Canon TX1 appeals to me

[Setter Dog]

As most of you know, Canon has released a new hybrid camera/video cam called the TX1. I am an avid user of these small hybrids. In my experience, the best camera in the world is the one you have with you, especially when it fits in your shirt pocket. When you can combine quality videos and stills, it's special.

I tried a Sanyo Xacti for a couple of years but didn't like the focus hunting or the fuzzy landscapes in the MPEG 4 format. Now I use an A710 and it's pretty satisfactory even though it won't zoom in movie mode and is a tad larger than ideal.

I've got some high hopes for the TX1 and eagerly await Jeff's review. His reviews are excellent overall, of course, but especially valuable when someone is interested in the video mode. He's the only reviewer that considers the videos in detail.

Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this Canon TX1 lives up to the hype.

[PaulG]

To me the tx1 is a bad joke and I wouldn't touch it.

But if you like it, then ok, it's your decision.

[Setter Dog]

To me the tx1 is a bad joke and I wouldn't touch it.

But if you like it, then ok, it's your decision.

Do you use these small hybrids or just don't like them as a matter of principle?

Don't know if I'll like it till I touch it, but if it's Canon quality, I probably will.

Yes, it will be my decision.

[wutske]

It depends for what purpose you'll use it. It should be okay for making movies, altough you'll probably make movies in a lower resolution (13 min. of movie at max. res. isn't much) wich other camera's can do to.
What bothers me most is the lens, it's slow (f/3.5) and the 39mm is realy tele, wich makes it more of an outdoor camera.

[BowerR64]

I dont find the need for video. Ive used it a few times on my canon cameras but just because i knew i would miss what i wanted to shoot in still mode.

Like an image of my nephew in the backyard jumping as smoke bombs go off. I knew i would never be able to capture the shot in still mode but in video i could advance threw each frame and then make a still image of that. Not very good quality image but i got the shot. Thats about the only thing i use the video for really.

I prefer still images over video. IMO it would be nice if they seperate the 2 i would prefer the technology used for the video be put into the still camera making the quality better or zoom or somthing else and if i wanted a video camera i would buy a video camera.

[Setter Dog]

Like BowerR64, I think I prefer stills to videos,.......but admit that I do like both. On the other hand, I don't like to lug a lot of stuff around just to preserve a memory. For my purposes, the TX1 will be a great camera,.....if the actual reviews live up to the hype. The advantages are obvious to people that use these hybrids, be they Sanyo Xactis or whatever. You can take videos and stills literally at the same time,...both pretty good quality. However, there is no way a little camera like the TX1 can replace something like an S3 or DSLR. If I'm sitting in a car or around my house taking pictures, I use the biggest and best thing I have. In the field with my bird dogs and a shotgun in hand, I prefer something that I can carry in my shirt pocket and put into action with one hand,....and get both videos and stills.

People on these forums have varying interests. Hey, some people get a charge out of taking pictures of flowers, leaves, and bugs. There are even folks who like to take shots of the moon. And, there are people who look down their noses at anyone who uses anything but a DSLR. Personally, I like all the choices that we have.

I predict Canon will sell a lot of these,......and that virtually all buyers will have several other cameras that are left in the car or at home much of the time.

[danielmendes]

I strongly agree with Setter Dog: forums for cameras (or cars, or dogs, planes etc.) will always have a strong diversity and this is precisely - along with precious, mostly unbiased technical expertise - the beauty of them.

I'm not a Sanyo fan but always enjoyed the idea behind its Xanti line: to combine a camcorder with a decent digital camera. And with the TX1 launch I'll deffinitely take a close look at it.

I have absolutely no doubt in a matter of (a few) years we'll have small, pocket-sized models with excellent video and still capabilities; compression alghoritms and sensors will improve, storage cards will have 32GB, than 128GB, than... whatever, the combination of all this will make a 2-hour digital recording, plus 2k pictures of 10MP (all with good quality) a snap.

Until then, well, the TX1 looks like a very decent move in the right direction!

[BowerR64]

How is the compression ratio on these? do they use memory more effecient then say the S3 or the A700?

[truflip]

lol no... compression ratio is the same as the S3
13minutes of video on 4GB at the 16:9 1280x720
uses M-Jpeg

[XaiLo]

lol no... compression ratio is the same as the S3
13minutes of video on 4GB at the 16:9 1280x720
uses M-Jpeg

hahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha lol :D that was funny flip lol "indeed" the S3 video can eat up storage.

