Canon Announces 1-inch SPAD sensor MS-510 Extreme Low-light Multi-Purpose Camera

Canon has announced the release of the MS-510, an innovative multi-purpose camera engineered to meet the demands of ultra-low-light full-color video shooting.

Canon states they are building on the success of the MS-500; the new MS-510 is designed to deliver high-fidelity captures of everything from nocturnal wildlife and natural nightscapes to high-security areas such as seaports, public infrastructure facilities, and national borders, where “seeing the unseen” is a mission-critical requirement.

In response to increasing demands for excellent performance in near-total darkness, the MS-510 features a new Canon 1-inch Single-Photon Avalanche Diode (SPAD) sensor with the world’s highest number of pixels at approximately 3.2 million, with improved Near-Infrared (NIR) sensitivity.

By leveraging this technology, the camera achieves a minimum subject illumination of 0.0006 lux, a significant improvement over its predecessor’s 0.001 lux. This enables bright, full-color imaging in ultra-low-light environments where traditional cameras often fail. Furthermore, the MS-510 boasts improved NIR capabilities, providing a tactical advantage for night-mode operations and long-distance detection.

Conventional CMOS sensors accumulate electrons generated by light as electric charge and convert them into digital signals and read them out. With the SPAD sensor, when even one photon reaches a pixel and generates an electron, the sensor instantaneously multiplies the electron by approximately 1 million times by the electron avalanche effect and outputs it as an electrical pulse signal. By counting the number of these pulses, the amount of incident light can be detected as a digital value.

This allows the SPAD sensor to detect light more accurately with less noise compared to CMOS sensors, which accumulate light particles as analog signals. The analog signals must be converted to digital before being read out, resulting in noise contamination.

The MS-510 features the Broadcast Industry standard B4 mount, allowing it to take advantage of Canon’s extensive lineup of broadcast lenses.

Since most broadcast lens optics are designed for 2/3” sensors, the MS-510 has a built-in magnifying optical system that matches the built-in 1-inch sensor, allowing the lens to be attached directly to the camera mount for shooting without cropping the sensor pixels. Canon broadcast lenses incorporate excellent technology accumulated through years of development of high image quality and high-performance lenses to meet the advanced performance requirements of the MS-510.​

Canon states the MS-510 is not just a camera; it is a sophisticated tool for critical infrastructure monitoring and law enforcement.

Key features

• Broadcast-Grade Optics: Equipped with the broadcast industry standard B4 mount, the MS-510 has a built-in magnifying optical system offering compatibility with Canon’s extensive lineup of 2/3-inch ultra-telephoto broadcast zoom lenses, enabling crystal-clear identification over vast distances.
• Advanced Image Processing: Integrated Haze Compensation automatically reduces the interference of mist and haze while adjusting contrast, and Smart Shade Control corrects for highlights and shadows to maintain image integrity in challenging lighting conditions.
• Customizable Imaging Profiles: Users can create up to 20 customized image quality settings or utilize Custom Picture Presets to prioritize wide dynamic range or maximum noise reduction depending on the environment.

Designed to fit into existing security ecosystems, the MS-510 shares common protocols with the MS-500, including NU, Pelco-D, ONVIF, and WebView. It offers versatile output options, including 3G/HD-SDI for high-quality video feeds and a LAN terminal for IP-based camera control and distribution.

It will be on display at NAB 2026, in Canon’s booth #C3825. Attendees can see the MS-510 in person and see captured footage of its bright, full-color imaging in low-light environments. In addition, the Canon MS-510 will be on display April 28-30 in National Harbor, Maryland, at the SPIE Defense+Security show.

Availability

The Canon MS-510 is currently scheduled to be available later this year for an estimated retail price of $22,800 USD.