Canon Released an ISO Monster That Goes Up To 4,000,000 ISO

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)