A firmware dump is a binary file that contains the operating system and programs stored in the memory of digital camera. When a digital camera is powered on, a very small program reads the programs from a very slow but permanent memory inside the camera to the main memory of the camera, which is just like the normal DDR or DDR2 memory in your computer. When a Canon digital camera starts, it first checks for a special file called DISKBOOT.BIN on the SD card and if it exists it runs it (this file is usually created by Canon to update the software inside the camera).