Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS - RAW Shooting and Processing - CHDK Forum
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Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS

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Offline KenO

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Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« on: 29 / November / 2011, 15:01:12 »
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Am thinking about a new or used P&S to replace my A570IS. 

Main reason is noisy low light RAWs. 

Did a forum search and found I am not the only one to notice this.
http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=329.msg2236#msg2236

I have studied R.N. Clark's postings concerning digital camera sensors
http://www.clarkvision.com/articles/digital.sensor.performance.summary/index.html

To date I have not found any low light comparisons of new "back-illuminated sensors"  Does anyone know of any?

Hope others have done some low light tests of new Canon P & S to determine is they are less noisy than older models.  If not am interested in what others consider to be the best CHDK for low light.

As always am interested in others experiences!

Thanks

Ken
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Offline jmac698

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #1 on: 25 / November / 2012, 23:55:20 »
I'm wondering also, but I can say that SD890IS has no amp glow but SD1200IS does.  This is a purple glow in the upper left corner visible in 10s of seconds exposures.  It is caused by the amplifier chip on the CCD causing an slight LED effect.
On the other hand, I've done 5 minutes exposures on SD890IS and it looks great.
And just to note, 60 seconds of ISO 80 is a good exposure for full moonlight.
For stars I need 2s or less and highest ISO to avoid any elongation.
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Offline waterwingz

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #2 on: 26 / November / 2012, 08:42:02 »
A couple of interesting threads that suggest this will vary from camera to camera depending on construction :

http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=7580.msg80746#msg80746
http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php?topic=7583.msg80757#msg80757

Unfortunately the images are apparently lost forever (I contacted the author and confirmed that).
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Ported :   A1200    SD940   G10    Powershot N    G16
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Offline casrap

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #3 on: 26 / November / 2012, 10:00:35 »
Quote from: jmac698 on 25 / November / 2012, 23:55:20
I'm wondering also, but I can say that SD890IS has no amp glow but SD1200IS does.  This is a purple glow in the upper left corner visible in 10s of seconds exposures.  It is caused by the amplifier chip on the CCD causing an slight LED effect.
If your camera shows amp glow after only 10 seconds it would be really bad ;)
Try an exposure of 60 seconds or longer and you will see amp glow. All point and shoot ccd cameras have amp glow because it would make no sense to include extra circuitry if you cant select more than 15 seconds shutter anyway.
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Offline lapser

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #4 on: 26 / November / 2012, 11:19:00 »
By far, the best CHDK capable camera for low light is the G1X. It's doesn't fit in a pocket, but I can still carry it on my belt.

I tested it against the SX260 at sunset awhile back with dark frames off (with CHDK) on both cameras. Both cameras maxed out at 64 second exposure time. The SX260 was peppered with hot pixels, which I removed tediously with Lightroom. But the G1X had ZERO hot pixels, plus native raw capability.

I shot at 100 ISO for both cameras, but the G1X is capable of a lot higher without noise. Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Ajd1GHrIg#ws
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EOS-M3_120f / SX50_100b / SX260_101a / G1X_100g / D20_100b
https://www.youtube.com/user/DrLapser/videos
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Offline casrap

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #5 on: 26 / November / 2012, 13:19:22 »
.. if you skip chdk capable then any dslr will be even better (no need for magic lantern persé).
Canons CMOS cameras are better for long exposures (less amp glow, higher sensitivity, lower power consumption and thus less heat). Big pixels reduce the chance of hot/defective pixels and have lower noise (photon noise). My guess for long exposures is that the sd4000 is the best low cost camera, followed by the ixus 115/117. If you are spending more then take a 1100D or 2nd hand 1000D.

ps: better not look at the sd4500, its complex and open light path is prone to get full of dust.
« Last Edit: 26 / November / 2012, 13:21:17 by casrap »
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Offline KenO

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #6 on: 01 / December / 2012, 11:48:20 »
lapser,

Thanks for posting the G1X vs SX260 video.

Have been waiting for a Full Frame compact camera with price of a G1X.

Recently read the info for the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX1
http://www.dpreview.com/previews/sony-cybershot-dsc-rx1/2
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/sony-cyber-shot-dsc/4505-6501_7-35437769.html

While I can Not afford the price, at least a Full Frame compact camera is now available and hope this will get Canon to do something similar.

Also thought the sensor and camera comparison at http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-cameras/sony-cyber-shot-dsc/4505-6501_7-35437769.html was interesting.


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Offline jmac698

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Re: Best Low Light RAW Canon P & S? Replace A570IS
« Reply #7 on: 13 / December / 2012, 09:02:46 »
I've been playing with this on 3 cameras.  I'd say basically a newer camera will be better.  I've got some stats on sx240.  A dark frame of 60s at ISO100 and 26c gives:
78-180 range
mean 128
median 128
std dev 2.6

As you lower the temperature, the std deviation decreases.
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