3 frames per second.
Also, the EOS-300D has a cheap-feeling plastic body while the EOS-10D has a black magnesium body.
Firmware update instructions from Canon
10D Instruction Manual (PDF file)
Latest Firmware from Wasia
(Wasia is apparently the pseudonym of the Russian hacker who has developed all these goodies.)
Wasia's site is here:
http://satinfo.narod.ru/
Some more info from the linked page:
There are a bunch of other neat tips on that site, but they aren't directly related to this story, and so I haven't re-posted them here.
p
In Korea, long hair is for old people!
No...
Many vehicles out there have the same exact engine and drivetrain, but have timing and whatnot adjusted via computer, one to give better fuel consumption, the other to givemore power.. and the manufactuere advertises one as 120HP engine, and one as 150HP. Same, exact, engine.
Also, the timing on many vehicles is adjusted for a certain low grade of fuel (Even if that low grade isn't the lowest grade available).... making the decision to ALWAYS run on a higher octane fuel, and tuning the timing to take that into account can give you a nice increase in power.
Add to that cars with servo controlled turbo wastegates (if I recall correctly).. boost pressure can also be increased (or decreased, for better fuel efficiency) on the fly.
There are numerous ways to tweak a modern computerized engine management system.
> This one feature was useful enough for me to keep two different codes
> for my one cable box on one remote.
Many of the universals are made by one company. Get online and dig around for the advanced programming codes and you can probably merge the volume codes from one set to the set that works everything else and have a seamless experience with only one cable button. And if you are lucky enough to have one with the JP1 header (or solder pads for a plug) you are set for some serious modding.
Democrat delenda est
It is an artifact of the need to standardize board layouts, processors, hardware and designs for mass production. Its also a direct tribute to the greed of companies who wouldn't offer their customers the best possible product possible.
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
I suspect it'll remain so because typically the company doesn't care about the 4 people who actually use the software to unlock the additional features of their lower end hardware (Voiding any warranties in the process.)
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
No, in fact, ALL of the MD recorders have features disabled through software. SCMS copy protection anyone?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Er. No.
Canon said, 'we'll give you this camera here, with magnesium body and huge feature set, for X dollars.'
Then Canon said, 'alternately we'll give you this other camera here, with plastic body, and extensive but smaller feature set, for X minus five hundred dollars.'
Canon was quite open about advertising that there were significant similarities. The sensor and a lot of the electronics are essentially the same. The more expensive camera has a more durable body, can shoot multiple frames faster, has a higher maximum shutter speed, and a few other goodies. Canon never said anything about there being entirely different firmware on the two models.
When you buy the camera, what are you paying for? The advertised set of features. What did Canon give you for your money? The advertised set of features. Why are they lying, again?
~Idarubicin
Volkswagen Audi Group (VAG) is a very good example of this, though not with S4 and RS4 as you state. Theri previous platform for middlesized cars had on engine in particular that was used in many, many cars. The 1.8 liter turbo. There was tuning from 150 hp to 190 hp, with no changes what so ever to the hardware side.
Some examples:
Audi A3 150 hp to 180 hp, depending on country of sales
Audi A4 163 hp and 190(?) hp
VW Golf GTI 150 hp
Skoda Octavia 150 hp, RS has 180 but with different hardware.
Seat Leon 150hp to 180 hp.
Seat Toledo 180 hp
And more....
They DO lock multipliers. It's a pain in the ass actually. I have a P4 2.4ghz chip that runs on the 400mhz bus (100mhz quad pumped) so 24x multiplier. Well my motherboard and RAM can handle 800mhz (200mhz quad pumped), which would give me better performance. No can do though, I'd need to step down to a 12x multiplier and the chip won't allow that.
The reason they don't bus lock is there isn't really a feasable way of doing it. It would require some kind of trickiness with the chip generating it's own internal clock, and doing a comparison, which would never work since external bus speed can vary from one board to teh next natrually.
The most important link is this one:
http://ravn.net/md/
But maybe you'll find these interesting too:
http://www.minidisct.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&t hreadid=13149
http://home.kabelfoon.nl/~bertrik/netmd/mdhack.htm l
http://forums.minidisc.org/viewtopic.php?t=5&start =195
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Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
It is not the same camera. The 300D has a plastic body shell, isn't designed to be as robust as its more expensive rival the 10D.
For serious photography the heavier weight of the 10D helps avoiding camera shake (or atleast it does for most the people I know).
