A contrast test measurement system of minimum resolvable was built. For the low illumination MTV-1881-EX CCD and the super low illumination NOCTURN XL CMOS imaging system, the minimum resolvable contrast was measured and discussed; the range of those low illumination modules were predicted and discussed under the conditions of the same focal length, the same instantaneous field of view and the same view of imaging system. The results show: 1) The super low illumination CMOS has a better low illumination imaging quality; 2) The range model can predict the range of imaging system more effective, because the range model based on Minimum Resolvable Contrast considers the system signal-to-noise ratio, the Modulation Transfer function and the contrast of scene; 3) under the condition of the same imaging field or instantaneous field of view, the super low illumination CMOS imaging system has a better range. The method of this paper is expected to play an important role in the development of the application , that is the range model of optical imaging system based on minimum resolvable contrast.