Using a Canon 350D as a webcam?

Question

I would like to create a program that take pictures programmatically. The ideal setup would be to be able to see on a computer screen how the photograph would be before to take it. Therefore I need to use it as a kind of webcam, i.e. to get the video stream from the device and display it. I have a Canon 350D (and also a Canon Ixus 100 IS) to get the job done. I'm ok using any hacks or SDK to take control over it.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Whilst there is support for using the Canon 350D in a tethered mode, with "remote" shooting, there is no control over the zoom other than manual intervention; as that camera does not support video, or even "live view", or wouldn't be able to see how the photograph would look before shooting it -- depending on your scenario, you could just shoot and reshoot if required (for something like taking product shots), or take periodic shots (for something like a weather-watch webcam).

For the IXUS, your chances are better, but you may have to install third party firmware, such as CHDK

Answer 2

Whilst I don't think that you can get a video stream from the camera, CHDK allows custom scripting on Powershot/IXUS range of cameras:

CHDK

Mark