Color settings / Dynamic Range
I wanted to get a little more dynamic range out of this camera than the default settings give you.
Recently I haven't used the Parameter 1 default setting because it uses:
- Contrast = +1, Sharpness = +1, Saturation = +1, ColorTone = 0
The increased contrast and saturation decreases the dynamic range even more! And the increased Sharpness increases the
noise! Instead, I made up a custom Set 1 that has:
- Contrast = -1, Sharpness = 0, Saturation = +1, ColorTone = 0
I pushed up the saturation to compensate for the decrease in contrast. I am pretty happy with this setting now, although it
seems better to set Contrast=+1 and Saturation=0 or -1 on a very gray day to pull out more contrast and prevent colors from
coming out over-saturated. I use the Unsharp Mask in photoshop to sharpen and/or use the sharpener in Neat Image for lower
noise instead of the noiser in-camera Sharpness adjustment. You can access these adjustments at the bottom of the Menu.
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The Canon 300D Custom Function Firmware Hack!!
Frees up many custom functions such as Flash Exposure Compensation (FEC) [Set CF01 to "2" then press "JUMP"
to change the FEC level followed by "SET"] and Mirror Lock-Up (MLU), which locks the mirror and waits for the camera to
stabilize before capturing the picture for completely shake-free shots! Let's you shoot ISO-3200 and also gives you
the ability to use the servo focusing in any Creative Zone mode! Gives you options for RAW+{any}JPG when you
shoot raw files. Very easy to install and makes the 300D much more like the 10D for free!!!
NOTE #1: This hack seems to interfere with the Automatic Exposure Bracketing function - you can still take 3 pictures of
different exposure, but you have to press the button 3 times! This is unfortunate, because I really like the AEB feature.
My way around this problem is to set the camera to timer mode and use the RS-60E3 remote, which has a locking shutter button.
I set everything up, lock the shutter button, and then I have 10 seconds until the camera snaps three consecutive shots with
the adjusted exposure.
#(I've recently been told the following by email: "..but that's the default behaviour of the UNhacked firmware as well! If
you want to hold the shutter release and get 3 shots you need to select the continuous drive mode AS WELL as AEB. Even better,
the continuous mode knows you're using AEB, so it stops after 3 shots, rather than just keeping going as it would without
AEB." [2/13/06])#
NOTE #2: Using the hack voids your warranty, but if you can switch back to the original firmware before sending your
camera in, the warranty would be intact.
- E3kr111.FIR (1.8MB, Beta 7.1, 7/13/2004).
Download this file to a formatted CF card and put the card in your camera (or use the cable). Follow the on-screen
instructions and you're done! Takes about a minute to update.
- http://satinfo.narod.ru/en/ - The Russian website where this
hack originated from. If you download the E3kr111.RAR (compressed folder that contains E3kr111.FIR) file from here, use the
mirror site since it's 30x faster. You'll have to have the winRAR extractor, but you can find a free trail version through
Google (or you can just download the FIR file from me directly and use it immediately without extracting it).
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http://www.bahneman.com/liem/photos/tricks/digital-rebel-tricks.html - more info explaining how to use the freed
features, like different focus modes (servo is possible in any Creative Zone setting!) - read the last few updates at the top
of his page.
- http://web.canon.jp/Imaging/eosdigital/E3kr_firmware-e.html - The original firmware 1.1.1 from Canon
incase you want to switch back.
- List of freed custom
functions
(*.txt)
- http://www.alexbernstein.com/wiki/HomePage -
Alex Bernstein's firmware decryptor and camera hacking.
Here is the FEC in action. I took this picture (at about 1m distance) with no flash and then changed the FEC over the
whole-number steps (step size is 1/3 of a stop, as with exposure). All pix were done in Manual mode with the Canon 85mm f1/8
USM for 1/200 sec at f/4, using ISO-800. FEC really does work! When do you need it? Well, if you need to balance your flash
with available light, it comes in really handy, especially if you're taking a evening picture of someone and need to fill in
the foreground. Unfortunately, the automatic flash reduction (CF14) doesn't work with this version of the hack yet.
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