The TX1 Blog

TX1 Blog Retired - Forums still live!

2010-09-14T11:00:00.002+08:00

Just a short note to say this blog has been retired, but will be kept online for reference and research purposes. The forums are still alive, so check them out if you're interested in this camera.

Forums down - NOW BACK!

2009-01-09T07:06:00.005+08:00

Folks, the TX1 forum has gone offline unexpectedly. Looking into the issue and hopefully it will be back soon.

UPDATE 12/01: I have received what must be world's worst practice support from GoDaddy over this problem. I am now left to try and fix a 3rd party script myself.

UPDATE 12/01: Forums restored!

DIY Stabilisation for the TX1

2008-05-06T17:45:00.006+08:00

The Rodfather Mobile Blog has a good overview of a number of DIY stabilisation options for the TX1 to assist or replace the on-board IS.

I have tried a few of these in the past using DV cams with mixed success. Personally though I really like the look of the Wii steering wheel option linked to in the article.

Links: Blog article | Discussion forum thread

TX1 Forums are LIVE!

2008-05-04T23:09:00.003+08:00

Well you asked for it, and you got it! The TX1 Forums are up and running.

As per usual you'll need to register, and verify once you receive an email from the forum system.

I'll most likely do some shameless promotion around some of the other places TX1 users lurk, but if you can also put the word out then we could get together a nice little community of contributors adding to discussions wide and varied.

Cheers, Matt

TX1 forums?

2008-05-04T13:39:00.002+08:00

A few people have emailed me asking for a dedicated TX1 forum to be set up. I'm happy to do this if people will use it and get benefit from it. Would you register and use it if I set one up?

Cheers, Matt

Update: The forums are now live at http://forums.powershot-tx1.com

Sony HDR-TG1: smallest 1080i camcorder

2008-04-05T08:51:00.003+08:00

Engadget has an overview of Sony's latest pocket rocket HD camcorder, the HDR-TG1 which is claimed to be the world's smallest HD camcorder. With a 10x optical zoom, touch screen LCD and face detection, it looks impressive. Although if you're a TX1 owner you'll notice a drawback right away - the price, US$900.

Engadget link.

TX1 101: Using the Enhanced Digital Zoom

2008-03-29T20:03:00.001+08:00

Today's TX1 101 lab is focused on the nifty enhanced digital tele-zoom functions on the camera that allow you to combine optical and digital zoom to get closer to your subject.

Normally I would completely ignore the digital zoom capability on a point-and-shooter because the moment you pass over from optical to digital zoom, you can see the picture quality drop off significantly. But in the case of the TX1, and with good shooting conditions, the digital zoom is actually amazingly good.

The TX1 already has a fantastic 10x optical zoom which trounces most other pocket sized snappers. I personally think this is one of the camera's top features. One of the tricks it has up its sleeve is the ability to 'improve' the zoom further by dialling in some digital trickery.

Under normal circumstances, the TX1 has a 39mm-390mm focal length (35mm equivalent). By employing the digital tele-converter feature (manual, p32), you can improve this zoom by a factor of 1.5x or 1.9x. On each of these settings, both ends of the focal length are increased, as follows:

1.5x: 58.5mm - 585mm
1.9x: 74.1 - 741mm

In addition to this, you can simply allow the camera to use all of its digital zoom capability, stretching the far end of the focal length to a whopping 40x (or 1560mm). You might be thinking that's plain ridiculous and that the images are going to look badly pixelated, but you might just be surprised, as the test shots below demonstrate.

Zoom comparison

Alright, let's get some more room happening so you can see the comparisons, side by side.

Launch the comparison page (new window)

Sold? How to access the digital zoom & tele-converter

OK, so are you're impressed enough to want to try it for yourself? If so, here's how:

In any of the shooting modes (not play mode), go into Menu
Make sure you're on the menu with the Camera icon
Scroll down to 'Digital Zoom'
There are 4 settings

Off (no digital zoom available, just optical 39-390mm)
Standard (digital zoom on, 39-390mm optical, crossing into digital up to 1560mm)
1.5x (58.5mm - 585mm)
1.9x (74.1 - 741mm)

Choose the setting you want, and exit the Menu
If you've chosen 1.5x or 1.9x you'll notice a new display icon of T1.5x or T1.9x shown on the LCD
Use the zoom normally for photos and video

Safety Zoom feature

If you've chosen just to use the digital zoom (standard setting), you'll notice that when you zoom, the zoom bar shown on the LCD has two sections. The left hand section (shown in white) is the optical zoom. Any zooming in this section won't suffer from any digital deterioration.

