Name: J. Weber
Location:
Date: 2007-07-15
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Best Blend of Still Pix, Video, and Compact Size
Comment: After testing the Canon TX-1, this has been my experience:
PHOTO QUALITY: Excellent. Canon wisely uses in-camera noise reduction (blurring) lightly and preserves sharp detail. On close magnification, single pixel detail is present, which the Panasonic DMC-TZ3 that I compared blurred details into a gradient. Color saturation and contrast are excellent. Focus is fast and accurate. Overall, superb qualtiy still pictures.
VIDEO QUALITY: Very good. Quality is roughly midway between DV and a dedicated HD camcorder. Though criticized by some for their large file sizes, Canon's Motion JPEG compression codec yield video that is of excellent contrast, and good color saturation. I took video samples and re-compressed them using Canon's codec (included with their camera's software) and other codecs including MPEG2, QuickTime, and multiple other codecs from Adobe Premiere, and found that the Canon motion-JPEG, though theoretically not as efficient a compression scheme, ended up with the best quality video, while other codecs of similar file size were more washed out. Another advantage of this compression scheme is that you can get good quality frame captures, as each frame is compressed individually. It's not perfect: unlike my dedicated HD camcorder, the TX-1's video has a vague "shimmering" effect, from the JPEG compression varying from frame to frame. Also, with moving objects, the motion isn't quite as fluid with as with my dedicated HD camcorder. But for a combination still/video platform, the video of the TX-1 is remarkably good. File sizes are large, but they will be with any high quality video.
ERGONOMICS: In my medium to small hands, the camera is easy to hold. Some reviewers complained that they needed to use their left hand to stabilize the camera, but I always hold cameras with two hands. This one can be held with one, but any camera will yield less blurry pictures if held with two hands. If you have large fingers, you may find this camera too small.
CONVENIENCE: The LCD folds into the camera, and there is no optical viewfinder, so when the camera is closed, there is no vulnerable glass to scratch up on any side. And it is so tiny that you can throw it in a pocket or bag or purse and pull it out for an unexpected spontaneous shot.
FLASH: I was worried that the flash would be too under-powered. It is a weak flash. Unexpectedly, this turned out to be a good thing. I've noticed with past cameras that indoor flash pictures screamed "FLASH!" and were bright with a thin dark shadow next to foreground objects from the flash. This weaker flash ironically ends up making more natural shots as it doesn't saturate the shot and some existing light adds to make a more pleasing picture. The flash is too weak to brightly light up a large dim room that you are shooting from a long distance, or if you zoom in under dim conditions.
ZOOM: 10X zoom is really powerful; I can zoom in a lot more than I expected. The excellent image stabilization allows these zoomed in shots to not be blurred from camera motion.
LOW LIGHT: Like virtually all compact cameras today, the tiny CCD does not perform well in very low light shots without flash. The TX-1 is no exception. Fuji cameras are known for better performance in low light, but currently don't have optical image stabilization. The image stabilization in the TX-1 (and other cameras with this feature) help a lot because you can use much longer shutter speeds and make up for the small CCD.
PLAYBACK: It has been fun for me to plug the camera into my widescreen TV and watch the photos and video in a combined slide show. That format is fun for the family and allows everyone to enjoy the memories without having to sit by a computer monitor or wait for prints.
PROBLEMS: The only thing I've not enjoyed is that the small LCD makes it harder to see detail in composing a shot, especially in bright sunlight.
OVERALL: The TX-1 produces excellent quality still pictures, very good 720p video, is tiny, not easily scratched, has a huge zoom, great image stabilization, and will end up being something you will want to toss into a pocket or bag and capture a spontaneous, memorable moment. It is a rare camera that can record both stills and video without one of them being useless. I'm very happy with it. I hope you enjoy whatever you decide on too!
Name: P. Yoon
Location: New Hampshire
Date: 2007-06-12
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Perfect for me
Comment: The TX1 is exactly what I'm looking for. In order of importance, I was looking for something (1) small that (2) takes good/excellent video on (3) flash memory that will (4) work with my Mac and (5) can replace my point-and-shoot camera. I'm not particularly fond of taking video so I didn't want to buy a camcorder that only took video and was large, or at least larger than the TX1. However, for those times that I do want to take video, this is perfect, and the picture quality, imo, is great. I can have it with me all the time because it's small. It's not as small as some cameras, but what do you expect for all that it does? This is cheaper than Panasonic and Sanyo equivalent camcorders, the small ones also with pistol grip.
Those hoping for video quality on par with an HD camcorder are looking in the wrong place.
Personally, I think the videos and still shots are fine for this type of device. The clips and photos I take with the TX1 aren't being broadcast, and they're not going in magazines. So for what I need, it's perfect. Actually, the video quality is better than my (older) MiniDV camcorder. And the truth is, I never use that older DV camcorder anymore. With my old camcorder I didn't like watching unedited clips from the machine itself, so I had to tranfer them to my computer, which was cumbersome. The clips from the TX1, while large, transfer via USB, so that's faster than the DV transfer. And like I mentioned, better picture quality. I've already used the TX1 more in the past 14 days than I have used my DV camera in the past two years. When I want to "serious" pictures I haul my D200 and lenses. If you want to take "serious" video, buy something dedicated, which will be more expensive.
As for photo quality, I have not printed anything, but viewing it on my computer, the pictures seem on par with other point-and-shoot shots. There is fuzziness and focus searching in low light conditions, but that's what I've come to expect with point-and-shoots; they're inherently limited machines.
