If you plan to do a lot of shooting in dim conditions, these new Vixia camcorders are the perfect companion. This all adds up to the best low light sensitivity we've seen from virtually any camcorder we've ever tested. Competing camcorders required 12-30lux to match the Canon's performance. At 60i, this resulted in a 50IRE output at just 3 lux. We also looked at the M40's sensitivity when zoomed all the way out to reach the camera's widest aperture. Using the camcorder's alternate frame rates, we were able to boost sensitivity even further, reaching 50IRE with just 1-3 lux at 24p and 30p. More on how we test low light sensitivity. The M40 required just 5 lux of light in order to output 50IRE: a performance that has only been rivaled by its step-up model, the HF G10. Canon's decision to lower the pixel count on its 2011 sensors turns out to be a wise one: sharpness is only slightly lowered, while low light performance took a huge leap forward. Quite frankly, we were blown away by the impressive performance of the Canon HF M40 in our low light video testing. And it's to be expected that the lower sensor resolution of the HF M40 improved noise performance the HF M31's 3.89-megapixel sensor did not turn in very good noise scores last year. So, it comes as no surprise that the best performing camcorder for noise in this comparison group was the Sony XR350-also the worst camcorder for video sharpness.
While boosting the megapixels on your sensor does seem to improve apparent sharpness, it also introduces plenty of unwelcome noise. (We tend to find that camcorders with high sharpness pick up every single detail-noise included.) Of course, to the naked eye, none of these camcorders exhibit much noise in bright light. That's very good, considering how sharp the footage is. The HF M40 turned in impressive scores for noise, with an average of just 0.75% noise in our bright light testing. Its color accuracy is a significant improvement over what the other models offer. Of the camcorders listed in this comparison group, the Canon HF M40 again takes the cake in low light performance. The boost isn't as large as we've seen from previous camcorders-perhaps because the HF M40's low light performance is already so good. The PF24 mode demonstrated a color accuracy of 3.74, with a saturation of 83.77%. Color accuracy in the PF30 mode was improved to 3.77, with a saturation of 78.47%. More on how we test low light color.Ĭolor accuracy in the HF M40's alternate frame rates was boosted slightly, largely owing to the increase in brightness at these frame rates. Those are still excellent numbers for a camcorder in this class. Of course, color performance is still not as good as what you might get in bright light: the average color accuracy is 4.6 and saturation is just 68.73%. With brighter footage overall, colors were less washed out than we typically see in consumer camcorders. Unsurprisingly, the boost in sensitivity also helped maintain color accuracy in low light. The M40 also bested the 2011 Panasonic HDC-TM90, which had very good color performance, and the less impressive Sony HDR-XR350V. Canon did an excellent job of improving upon the inaccuracies of yellow and pink hues in last year's HF M31.
Most camcorders in this price range do an adequate job of producing accurate colors, though the Canon HF M40 is definitely the best of our comparison group. You can also see that the HF M40 is an improvement over the somewhat duller HF M31 from 2010.
The Panasonic TM90 is quite a bit more vivid than the others-an excellent quality if you like super saturated photos, but not if you strive for color accuracy. There's not a huge difference between camcorders in this price range. At a glance, you'll see that most of the stills grabbed from our bright light color testing look very similar.
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