Some people have managed to hack the firmware of several cheap Canon cameras 
(Powershot/IXUS models). The hacks adds some neat additional features like 
RAW files, manual control of shutter speed, ISO and focus, exposure and 
focus bracketing etc.
http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK
There also the possibility to script the camera behaviour in BASIC.
Using the hacked firmware I just tried the automatic exposure bracketing on 
my IXUS 950 and it works like a charm (see the 8-bit HDR image below, 
composited from 5 exposures with a freeware called TraumfliegerDRI).
http://www.oyonale.com/blog/2008/03/hacking-cheap-canon-camera.html
I did manual exposure bracketing before on the IXUS (to create 32-bit HDR 
environments for 3D images) but it's hard to keep the camera still between 
shots while changing the exposure value (the camera weighs 150g), so the HDR 
made that way tend to be blurry.
Of course, more expensive models and SLRs can do that, but it's nice to get 
some high-end features on such cheap models.

G.

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