One last thing, you can zoom while shooting video in the highest quality; you can zoom in any video setting for that matter.
Name: Bruce R. Peterson
Location: Utah, USA
Date: 2007-07-05
Customer Rating: -
Summary: I LOVE IT
Comment: I took a chance on the TX1 and I am SO GLAD that I did. Just before leaving on an extended cruise I found that my digital camera had some issues so I decided to purchase a new one. Having suffered through dragging around several different kinds of still and video cameras on previous vacations and events, I resolved that whatever I came up with, it had to be extremely portable and not a hindrance to any planned activities. After the frustration of seeing Paris mostly through a video viewfinder a few years ago, I gave up taking video on vacations. But, a side of me still wanted to have HD video available when needed. So, after reading as much as possible about the TX1 on the internet (instructions, reviews, etc) I decided to make a leap of faith. I eventually found a vendor with one available and it arrived just a couple of days before we left for the cruise. Armed with a very fast 8 Gig card and a couple of extra batteries we set off. A couple of days into the cruise I was hooked. I carried it in my pocket the whole trip no matter what I was wearing (except when swimming obviously)! No bag over my shoulder or strap around my neck to get in the way. It was always ready to capture the moment. And capture the moment it did....in high form. I downloaded the photos and video to a laptop several times and we were all IMPRESSED with the high quality of the stills and videos that it captured. There are so many different scene options available to cover any situation that we wanted to capture. The colors of foliage and ocean are vibrant and true. And, when I, in hast, used the wrong settings, I was always able to make a simple correction of the colors in Photo Elements. The detail of the HD video looks great on out 52" HDTV as do the photos. I averaged a hundred still photos and about ten minutes of video per day for twenty days. I found that the battery life was much better than I had expected given some reviews I had seen, but a second battery would be a good investment if you like to take many photos without recharging. (Only about $12 if you look online) Some of the reviewers I have read simply must not have spent any time becoming acquainted with the camera or they expected it to be a "studio" unit because every "short-coming" I found listed in the reviews had a quick and simple solution in the menu settings or with a realistic view of the target audience for this camera. Without any doubt, the TX1 is the best camera I have ever found for my style of use. In summary it is extremely compact and easy to transport while delivering excellent high definition still and video output. But... If I say "I love this thing" one more time to my wife, I'm afraid she will bean me.
Name: Alan Smithee
Location:
Date: 2007-04-22
Customer Rating: -
Summary: As good as desired!
Comment: Now I can confirm, that the movie quality of the Canon TX1 (MJPEG) -- compared to the Sanyo Xacti HD2 (MPEG4) -- is really much better! (Couldn't wait and bought it a few days ago from Hong Kong.) IMHO at the moment it's really the best cam for 1280 x 720 HDV of that kind. Thank you, Canon! :-)
(BTW Is there a battery pack with higher capacity available than the standard one (Lithium Battery Pack NB-4L)? It doesn't last very long and you have to change the battery pack soon. It's not a big issue, cause these battery packs are cheap.)
Name: M. McCown
Location: Austin, TX USA
Date: 2007-06-08
Customer Rating: -
Summary: Juuust Right!
Comment: Goldilocks would have loved this camera. Although it may not have saved her from the bears, it would have certainly met all of her other particular criteria.
I bought this camera direct from Japan a few months ago when its introduction to the US market was delayed, and have not regretted the purchase. (Once I was able to find the menu setting to display in English rather than Kanji...)
Elph sized, this recording device can do any sort of capture you desire to best preserve those special (and mundane) moments. It's not too big (like most Hi-def camcorders). It's not too small (so if you want a spy camera, look elsewhere). Its size is just right - fits in my pocket, my wife's purse, and surreptitiously in one hand when I want to sneak some video I shouldn't be taking.
Functionally, it will record images and videos in every resolution any prosumer could need. For video, you can capture all frame sizes and rates - from full HD (1280, 720p, 30fps) down to 640x480 15fps, both 16:9 and 4:3 ratios. For images, it does everything any other good digital camera does, from 10X *optical* zoom to macro, image stabilization, and "quick settings" for portraits, night shots, even "aquarium lighting." (The 10X optical zoom is awesome, btw - I've never found this on any but the pro/commercial end cameras.) The 7.1Megapixels are plenty for most digital imaging tasks, supporting 8x10 prints indistinguishable from any other higher res images.
I've edited the HD video, and it is very easy to work with - much more so than H.264 video. This is due to the fact that Canon uses motion JPEG compression, which allows each frame to stand on its own (kind of like snapping 30 images per second of 1080x720 pictures - not only can you edit down to the frame level easily, but you can extract a frame as a still image with all quality intact - handy when you want to make a nice picture from some video you've shot).
It is true that for any specific function this camera performs, you can find another gadget out there that does the same function better. But nowhere have I seen one device that handles *all* recording functions (video/image and sound) to the excellent degree that this camera does - you aren't compromising on function here to get the convenience of portability.
The primary advantage of this camera is the fact that it truly does it all. No more do I need to decide in advance whether or not I will want to shoot video on an outing (then deciding wrong and later trying desparately to capture that special live action moment on my 640x480 15fps camera, or worse yet my cell phone!). No matter what moment presents itself, I can capture it in the way best suited to the action. Always. By simply reaching into my pocket.
Wait till you see the HD video of these three angry bears running after me...and no bulky equipment to slow my escape!
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