Canon FS200

Low Light Sensitivity (4.96)

The Canon FS200 did fairly well in our low light sensitivity test. The camcorder needed 13 lux of light to peak at 50 IRE on our waveform monitor. This is roughly the same amount of light required by the Samsung SMX-F34 to reach the same levels, while the Panasonic SDR-S26 had a much worse low light sensitivity. The champ out of this set, however, was the JVC GZ-MG670, which needed just 8 lux of light to reach 50 IRE. More on how we test low light sensitivity.

We often see better scores with SD camcorders in this test than we do on HD models (even high-end HD models). This is because the HD camcorders are often overloaded with pixels, which means less light is capable of hitting their sensors (even though the sensors are usually quite large). The sensors on SD camcorders, on the other hand, are far less populated with pixels. This allows their sensors to soak up more light and produce better sensitivity scores.

Low Light Noise (11.24)

The Canon FS200 had very low noise levels in our low light testing with 0.835%. In fact, this noise percentage is lower than what the camcorder earned in our bright light test. The Canon also beat out each of its comparison models in this test, although the JVC GZ-MG670 wasn’t far behind. More on how we test low light noise.

Canon FS200 Low Light Noise Comparisons
Canon FS200 100% Crop	JVC Everio GZ-MG670 100% Crop Samsung SMX-F34 100% Crop Panasonic SDR-S26 100% Crop More...

In the crops above you can see how much less detail the Panasonic SDR-S26 captured compared to the other camcorders. The Canon FS200 has a slightly darker image than the JVC GZ-MG670 and Samsung SMX-F34, but its image is just as sharp. The Panasonic is really the odd one out here when it comes to low light performance (as accentuated by its very poor low light sensitivity score).

Low Light Color (5.67)

The FS200 showed a significant drop in color accuracy and saturation when we turned the lights down for our low light testing. The camcorder registered a color error of 6.27 and a saturation level of 56.94% in this test. While these numbers aren’t terrible, they are worse than average for a standard definition camcorder. More on how we test low light color.

Low Light Color Accuracy Performance
	Color Error Map
	The map on the left is a diagram of the color error. The length and direction of each line indicates how the camera processed each particular color while capturing video. The Canon FS200 produced a color error of and a saturation level of in our bright light color testing.

While the Canon FS200 may not have had the best color accuracy or saturation level in low light, its image actually looked a lot better than the Panasonic SDR-S26. The Panasonic’s low light image was very blurred, washed-out, and soft. The other three camcorders in this set looked a whole lot better, and the JVC GZ-MG670 had the best color accuracy numbers of the set (just like it did in our bright light testing).