Canon Hacker’s Development Kit

If you’ve ever been intrigued by time-lapse photography, motion-sensing shutters that can capture lightning, or being able to shoot videos of any serious length, you might not need to shell out for a semi-serious DSLR model—if you’ve got a Canon, that is. The CHDK lets you do all that and more, including record your photos in the very work-able RAW format, get way more on-screen information about your shots and their settings, and, as Adam put it, generally turn your point-and-shoot into a super-camera. The possibilities are vast, given the number of user-created scripts the CHDK can run. And, in true hacker fashion, you can even play a game or two on your LCD screen (while you pretend to be setting up that staged photo mom and dad want, perhaps).

The image quality, thankfully, is as good as we’d been led to believe, delivering the huge megapixel count of Sony’s A900 and matches the clean images of Nikon’s D700, both scoring 2.0 in Pop Photo’s noise test at ISO 6400. In other words, "Such high resolution and ISOs will change your photography." Video footage is "beautiful" (though we already knew that).

The bad? The most crippling issue is that its autofocus system is sloooow, lagging way behind the D700 and A900, and it’s even worse in low light. Pop Photo also encountered the notorious black botches plaguing some of the camera’s shots with blown-out highlights, but they suspect it’ll be fixed with a firmware update.

Their bottom line is that "it’s a wow" and "low-light image quality is almost life-changing." Even if you already own a 5D, you gain on almost every front, so it’s a "perhaps irresistible" upgrade. Be sure to check out the full review: [Pop Photo]

The dongle, measuring 2 by 1.8 by 1 inch, records latitude, longitude, altitude and time. You can upload photos using Nikon’s ViewNX software and “my Picturetown” photo storage and sharing Web site, or use third-party sites like Flickr and Google Earth.

The GP-1 acquires a satellite signal in about 45 seconds (after being turned on) or 5 seconds (if already powered). The system’s three-color status indicator flashes red when no recorded GPS satellite data is available. If the indicator blinks green, it has detected three satellites; a solid green signal means it has detected four or more.

The GP-1 will be available this month for the recession-unfriendly price of $240. You may have to make do with that untagged photo of the Eiffel Tower for a while. AZADEH ENSHA

RG, in his brief interview with Westfall, also confirmed Canon is prepping to address the 5D mark II’s black dots debacle that’ve been widely spread on numerous community forums. No further details were disclosed but it would be a positive announcement. Well, if they’ve learned anything from Mark III; it’s wiser to break silence on founded technical difficulties, another case of lack-of-response could be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

• Series I
• Series II
• Series III
• Series IV

As more come in, so we continue to add them to the lists. It’s great seeing so many  moments captured of this tremendous season.

Photos by James of Xulphlux.com

• 1st Weekend
• 2nd Weekend
• 4th Weekend
• 5th Weekend
• 6th Weekend
• 7th Weekend
• 8th Weekend – Saturday
• 8th Weekend – Sunday

Tuper26’s Photos

memejr1949’s Photos – Another outstanding professional photographer who’s taken no end of shots both street scene as well as portraits around the faire.

Midlan2008’s Photos – includes lots of pre-faire and after-hours photos.

They’re not in a set, but just at the current head of his photostream, but A_Cherished_Memory over at flickr has these photos that are probably some of the best singular photos we’ve come across. Click here to check out his shots.

Each year one of the most popular late season Faires of the National season is simply known as TRF. Everyone has nicknames for their local faires, but when you get to be anywhere in the country and people who’ve never attended an event know it simply by it’s initials, then you know it’s a big deal.

Of all the events we’ve had so far here on RFPhotos, Texas has the one that’s been most requested for more sets.

From early October through the end of November, Plantersville, Texas hosts this annual event.

Check out our gallery sets for the 2008 season.

• TRF Galleries 1
• TRF Galleries 2

• Opening Weekend
• Closing Weekend