PowerShot TX1 on Flickr

I just posted this comment on a forum, but it fits nicely here too.

Flickr has this cool feature where you can see all the photos taken by a particular model of camera. But apparently a new camera, like the TX1 doesn't show up in the list until there's a certain number of photos uploaded from it. The site looks at the EXIF data embedded in your images, so you don't need to do anything specific except upload them to help this along.

So if you have some photos taken on the TX1, get 'em up onto Flickr!

FAQ for the TX1

I'm working on an FAQ for the TX1 to be published here, and already have about 20 odd questions. Here's a sample...

1. About the Canon PowerShot TX1

• Where can I read up on the specs of the Tx1?
  
• Where can I download the user guide for the TX1?
• Where can I read reviews online about the TX1?
• What accessories are available for the TX1?
• Can I attach filters or a wide angle adaptor to the TX1?
• What types of memory/flash cards can the TX1 use?
• What's the angle of the lens on the TX1 and how far can it zoom?

2. Video on the Canon PowerShot TX1

• Where can I see some example videos from the Tx1?
  
• What sizes and formats of video can the TX1 film in (e.g., 4:3, 16:9, HD)?
• What compression codec does the TX1 use?
• How much video can I fit on my memory/flash card?
• Why is the camera telling me the buffer is full?
• I've heard I need a 'fast' memory/flash card to take 720p video, is this true?
  
• Can I zoom in and out whilst filming?
• Can I use macro mode and other camera features whilst filming?
• Can I take a photo whilst filming?
• How well does the TX1 perform in low light conditions?
• How does the TX1 compare to other HD camcorders?
  

3. Still photos on the Canon PowerShot Tx1

• Where can I see some example photos from the TX1?
  
• How many megapixels does the TX1 have?
• What's this super macro mode I've heard about?
  
• Can I take photos in 16:9 or just 4:3 aspect?
• How well does the TX1 perform in low light conditions?

Leave a comment if there's a question you'd like added. I reckon I have the answers to most of the above, I just have to get cracking writing them! There is a bunch of really helpful information coming out about the TX1 in the Canon Talk forum over at DPreview, so check that out if you're itching to find out more about the TX1.

More super macro photos on TX1

I took some more super macro photos on the TX1 today, this time of a bee that was wandering around on my window sill. Given it was still alive, and these were handheld, I am gobsmacked at the quality of the photos I got.

Check out the bee photos
Check out some macro flower shots

More on Flash card performance in the TX1

Much has been written (or speculated) about the need to have a 'fast' flash memory card in order to capture 720p video with the TX1. After a few 'in the wild' tests, I can report that it doesn't seem to be the case - or alternatively, what's deemed as 'fast' covers many cards you might already have in your drawer at home.

I did four tests, based on cards I had to hand:

• Transcend 4GB SDHC card (Class 2)
• Sandisk 1GB Ultra II SD card
  
• Sandisk 2GB Micro SD card
  
• El-cheapo 128MB SD card
  

The SDHC and Micro SD cards have a minimum sustained write capability of 2MB/s whilst the SD card can manage 9MB/s. As for the unbranded SD card, it is about 5 years old with unknown specs.

The three more modern cards performed perfectly filming at the highest quality 720p setting, with no dropped frames or buffering problems. I was able to leave all of them to completely fill up before the camera stopped recording.

When I tried out the ancient SD card it was a different story, with the buffer warning icon flashing up on screen almost immediately and capture cutting out after about 9 seconds.

I'm quite pleased I had this old card on hand, because it visibly demonstrated that whilst you do need a relatively recent flash card to capture HD on the TX1, you don't need anything very fancy or expensive to do so.

Canon TX1 720p videos

Having tested the stills capability of the TX1, I moved with great anticipation on to the video side of things. Any fears about ropey video quality, which I'd read about in one or two reviews, were unfounded. The TX1 is not going to be anyone's best friend on the set of the latest HD blockbuster, but in comparison to the other flash based camcorder options out there (think Xacti HD1), and its eminent pocketability, there's little to complain about.

Considering the TX1 is not a dedicated camcorder, rather a point and shoot digicam with video capabilities, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I gotta say I was pretty chuffed to be capturing 720p on something so damn small and inconspicuous. I was able to snap away with the DSLR and then reach into my pocket and pull this out for a few seconds of video without having to fossick around in a bag to swap cameras. Nor did I look like a complete dork carrying a DSLR and a chunky camcorder around my neck, just asking to be bopped on the head and relieved of all my expensive kit. When you consider that you're capturing 720p HD footage one moment, and can then slip the svelte little sucker back into your pocket the next, it almost makes you want to carry it with you all the time.

The TX1 is by no means the most finger friendly camcorder around. The buttons are small and somewhat fiddly when you're trying to keep the frame steady and zoom at the same time. That said, if you use your left hand on the outer edge of the LCD screen, you can get surprisingly solid results. Too much fiddling and the handling sounds get recorded via the stereo mics on the front side of the LCD. Speaking of those, the sound recorded was clear and did not distort very much at all if the volume got too high.

When I first downloaded the vids and looked at them on my Macbook Pro, I thought they were a little soft and undersaturated, but when I ran them through my 720p LCD TV they really seemed to pop with detail and colour. Seeing as that's the main output I'll watch them on, I am very happy with the results.

If I was going to nit pick, and I will, my main gripe with the TX1 is that at its widest, the lens is 49mm, which is not very wide at all. Seemingly without the capability for add-on adaptors, I can see this being a bit of a pain, especially indoors. There is a thread on the end of the lens but the way it whips back into the housing when the camera switches off seems to preclude the connection of anything that might protrude from it.

