Canon MS-510 SPAD camera: color video in near-total darkness

The successor to the MS-500 multi-purpose camera, the new Canon MS-510 is capable of even more impressive feats of low-light video capture.

Canon has launched the MS-510, a multi-purpose camera built around a new 1-inch Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) sensor, at NAB 2026. The successor to the MS-500, despite its NAB launch it also targets a range of markets outside broadcast, especially ultra-low-light surveillance applications.

Because photons are counted in a SPAD sensor rather than estimated as with CMOS, signal readout is noise-free. Canon claims the MS-510 carries the highest pixel count of any SPAD sensor used for video shooting, at 3.2 million total pixels (approximately 2.1 million effective pixels). That helps it achieve a minimum subject illumination of 0.0006 lux, half the 0.001 lux figure of the MS-500.

It was a dark, moonless night...

That minimum illumination is achieved under fairly specific settings, but all the same it is impressive performance. The 0.001 lux of the MS-500 would let you shoot in color under a moonless starry sky. The MS-510 will let you do that on an overcast moonless night.

While obviously not designed primarily as a broadcast camera, it uses a bayonet lens mount based on BTA S-1005B broadcast standards and includes a built-in magnifying optical system for compatibility with Canon's 2/3-inch ultra-telephoto broadcast zoom lenses. Maximum output resolution is 1920 x 1080, delivered over 3G/HD-SDI (4:2:2 10-bit) or via RJ-45 for IP streaming. Frame rate options span 25P, 29.97P, 50P, AND 59.94P, while NIR sensitivity is also improved over the previous generation.

Image processing features are geared to surveillance ops and include Haze Compensation, something definitely not normally found a broadcast camera, Smart Shade Control, Chromatic Aberration Correction, and Diffraction Correction. A motorized ND filter (1/64 density) and motorized IR cut filter are included, both operable manually or automatically. Day/Night switching is also automatic or manual. Users can also store up to 20 custom image quality presets.

The camera measures approximately 128 x 128 x 184 mm (5.04 x 5.04 x 7.24 in) and comes in at roughly 2.2 kg (4.86 lb).

Pricing and availability

The Canon MS-510 is expected to be available later in 2026, priced at $22,800. By comparison, the MS-500 was released in August 2023 at $25,200.