The right hand section is where the digital zoom is being used. When you cross over from optical to digital zoom, the zooming action will pause for a moment to let you know you're crossing over.

The camera has a smart feature which can work out whether the digital part of the zoom is going to result in a significant reduction in image quality. If the zoom bar turns yellow, the digital part of the zoom is still going to take a good shot (with minor degradation of quality). If it however turns blue, that's when you are going to start to see the image quality go downhill fast.

You should also note that you can only use the digital zoom and tele-converter when you are shooting 4:3. It does not work in 16:9 mode.

I wouldn't recommend using this feature much indoors (or in low light), as the picture starts to get very noisy quickly. You'll also notice that at the far end of the digital zoom, the picture is very shaky. Unless you have the camera sitting on a rock solid tripod I also wouldn't recommend using too much digital zoom for video.

Why bother?

You might wonder why you'd want to use the 1.5x and 1.9x settings when you could just use the full power of the digital zoom. It's a valid question. One reason might be that you treat it like you might on a DSLR where upping the focal length at both ends is like changing zoom lenses. You always know what the minimum and maximum focal lengths are going to be, and you work within those.

Another possibility, and the one highlighted in the manual is that by using 1.5x and 1.9x you can achieve a faster shutter speed and more image stability than the equivalent focal length using the standard digital zoom. That's certainly worth considering.

Summary

So as you can see, the TX1's enhanced zoom is not too shabby when used in ideal conditions. In good light and with a fast enough shutter speed, you can still capture images of good quality and with excellent detail.

I'd be interested in people's experiences using the tele and digital zoom when out and about, so feel free to tell us all about it in the comments.

TX1 wide-angle lens mod

2008-03-27T22:14:00.002+08:00

Phillip Torrone has a short and sweet MAKE rundown of a TX1 modification to allow a wide angle lens to be attached. It's not for everyone, but if you're keen to take on the challenge, check it out.

Link: MAKE TX1 lens mod

Toshiba Camileo Pro HD looks the goods

2008-02-23T07:46:00.005+08:00

Whilst Toshiba's HD-DVD prospects are in the toilet, they plough ahead in other areas, in this case with the introduction of the very pocketable Camileo Pro HD. Sporting 720p via a 5 megapixel CMOS sensor and shooting in MPEG4/H.264 format, the camera only has 128MB of on-board memory but has capacity for up to 32GB SDHC cards. On the down side it only has 3x optical and 4x digital zoom - possibly hard to swallow if you're a fan of the TX1's 10x capability.

The camera also has HDMI output for direct connection to HD TVs and has its own 2.5" LCD screen that can be flipped out and rotated up to 270 degrees. It can be used as a webcam, something missing from the TX1's repertoire.

On the up side, it's going to retail for around £150 (US$295, AU$325) and will be available in the UK in April. No word on launch in other markets yet.

Gizmodo tests fast SDHC cards

2007-07-16T19:33:00.000+08:00

Gizmodo has put a bunch of SDHC cards through their paces to find out the king of SDHC speed. The clear winner was the Lexar 4GB Class 6, which surprisingly has not made it onto the TX1 compatible flash card list. If anyone has one of these in the TX1, please let us know how it performs.

Link to Gizmodo story

Get your podcasts in HD

2007-07-03T04:08:00.001+08:00

Well now that we've all got TX1's that can shoot in HD, is anyone out there planning on producing a video podcast or video for the web? There is now quite a bit of HD podcast content being produced and made available for download. Most of these are served through the iTunes store, all of them for free, but not necessarily easy to find.

So, one of my other projects has been to come up with a definitive list of all the Hi-Def and Apple TV compatible podcasts that you can download and watch on your high-res PC monitor, or better still, on your HDTV via a media centre or Apple TV.

To date there's over 40, with around half of these being true HD (720p or better). They range from tech related news to food and cooking, travel, comedy, health and lifestyle, news, science and music.

I've watched them all, and the good news is that with the move to HD, most podcast producers are also lifting the overall quality of the production and content. Many are using good mics and even green screen to really make these shows look professional.

My top 3 picks from the list of 40 are...

Mac Media Cast - A Mac centric news and technology show, produced by a very talented guy Joseph Nilo from the U.S. who makes the whole thing in his basement, using green screen to very good effect
Rome HD - Only has one episode at the moment, but that ep includes a crystal clear HD tour of the city of Rome
Divefilm - Regular episodes all shot underwater in breathtaking HD - swimming with sharks, whales and all sorts of underwater creatures

Check out the full listing at the Apple TV and HD video podcasts blog. If you like the list and find it useful, feel free to Digg it using the button on the story.

