FEC and DRebel!!!

Just saw this. Now just need the aquatica ICU

http://demeter.x1.ru/soft/

Focus lock, just need to unlock focus lock...please

Ok, maby not "Just need" - Could allways use more.

Yes William,

Flash compensation (or called "FEC" or flash exposure compensation by Canon) will only be a useful function if you are shooting TTL.

But that's sweet! Not all hackers are bad, eh?

Cheers

James

That's one busy hacker. He's put out 3 versions of firmware in 2 days. Check

http://www.bahneman.com/liem/photos/tricks...bel-tricks.html

for the latest.

Not that I am condoning such practices........ :shock: but has anyone tried these hacked firmware upgrades? Easy to do (assuming one were so inclined.....)? Effective?

Yes I have installed all of them.

You just copy the .FIR file to your memory card and put it in the camera.

Yes they work. It does two things, unlocks the custom function menue and inables FEC. Not all of the custom functions work though.

here are the CF that work

Set function - You can define what the Set button does(set to FEC to turn FEC on)

Disable ability to take picture without a CF card in

RAW+Jpg - You can pick what size jpg to save when you use RAW

Set T=200 when flash is up in AV mode

Exposure level incremnts in 1/2 stops

I'll confess. I did. It worked on my one quick test. I took 5 shots of one corner of my living room varying the FEC form -2 to +2 one stop at a time and watched the exposure change. Looks like it's doing the right thing.

Yes I have installed all of them.

You just copy the .FIR file to your memory card and put it in the camera.

As a precaution start the operation with a fully charged battery. Although the process doesn't seem to use up that much charge. I plugged the battery back in the charger right after the firmware change and the little red light blinked once and stay on which according to the manual means the battery was still at least 90% charged.

Hmmm. Based on the availability of hacked firmware and the competition from the D70, I wonder if Canon will release an official version of the firmware unlocking some of the features like FEC and focus lock? Sure makes sense to me...

Hmmm.  Based on the availability of hacked firmware and the competition from the D70, I wonder if Canon will release an official version of the firmware unlocking some of the features like FEC and focus lock?  Sure makes sense to me...

Maybe once they announce the followup to the 10D. Until then, I can't imagine them doing it. Perhaps they'll concurrently announce the 10D Mark II and DRebel Mark II. Most buyers won't try out the hack anyway -- that sort of thing seems to appeal to different "niche" market . . .

I'm with Tom on this one. I don't think there will be a Drebel II though. I can't remember the conversation with the local store but it seemed to make sense when we were discussing it.

Hard to say, but I really do think they'll open up some features on the Drebel soon. Maybe you're right, they'll wait until the 10d replacement is announced, but I don't think they'll wait that long. I can't see them replacing the DRebel for at least another year; an incremental improvement like FEC and focus lock in firmware could carry them for a while.

On the subject of naming, I'm sort of hoping Canon won't call everything the Model Mk II. It's bad enough referring to the 1D Mk II, at least we can shorten that to MkII.

Canon is not in the habit of adding major feature upgrades in its firmware (despite users alwalys requesting them in discussion groups online!). I think the DRebel's sales are healthy enough that they will not be changing this policy in the immediate future.

I really like the idea of this hack. Can you still change exposure compensation as well as FEC? If so, the major drawback to shooting TTL is gone. The ICU sounds like a great innovation, but without some way to change flash exposure it's a bit lame. This hack, if it works, would make the 300D a formidable underwater tool for TTL photography.

I really like the idea of this hack.  Can you still change exposure compensation as well as FEC?  If so, the major drawback to shooting TTL is gone.  The ICU sounds like a great innovation, but without some way to change flash exposure it's a bit lame.  This hack, if it works, would make the 300D a formidable underwater tool for TTL photography.

Yes you can change both EC and FEC.

The hacks only change single bits in the firmware. They are just unlocking what was allready there so I assume it works exactly the same as the 10D's FEC since the code was written by canon and Probably Identical to that on the 10D. But since I have never used a 10D here is what it does.

[M] - FEC acts like a EC. FEC= +1 will over expose the frame by one stop regardless of A and T so long as the flash is strong enough/far enough away.

[Av] - FEC adds to EC as fill flash. It calculates shutter speed just as it would with FEC=0. It just adds more/less flash than normal. FEC = +1 and EC = -1 would produce an exposure in which the forground is overexposed and the background underexposed.

I havnet tryed it in [P] or [Tv] but I assume they are the same as [Av]

Thanks for the information.

FYI, P and Tv aren't the same as Av. They will underexpose the background if there is insufficient ambient light. Av will always select a sufficiently slow shutter speed so that the scene is correctly exposed for ambient light. EC will alter this, and FEC will alter the foreground/subject exposure, as you pointed out. As I see it, this is the important feature for wide angle TTL photography, as balancing subject exposure vs ambient allows you to get a less artificial look.

I was excited enough after reading this about this hack that I went down to the local camera store (in Perth) and played with a 300D. It feels a little cheap and nasty compared with the 10D, but I'm still going get one. Does anyone know if the 'set' button and whatever you need to push to then alter FEC (?teh buttons on either side of set) is accessible when used in the Ikelite and Aquatica housings?

Another question - have any of you 300D/Drebel Ike housing owners looked into getting the ICU installed in the Ike housing? Will it fit, will Ike do it or could you glue/velcro/sticky tape it in yourself?!?

Canon is not in the habit of adding major feature upgrades in its firmware

True, but when you talk about adding features, it's generally not as simple as unlocking a feature that's already there, which in this case it is. We shall see I suppose. Whatever the case, I think it's great that FEC has been unlocked, especially with the Aquatica ICU available.

I was excited enough after reading this about this hack that I went down to the local camera store (in Perth) and played with a 300D.  It feels a little cheap and nasty compared with the 10D, but I'm still going get one.  Does anyone know if the 'set' button and whatever you need to push to then alter FEC (?teh buttons on either side of set) is accessible when used in the Ikelite and Aquatica housings?

Cheap and nasty? All control buttons on the back of the Rebel are operational in the Ike housing.

Edit: One thing I had not thought of, that I beleive with the hack one has to press the set button and adjust the control wheel to set FEC. This may be awkward in the housing. The Ike housing has a special control on the AV button to allow it stay pressed if want to adjust aperture instead of shutter speed.

Another question - have any of you 300D/Drebel Ike housing owners looked into getting the ICU installed in the Ike housing?  Will it fit, will Ike do it or could you glue/velcro/sticky tape it in yourself?!?

Never really thought about it. I didn't know the ICU would be available separately from Aquatica. I have been holding out for the solution from Ikelite. Rumor has it they are working on it.

Dave

With regards to the above:

The ICU is available seperately, according to another thread on this forum. $150 I think?

Ike has mentioned more than once that e-TTL is being worked on, or is going to be worked on. Their are no specifics yet, it's a 'later this year' sort of thing. It may be retrofittable to current housings.

As for major feature upgrades via firmware - it would certainly be nice! The DRebel had no real competition when released, allowing Canon to happily cripple it. I would hope the D70 makes this less likely to happen next time around.