Unfortunately, with this limitation I can see myself backing into room corners to get a wide shot, or I could just go all DeMille and opt for a lot of close-ups. In that regard the TX1 is an amazement. In super macro mode you can literally stick the lens right on top of your subject, revealing every minute detail (perhaps too much!).

Having come from the world of interlaced Mini DV, I am really impressed with the progressive frame video taken on this camera. Take a look especially at some of the vids of the pigeons flying off, and frame-by-frame them - no jaggies to be seen anywhere.

One 'feature' that seems to be getting the most criticism in reviews is the choice of Motion JPEG codec for the video capture. With a meagre 13 minutes of 720p video per 4GB, any serious recording is going to chew through a few flash cards (and hard disk space once you've downloaded them all). Many reviewers see this as a real limitation, but it could also be an opportunity to move away from the capture every possible moment mentality many tape based camcorder owners have gotten used to.

Here's a sample of 720p videos taken with the TX1.

Videos

These vids were taken out and about in Covent Garden, Leicester Sq. and Trafalgar Sq. in London. All files are pristine, direct from the camera, no recompression or processing involved.

These files are not small given their duration. Thanks to BlipTV for hosting these files. IMPORTANT: I really recommend right clicking and saving these files rather than trying to load them up in the browser .

• Covent Garden, overly exuberant dancers (20secs, 89MB)
  
• Covent Garden, more dancers (19s, 86MB)
  
• Covent Garden, band getting down (12s, 52MB)
  
• Covent Garden, crowd shot and pan (9s, 41MB)
  
• Leicester Sq., pan with sun flaring (9s, 42MB)
  
• Trafalgar Sq., pan around (9s, 40MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., pigeons being harangued (27s, 120MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., fountain shot (10s, 44MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., Nelson's column (16s, 60MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., fountain and National Gallery (12s, 53MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., lion (8s, 36MB)
• Trafalgar Sq., one final pan around (8s, 37MB)
  

If you have any specific questions about the TX1 you'd like me to answer in a future post, just drop it in a comment.

A day out with the TX1

Today I spent most of the day out and about taking photos and video with the TX1 and I have to say I am very happy with the results.

I am used to a Canon DLSR these days and it's been a while since I bothered with a point and shooter, so it was more than refreshing to see the quality of the images coming off the TX1.

Enough of that talk though, let's see the pics...

Stills (click to enlarge)

The flowers were taken with the super macro mode, with one of them using the colour accent mode, and the others in 4:3 and 16:9 mode.

As you can see, the quality of the photos the TX1 takes are up to scratch. The super macro mode is phenomenal, allowing you to literally stick the lens right up against the point of interest.

Video

There is video too, but because of the Motion JPEG codec used on the camera, the files are huge. I will put them up just as soon as I can find a way not to completely end up with a massive bandwidth bill!

First hands-on impressions of the TX1

After reading a few reviews, downloading hard to find 720p video examples off the web and still not being a 100% sure about this camera, I decided to take the plunge and buy one anyway, to see for myself.

They are not available in the UK nor the US it seems at this stage, so I headed to eBay Hong Kong and picked one up there for a decent price, £300 (~US$590) including a 4GB SDHC card, postage and a few extras.

With the Easter break and a damaged first shipment it took much longer to arrive than I would have liked, but it finally came today and was duly unboxed with great anticipation.

My first impressions are that it is a great little happy snapper and a very serviceable 720p camcorder.

It is absolutely loaded with features, 10x zoom, anti-shake, a phenomenal macro mode, and contrary to many reports, it can record HD on 'normal' SD cards - rather than the vaguely described 'fast' cards mentioned in the documentation. I managed to record HD on a 1GB Ultra II Sandisk SD, and a 4GB Transcend Class 2 SDHC card.

The reports of it being a bit of an ergonomic nightmare are somewhat true. It's boxy and can be fiddly. It would probably get a bit tiresome for long video recording sessions, but it's more than passable and given the pocketability, I am not complaining.

The menu system is pretty intuitive and anyone with an EOS will be right at home. There are scads of manual settings available, including ISO, AF lock, AE lock, 3 metering modes, exp compensation and white balance, but oddly no Tv/Av modes or true manual mode for individually setting aperture and shutter speed. Long shutter speeds over a second are available. Given I am a DSLR user and will probably use this mostly as a P&S and casual camcorder, I am OK with this.

Some other nice to have features include the ability to set an away timezone date stamp when travelling, face-detect, auto-rotate, panoramic stitch assist, and selective colour modes where you can single out a particular colour and have everything else B&W, or swap one colour for another for a shot or video. There's also whole bunch of other image tweaking settings and auto-picture modes available.

Stills quality is typical for a point and shooter. As for the 720p video, it's pretty good all things considered. There's no point trying to compare it with any of the current crop of tape and disk based HD camcorders, that's just not fair. But when comparing it to the MPEG-4 based digicams that double as basic camcorders, it's leagues better.

Zooming is nice and quick, but it can hunt around to lock focus at the far end. This can be helped by a half tap of the shutter button as if you were taking a still (which you can whilst recording). In bright light, it's not really a problem at all.

Given the form factor of this unit though (it's tiny), again I am OK with this. I'm not planning on making an HD film on it, more likely a few minutes here and there of each place I go on holidays, and the odd family or other event so it should be fine.

Having owned a sizable and very lovely Mini DV camera for years (and one that has sat in the cupboard for most of my travels) I am more than happy to have something that can slide into my pocket and come out as and when I feel like it, rather than lugging a big camera bag around with extra tapes, batteries, lenses etc - in addition to the DSLR! Better still, if I can get my other half to slip this in her bag, that leaves me free to take stills whilst she gets a few minutes of video here and there without us both getting around like pack mules.

In the next couple of posts I will add photos and some sample video. Stay tuned.