After a 9 days in Costa Rica, I'm finally able to start processing the 1700 or so photos from the trip, I can finally show you some results of using the GFE on real-world subjects, like Howler Monkeys and birds.

My goal for these photos was to get the Comet behind an interesting foreground. The dramatic skyline of Seattle would do. After locating a general area that would put the skyline in the foreground, I found that as close I would get would be atop a pile of dirt at an empty lot in the city of Medina near Bellevue, Washington.

If you haven't seen it yet and you're in the Northern Hemisphere, you only have a day or two before its too far into the sun's glare. Get out and see it!

To quote the Society for Popular Astronomy, "The angle between the earth, comet and Sun becomes quite large around January 14th and this should lead to an additional increase in brightness. It may therefore be worth trying daylight observation within a day or two of January 14, although the comet is then only 5 degrees from the Sun, so extreme care will be needed. Mercury is close by, and it seems possible that the comet will be the brighter object." See below for more photos.

Is that the kind of news we can expect to see in the short term? Thats what a lot of us want to know.

It was quite exciting when there were release after release of the 300D/10D firmware mods. All of the potential fixes that were tentatively coming down the pike with each new release. Then there was silence. Then came the Undutchable mods, yet more hope for us 300d owners! But again, the quiet.

Is it over for Canon DSLR owners? Is there hope for a 30D firmware mod that works on the 20D? Could some cunning programmer in Belarus or Hyderabad find out that the 30D and the 5D share a lot of code? Wouldn't that be something?

Well, I for one, am crossing my fingers that such things could occur. The 20D and 30D are similar enough beasts, they share the same sensor and Digic II processor. The 300D/10D firmware was more about disabled code being re-enabled. I think the 20D/30D comparison is more about enhancements. I'm not sure how much those enhancements rely on new hardware features, but it seems at least plausible that the firmwares are very similar.

I am curious and anxious to see if there are any developments.

So I had a little fun with perl tonight. I wrote a Photo Forum Topic Generator. Give it a try, and you'll know what I'm talking about.

Hopefully I don't offend too many people...

There's been some recent buzz about the new Apple iPod Camera Connector for the iPod Photo. The good news: the 300D/350D/10D support this new $29 gadget, the bad news: initial reports are that it is slow at transferring images, around 300k/s for transfers. (and obviously, RAW images cannot be viewed on the iPod).

Apple said that most cameras with USB connectivity can be used with the iPod Camera Connector, and must support either the PTP, Type 4 (Normal), or Mass Storage protocol. [ipodlounge.com]

This is good news for those iPod Photo owners out there, but not so good for those of us who own a regular iPod or iPod mini. The unit is only supported by the iPod Photo. Details can be had at apple.com and an extensive review is at ipodlounge.com.

I seem to have forgotten one important part of this website. How to actually install the firmware!

Download the firmware you wish to install. All versions are based on the OEM Canon 1.1.1 version. The instructions for upgrading the 300D firmware are identical to those required to install a modified firmware.

Instead of the .fir file you download from Canon, use the .fir file from the mod site. All steps are the same.

Be sure that you do not attempt to write a compressed version of the firmware, such as .rar or .zip, You will need to uncompress and extract the .fir file first!

Found this link over on the camerahacks.com website, a very interestingside-by-side comparison of the features in the 350D/XT and a modified 300D.

While a solid camera out of the box, the Canon EOS 300D Digital Rebel user experience can be enhanced with a few simple, money-saving tricks. In fact, I roughly estimate that these tips and tricks can save you over $500

I know that claiming a savings of over $500 might seem far fetched, but I will show you below that it is possible.

Disclaimer: Most, if not all of these tips and tricks could violate your Camera's warranty. Any use of these tips is at your will and not the fault of this website or the author.

Most of this information is gleaned from various forums, so the information to the best of my ability, is as accurate as possible, though I do not guarantee the results or accuracy of the claims below.

For corrections, please contact liem [at] starfleet.com

How do I revert to my OEM Firmware?

PureVector on DPReview

advises:

1) Reset all the CF to the original 300D settings. Note: you cannot use the Reset option in the menu, it does not affect the CF's. Below is a list of default binary values from left to right (The bottom numbers in the CF menu):

0,0,0,0,0,1,0,11,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0

2) Check to make sure the red-eye-reduction icon no longer blinks!!! If it is still blinking, you have not set all of the CF properly.

3) Flash back to 1.1.1.

Thanks Tom!

What is FEC?

BigMike from DPReview's Forum explains:

Easy to install, and works as advertized. The FEC is a really nice function to have. For new users that don't know what FEC is, it stands for flash exposure compensation. In short, it allows you to adjust the strength of the flash higher, or lower. This is very helpful for many shots. The FEC can be turned on or off in the menu. You can have your "set" button work the FEC, or have it bring up the normal "quality setting" menu. Nothing is disabled, everything works fine. Just thought I would mention it for those who were interested.