Canon Vixia HF S11

Low Light Sensitivity (2.77)

The Canon HF S11 needed 17 lux of light to reach 50 IRE on our waveform monitor. This isn’t a terrible performance, but it’s certainly disappointing, especially considering many of last year’s camcorders did better. These results seem to continue a trend we’ve been seeing all year: higher pixel counts mean far better sharpness in bright light, but far worse sensitivity in low light. Canon definitely isn’t alone with its poor low light sensitivity; the Sony HDR-XR520V came in at 16 lux and the JVC GZ-HM400 was even worse. More on how we test low light sensitivity.

On the bright side, the HF S11 fared much better in low light when we used its 24p and 30p shooting modes. In fact, using these modes improved the camcorder’s low light sensitivity by more than 50%. The Panasonic HDC-TM300 had the best overall low light sensitivity of the camcorders in this set, requiring only 9 lux in its regular 60i frame rate.

Low Light Noise (9.90)

The noise levels on the HF S11 were pretty good in low light. The camcorder averaged 1.1325% noise in this test, which is far better than the JVC GZ-HM400, and a bit worse than both the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V. More on how we test low light noise.

Canon Vixia HF S11 Low Light Noise Comparisons
Canon Vixia HF S11 100% Crop	JVC GZ-HM400 100% Crop Panasonic HDC-TM300 100% Crop Sony HDR-XR520V 100% Crop More...

As we saw in our low light color test, the camcorder did show improved performance when we tested it using the 24p (0.95% noise) and 30p (1.1% noise) frame rates. These frame rates result in much brighter footage, while still maintaining low noise levels. Of course, bear in mind that these frame rates also impact motion significantly.

The crops higher up do a very good job showing off the low light capabilities of each camcorder. The HF S11 is darker than the competition, but also has a pleasantly clear image. The JVC GZ-HM400 has a very noticeable amount of noise, plus it sports a green hue that seems to take over the footage in low light. All that noise might be a result of a big boost in gain, but the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and Sony HDR-XR520V both manage to look just as bright without all that noise.

Low Light Color (7.23)

The Canon HF S11 put up average numbers in our low light color testing for a high-end consumer HD camcorder. Its color error was measured at 5.06 with a saturation level of 64.79%. This represents a significant drop from the camcorder’s bright light color results. 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 Vixia HF S11 produced a color error of and a saturation level of in our bright light color testing.

The HF S11 did slightly better when we switched over to its 24p mode (5.09 color error, 77.93% saturation) and its 30p mode (5.15 color error, 75.26% saturation). The difference between the frame rates is reflected in the chart below.

The HF S11’s low light color performance is on par with the Panasonic HDC-TM300 and the Sony HDR-XR520V. Interestingly, the Canon produced the darkest image of the bunch (see below), although that says more about its auto exposure system than its color accuracy. In fact, we were impressed than the camcorder produced such vivid colors despite the darkness of the footage. The color of the HF S11’s footage looked quite good, especially next to the comparatively dull and washed out colors of the HM400.

While the Panasonic, Canon, and Sony each put up similar numbers in our low light color test, the JVC GZ-HM400 was the odd cam out. Its low light image was murky, noisy, discolored (with a slight green tint), and lacked vivid color saturation. It is, by far, the worst low light camcorder of the four shown above.