RAW format on non-SLR Canons

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/FAQ

I haven't tried this myself, but I know a few here have yet to transfer over to the wonderful world of SLR cameras, so it might be of use to someone. Here's a firmware update for all of you Canon users with Powershots and a few others. It's a firmware extension that allows you to utilize the following functions, plus a few more.

# Shooting in RAW
# Live histogram (RGB, blended, luminance and for each RGB channel)
# Zebra mode (blinking highlights and shadows)
# DOF-calculator
# Battery indicator
# Scripts execution (exposure/focus/... bracketing, intervalometer and more)

Wow, that sounds really cool. Coudl actually be very useful.

I tried this when I had a Powershot S3. It's kinda cool, I guess, once you can get it to work; it took me several tries (and I'm a computer programmer by profession, so I'm used to these sort of hacks).

Let me put it this way: The RAW output gave me tremendous appreciation for the noise reduction algorithm the S3 applies to its JPEGs. :)