The new Canon camera which goes by the boring name of ME20F-SH is capable of taking photos in almost complete darkness or in Canon’s words “delivers exceptionally high sensitivity to capture Full HD video with a minimum subject illumination of less than 0.0005 lux“. This is quite extraordinary and I would usually expect this kind of a low light monster from Sony, but looks like Canon is taking the low light game seriously now. And for a good reason.
The market for low light is a niche that is not yet fully tapped into. Aside the obvious surveillance usage, Canon suggests using the camera for cinematic production, reality television, and nature/wildlife documentaries. This will definitely help you enjoy either your favorite animal or favorite Jersey shore Character in the middle of a moonless night.
The press release does not share the full sensor details but it does say that it is a 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor with effective pixel count of about 2.26MP. The camera uses the same EF mount as the rest of Canon’s cinematic line so there is a wide variety of lenses available.
The ME20F-SH will be available in December this year for a price tag of $30,000 – this is less than 1 cent per ISO point :)
Here are the full specs from Canon:
| Product name | ME20F-SH Multi-purpose Camera | |
| Image sensor | 35mm full-frame CMOS sensor (single), effective pixel count: approx. 2.26 million pixels | |
| Minimum subject illumination | Less than 0.0005 lux (at maximum 75 dB gain setting, equivalent to an ISO sensitivity of over four million) | |
| Pixel Pitch | 19 Microns | |
| Lens mount | Canon EF mount (Cinema Lock type) | |
| Optical filters | ND filter with two density levels (motorized manual / auto) IR cut filter (motorized manual) | |
| Frame rates | 59.94P / 59.94i / 50.00P / 50.00i / 29.97P / 25.00P / 23.98P | |
| Gamma | Canon Log, Wide DR, etc. | |
| Video output terminals | 3G / HD-SDI | BNC jack (output only) Terminal count: 21080P / 1080i / 720P |
| HDMI | HDMI connector (output only) | |
| Genlock terminal | BNC jack (input only) | |
| Remote terminal | φ2.5mm stereo mini-mini-jack (Canon-proprietary protocol)Round 8-pin jack (for RS-422, Canon-proprietary protocol) | |
| Microphone terminal | φ3.5mm stereo mini-jack | |
| AF | One-shot AF | |
| Auto-exposure | Combined interlocking (iris / gain / ND / shutter) | |
| White balance | AWB, color-temperature setting (setting range: 2000 to 15000 degrees Kelvin), natural light, light bulb, Setting A, Setting B | |
| Digital teleconverter | 2x, 4x | |
| Power input | 4-pin XLR DC11-17VTerminal block 2-pin jack DC11-17V | |
| Operating temperature | 32 degrees F (0 degrees C) to 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) | |
| Body dimensions | Approx. 4 inches (102mm) (w) x 4.5 inches (116mm) (h) x 4.4 inches (113mm) (d) (excluding protrusions) | |
| Weight | Approx. 2.4 lbs (1.1 kg) (body only) | |
[Canon’s First Ultra-High-Sensitivity Multi-Purpose Camera Features ISO Equivalent Of Over 4,000,000]
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