Canon Powershot SX60 HS video performance in the dark?

[gafool]

When I shoot videos indoors, not too dark really, with 1920x1080 (60p), noises occur everywhere. I tried tuning it into 1920x1080 (30p) but it didnt capture the image as delicate as I wanted. How can I improve its performance in the dark? Thanks.

[smack53]

I would guess it depends on how dark the room really is. The SX60 has a very small sensor in it and starts to get noisy if the lighting is too low. That camera does not have a real fast lens and quickly loses light catching ability as you zoom in. Can you add some additional lighting to help your situation? I realize that may not be a possibility. Is there any way you can increase the ISO setting just a bit, or make sure the aperture is as close to f3.4 when shooting? These may not be available in video modes, but if they are, it could help you.

Cameras with larger sensors and brighter lenses will generally do better in lower light situations. If you are doing a lot of shooting in the dark you might need to consider a second camera with these traits.

Steve M.

[gafool]

Thanks Steve 🙂 I tried setting the iso manually but it didnt really help much. I guess this camera performances bad in low light environment. I am getting a second camera. How about EOS 700D? Would that do better than Powershot SX60 HS in low light? Thanks!

Justin 

[Grazie]

Steve is spot-on.

SX60 has the same 1/2.3 type back-illuminated CMOS dimensions as the SX50, namely 6.17 x 4.55mm (source dpreview: http://www.dpreview.com/products/canon/compacts/canon_sx50hs). The sensor size of the Canon EOS 700D is 22.3 x 14.9mm, quite a bit bigger! Bigger sensor more light gathering abilities. More light gathering ability, less "noise" and less need to up the ISO.

The SX60 has more pixels, and, on the same sized sensor works against getting cleaner footage - the pixels have to be smaller. I understand what Canon have done, provided a longer reach lens setup but have contained the ergonomics of the camera in the same camera-body. If there was a better AND smaller sensor then that would have been ideal. I don't see any camera manufacturing cracking that particular old chestnut anytime soon. Maybe the R&D Dept is busy beavering-away as we speak. But all that beavering-away costs money. Money that is most likely being generated by incremental "features" being bought up from the likes of you and I.

Now, if my SX50 had Audio-In; controllable Focus and Aperture and Focus Peaking while taking movies  - which SX60 has - I'd being staying (and most probably will) with the SX50. Funny that? - But the "noise" and that unnecessary come-and-get-me extra 15x on the zoom, isn't creating too much of an argument for me.

This is a tricky one for Canon and us. Has the Mega-Zoom reached too far into the Future to see that what we really want are better pictures in the places (slightly low light) we would tote an SX. Or has the SX become "A Bridge Too Far" ?

Grazie

[gafool]

I really need to shoot in dark, whether indoors and night scenes ourdoors. What camera should I get for that? Is EOS700D good enough to shoot at night?

[smack53 · Accepted solution]

The EOS 700D would be a very nice and capable camera that will outperform the SX60 in low light. Keep in mind that the kit lens that comes with the camera is an F3.5-5.6 18-55mm, and will not perform as well as a lens that is F1.8, F2.0, F2.8. The smaller the F number, the larger the aperture opening, and therefore, the better the low light performance. The downside is that the price goes up significantly with the smaller F number. I would get the lens with the lowest F number that you can afford. The kit lens will still be better than the lens on the SX60, but of course you won't have the same zoom range. There are some EOS 700D kits that have two lenses as part of the package, with an 18-55 and 50-250 lenses for example, but again, they are usually about F3.5 or so at best. The EOS 650D is the older model Canon, but still available, and some actually feel it's a better deal. Either way, low light performance will be vastly better than the small sensor cameras.

Steve M.

[gafool]

Thanks Steve. Can the EF 50mm f/1.8 II be mounted onto an EOS 700D? That's nice and affordable.

[smack53]

I believe the EF 50mm f/1.8 II will work with that camera. The 700D uses EF and EF-S mount lenses, so should be no problem.

Steve M.

[gafool]

should i get both the kit lens and the EF 50mm f/1.8 II ? That is, does the EF 50mm f/1.8 II do a good job in daytime shooting? If so, I dont even need the kit lens. Thanks!

[smack53]

 EF 50mm f/1.8 II does real well in daylight too. The kit lens would give you a little more focal range, but if the EF 50 is all you need, then I would stay with just the one lens and save some money for better additional lenses down the road if you find you need more range.

Steve M.