Accessories Before Camera

This is a first, even for me. I already have accessories for my A650IS, and I don't have the camera yet!

One of these is virtual. I downloaded CHDK for the A650IS. It's a scripting language that runs on top of the camera's Digic III processor firmware, and lets you do all manner of neat things, like scripting custom exposure bracketing modes, adding new menu options, shooting RAW files, etc. A number of KAPers use CHDK on their Canon cameras to script canned routines for getting anything from bracketed exposures to rapid-fire panoramas, and everything in-between. One particularly neat script looks for the +5V flag to go high on the camera's USB port, and use that to trigger an exposure. Voila, instant remote control over the shutter. It's neat!

But the accessory that came today is more hardware than software. A friend of mine has a 700-series PowerShot, and had an adapter tube and a wide angle lens for his camera. But he wasn't 100% happy with it, and was looking to unload it. I was more than happy to take it off his hands.

I have two reasons for this: First, the wide angle adapter, even though it has nasty barrel distortion and clips (not vignettes... clips) the corners, I'm happy to work with that in order to get larger panoramas.

But more important to me is the adapter tube. The PowerShot cameras have a bayonet mounted bezel ring around the lens that can be removed to install camera accessories like the adapter tube. This gives the tube a very firm mount on the camera body, and completely encloses the lens. At the far end of the tube is a 58mm filter thread. This is a convenient size considering all the filters I have for my DSLR have 58mm threads!

But the real benefit lies in the barrel itself. Talk to practically any camera repair shop, and they'll tell you that the bulk of the digital point and shoot DOA accidents involve the lens barrel. Most have telescoping lens assemblies that extend out of the camera body. Even a relatively soft tap at the end, say from a drop of six inches, is enough to destroy or horribly mis-align the optical assembly. A drop from six feet is enough to ram the optics back inside the camera, permanently stripping the motor/gearbox assemblies that handle focus and zoom. Instant "time to buy a new camera".

So having an armored barrel that completely covers the optics assembly is a really good thing! Especially if you know you'll be hanging the camera off a kite that can, on occasion, come down really really fast. I've had four nose-down landings with my Nikon Coolpix 5600 camera, but because I built my own barrel for its lens, it survived all four impacts.

It's good to know my new camera will have a fighting chance when it comes to nosedives. That would be a blog entry I'd hate to have to write.

Tom