[BowerR64]

13 minutes isnt alot of time but 1280X720 is DVD size or wide screen size or somthing. Standard tv resolution is 640X480 i think. If you were making videos for youtube it would be even smaller.

[Setter Dog]

13 minutes isnt alot of time but 1280X720 is DVD size or wide screen size or somthing. Standard tv resolution is 640X480 i think. If you were making videos for youtube it would be even smaller.

That's the way I see it too,......If I get one of these little beauties, I'll likely shoot in 640x480 until I get a reliable 8GB card. With my A710 I get really good videos that look fine on a 32 inch Sony. In fact, I accidentally shot the next lower resolution for a couple of clips last week and you really can't tell much difference. One of the minor glitches with the A710 video is that you can accidentally change video sizes by hitting the four way toggle switch with your palm. If I ever got short of time left on the card, I'd not hesitate to use the 320x240 or whatever it is.

If I get the TX1 it will be interesting to see if the HD is noticeably better on a normal TV. I'm really not into the HD yet.

[Sector7]

This link shows a translated Japanese review of the TX1 with sample video's.

http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/av/docs/20070307/zooma298.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dwatch%2Bimpress%2Bavwatch%26num%3D50% 26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26safe%3Doff%26rls%3DGGGL,GGGL:2 006-17,GGGL:en

I would like others opinion on the video samples in HD with the girl walking through the bush/forrest - it seems like the auto focus is hunting all over the place (maybe face detection was on and it was hunting to detect and focus on a face??). The 640 x 480 clip almost seemed to focus smoother?
Secondly I've noticed a synthetic sound pop up in different places in a few of the video samples (sounds like cutlery dropped onto a plate). I'm hoping it is from pressing a button on the camera and not some camera mechanism noise being recorded??

Also the large 271MB sample video compilation is quite jerky when trying to film the girl walking through the street in my opinion.
Hopefully steves-digicams or dpreview will do a review soon.

Have fun trying to decipher the review in poorly translated english :)

[Sector7]

Sorry the translate didn't work on the above link, but you can still download the AVI files etc.

[Sector7]

After putting the samples onto DVD and watching them on an SD TV I must say that I'm quite impressed, as long as the auto focus doesn't hunt all the time.
Even the 1280 x 720 LP setting looks good - for me that means I'll get 26 mins out of each clip max :)

[truflip]

they didnt test the video capability of the camera in dark room/halls.. most videos get really grainy when its dark such as at an indoor concert or club... or parties. i tried to record a lightshow back in the summer with my S3 and it was just horrible even at highest rest cuz of the grainy-ness..

lets hope the DigicIII is better in that department :)

[susu222]

Like my S2IS a lot except for its size. I guess low light videoing is due to the limitation of the sensor and even with my S2IS , I am frequently quite pleasantly surprised that I could capture momentos of these moments.. grainy or otherwise. I guess u could use a video light if u want better pics.
Will definitely consider the TX model when it comes

[gslusher]

The TX-1 is very different from most digital cameras. Be sure to actually handle one for a while. It looks quite awkward to use and would be prone to tipping toward the monitor, among other things. It would probably be very uncomfortable for me to hold. I can hold a S3 IS fairly easily, though it's smaller than I'd like. (The best Canon camera for me would be the 30D, but I don't want to spend that much.) The TX-1 might be OK for someone who wants to carry one camera/camcorder in a pocket and use it only occasionally, but, at $500 or more, that would be a difficult decision. I certainly won't get a TX-1.

[Dafer]

The TX-1 looks interesting. I'm old school though, got to have a viewfinder. Very rarely use the LCD..

[Sector7]

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/digital-cameras/pma-07-first-footage-from-the-canon-powershot-tx1-720p-shooter-242966.php

A noisy low light sample taken at PMA (seems to be plenty of lights on inside at PMA? Hard to tell without being there).

[Sector7]

A small review with some more still & video samples.

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/review-75-PowerShot+TX1%3A+Getting+started+with+the+first+Ca non+HD+camcorder.html

[ssiu]

Seems like there is very little interest in the TX1??

Maybe because this is a camera site? I agree that if you don't absolutely want/need 720p video in pocketable size, there are better/cheaper choices. But if 720p video in pocketable size is your requirement, then it is either TX1 or the Sanyo HD1/HD1a/HD2. And the TX1 is cheaper and photo/video quality seems a bit better than the Sanyos? (I haven't really seen any direct comparisons.)

Is the TX1 photo quality about the same as the SD800IS? (Both are Canon small 7.1 megapixel with IS.)

Thinking of "upgrading" from my Panasonic TZ1 -- is the TX1 photo quality equal or better than TZ1?