Also the 10D has built in PC socket (no not a PC as in computer - its a flash connector for studio flashes), I doubt the software hack magically opens up a new socket on the side of the body
The 10D has a higher frame rate which implies a larger buffer between the CCD and the flash memory.
Okay, the differences don't add up to $500 but the targeted markets arent the same and so the price does vary.
My film based 30 doesn't have many features above the 300v if you ignore eye control but still costs 200 more - for the features I do get and the better quality build etc I think its worth it.
So in short as the cameras are different beasts for different markets why should Canon be accused of fraud....
The original post to which this is the reply is a typical
--- Users are like bacteria -> Each one causing a thousand tiny crises until the host finally gives up and dies.
Of course, BMW has programmed the gearbox for maximum clutch and tire life - that is, it lets out the clutch slowly at low RPMs to reduce wear and tear on the clutch and not cause any wheelspin. However, when racing, clutch and tire life are secondary to getting a quick start - thus, you can use this easter egg to do the equivalent of popping the clutch on a straight manual tranny. Of course, I'm sure that the fact you've done this is recorded all over the ECU, and if you bring in the car for a warranty clutch replacement at 10,000 miles, the dealer will have some pointed questions to ask. Technology, as always, marches on ;).
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
Here's a film SLR with 90%. That said, the biggest difference between the 10D and 300D's viewfinder isn't coverage but magnification. With same 50mm lenses, the 10D has a .88x magnification, while the 300D has a .8x. Between the 10% magnification difference and inherently dimmer pentamirror construction, the 10D will be much easier to use.
When I'm shooting for a client, I need two things. I need a camera that won't fail, and I need a second camera. In that respect, if I had Canon lenses and my photography doesn't need the 1D/1D2's speeds or the 1Ds' resolution, the 10D/300D combination might be reasonable, if I can get over the severe difference in usability. No, it's not an "attitude" issue.
Your suggestion to get the 1Ds or the 1D Mark II are asinine, though, if they're looking at $800 and $1,000 bodies. Last I checked, the 1D Mark II costs $6,000, and the 1Ds costs $10,000, not to mention the weight increase from even 10D.
No, the skill will remain constant for a given photographer. However, with better ergonomics and specs of the 10D, you're less likely to miss shots with it than with the 300D. That's the whole point of buying say pro-grade over consumer-grade -- you're more likely to get usable results. Is that worth the price difference? I don't know. Ask your wallet.
Not true. 10D has pentaprism viewfinder 300D has a pentamirror. There is nothing to direct the image to the sensor. Both have mirror in front of the sensor to direct image to the viewfinder, thus both have mirror slap. 10D only has mirror lock up feature to alliviate it.
The 10D has a hefty magnesium case, where the Rebel uses a less durable, plastic or composite case.
True.
The 10D also can take pictures at a faster rate (burst of 9 at 3 fps vs. burst of 4 at 2.5 fps, I believe). I think this is due to the fact that the Rebel doesn't use the prism.
The maximum number of images per burst has nothing to do with mirrors, it is just the question of the image buffer size on the camera. 10D has larger buffer.
The 10D and the 300D/Rebel have the same sensor. And the sensor is a CMOS not CCD chip.
See the review here.
Steve
Consumers are getting the shaft any time they buy these crippled products
I realize this will probably be an unpopular opinion here, but your post ignores the fact that we do live in a capitalist economy, and as such a company is entitled, nay, expected to charge as much as the market will bear. I don't like getting the shaft any more than you do, but it's never been about the cost of making the product -- it's always been about the perceived value to the consumer. If the consumer views the extra features as being valuable, be they in software or hardware, then the consumer will pay the price. If they don't, then the product fails and the company goes back to the drawing board.
Further (and again this will be an unpopular stance here) even if we ignore the part about what the market will bear, software is a product, too, and there are many people willing to pay for software. Sure, Adobe could sell PhotoShop CS for $100 or less, as the cost of manufacturing is certainly nowhere near that. But they don't. The choose instead to sell PhotoShop Elements at a low cost and PhotoShop CS at a significantly higher cost. Why? Well, besides the fact that they have every right to set the price as they see fit and then succeed or fail at that price point, they have engineering costs to recoup and shareholders to satisfy, just like any publicly held company.
In short, I don't think your complaint about "crippled" products has merit. But that's just my opinion.
People who say "sheeple" have about as much sophistication as an AOL user, and in fact are probably actually AOL users.