Lux is a European metric measurement of light. Many camera manufacturers show a Lux rating to promote sales of cameras with claims of images being able to be captured at a certain Lux. Below is a basic chart showing Foot Candle ratings (FTCD) and Lux.
Lux and Low
Lighting Chart
Condition
Illumination
Illumination
Details
FTCD
LUX
Sunlight
10,000
107,527
Daylight Range
Full Daylight
1,000
10,752.7
Daylight Range
Overcast Day
100
1,075.3
Daylight Range
Very Dark Day
10
107.53
Daylight Range
Twilight
1
10.75
Daylight Range
Deep Twilight
.1
1.08
Daylight Range
Full Moon
.01
.108
Low Light Range
Quarter Moon
.001
.0108
Low Light Range
Starlight
.0001
.0011
Low Light Range
Overcast Night
.00001
.0001
Low Light Range
A more practical means of seeing Lux claims is showing comparisons of actual images or video taken in identical conditions. Below you will see a video of a candle in a dark hallway taken with a Panasonic SDR S26 on "magicpix" mode with a claimed Lux rating of 2 (which uses DSS, Digital Slow Shutter) The video alternates between candle light mode (6 Lux) and "magicpix" (2 Lux) mode a couple of times.
As you can see, the "magicpix" mode is brighter. However, the quality of the video seems to fall, as does the frame rate. The candle does not flicker very much in magicpix mode. When attempting to use this camcorder to record satellites, meteors, or other bright objects, candlelight (6 Lux) mode is not enough to catch anything other than the moon or Jupiter, and magicpix mode (2 Lux) will leave light trails with the slightest movement.
"Magicpix" mode in my opinion is nearly worthless for any low light recording due to the Digital Slow Shutter, which makes objects appear to be moving in slow motion, and blurred.
The .0001 Lux (Claimed) bullet camera results under the same conditions as the above video of the Panasonic SDR S26. The Only light source in the hall is from the candle. All doors were closed.
The next test is seeing what kind of stars this can pick up while mounted on our 60mm refractor telescope. The initial focus test passed. Star light is next...
What is Lux and DSS