Final Cut Pro Settings

2007-06-30T16:49:00.001+08:00

I have had a couple of people ask what the workflow is to get video files into Final Cut Pro, so here it is below...

1. Copy movie files off the camera using something like 'Image Capture'. iPhoto should happily grab them too, and Aperture will copy them to disk also

2. Start a new FCP project. I have previously created a new sequence preset with the following settings...

This will allow you to create as many projects and sequences as you want, in a format that will allow direct import and use of your TX1 video files without any transcoding. You will need to render them once you put them on the timeline, but this only takes a few seconds per clip. Then you just import your files as you would normally and away you go.

One helpful tip if you are using FCP, use Compressor to transcode clips for the web or later storage. It does a much better job than Quicktime conversion. I managed to get a clip that had been compressed with QT down from 245MB to 95MB by switching to Compressor and using its advanced settings.

New York City 720p video posted

2007-06-28T15:32:00.001+08:00

I've uploaded a 720p video of my recent trip to New York City, all taken on the TX1. This was my first proper outing using the video aspects of the TX1 'in the field' a couple of months back. At the time it wasn't taken with the idea of wider release, but nevermind.

A few tidbits about the vid...

It was edited on Final Cut Pro, with the lower thirds titles done in iMovie and brought across (they look a bit soft to me)
I employed the seemingly pointless 'colour accent mode' a few times to good effect, singling out the yellow of NYC cabs (and to bad effect in Central Park by mistake)
It was pretty hazy up top of the Empire State and Rockefeller buildings so those images look a bit washed out
As good as the image stabilisation is, you can clearly see some shaky hand syndrome going on, especially when zoomed right in (apologies in advance for that)
Purple hazing obvious in a few shots
Some shots have had some effects applied
Surprisingly good exposure and focus performance at night in Times Square
I found a great piece of accompanying music on ccMixter, a Creative Commons based music site. If you want music to accompany your video or slideshows and can't use copyright works, definitely check this out

Vital statistics...

All shot in 1280x720p 30fps on the TX1
4.5mins, 95MB
3121.69 kbits/sec in H.264 codec
Soundtrack credit: Crazy Love - The Alex and Lang mix by J. Lang

Download Video (If you have any problems accessing it, try here)

The trashed flash card

2007-06-28T02:07:00.000+08:00

I've had a bit of a disaster with my Transcend 4GB SDHC flash card. I shot a bunch of video and stills when I was away on holidays recently. When I got back I used my SDHC compatible USB card reader to try and download the files. Unfortunately, something went awry and the card got corrupted. I lost everything on there. Luckily I had previously backed some of it up.

That's painful enough, but now the card seems to be totalled. I can't reformat it in the camera, via my Mac or even on a PC. I've tried half a dozen different ways to try and reformat it with no success at all. The camera chokes on it, the Mac won't even mount it, and the PC gets most the way through a format and comes up with an error saying it can't complete the format. Strangely enough, both the camera and the PC report that the card is 24GB in capacity which is clearly wrong.

I've never had a flash card crap out on me like this before. Do you think it is beyond salvage or can you suggest ways I might be able to revive it?

Flickr adds TX1, photo pool and review

2007-06-18T22:32:00.000+08:00

A few quick Flickr related updates...

The TX1 has been added to the list of cameras that Flickr automatically recognises. At the moment it's ranked 94th of 130 Canon cameras but I can imagine this will increase as more people get out and about with the TX1

A new photo pool has been started by Flickr member dcJohn for photos taken with the TX1. Check it out and start adding your TX1 pictures

Another in-depth review of the TX1 has been put up online, this time by Flickr contributor Oscar Colorado

TX1 101: Making the print button more useful

2007-06-10T21:32:00.000+08:00

Answer truthfully, how many of you have actually used the complex DPOF functions on your camera that allow you to print directly from the camera to a compatible printer? Not me. Mine go straight into Aperture, get tweaked, cropped and generally fiddled with before they are ready for prime time. So if you're like me and not going to bother with it, then what could you possibly use that pointless print button on the top of the camera for?

By the way, I'm not trying to alienate any dedicated DPOF lovers out there, so please don't come back with any strongly worded comments if you fall into that group of dedicated direct-to-print enthusiasts ;-)

Right. Wass it for then??? Think of it as a convenient and configurable one-touch button for accessing certain camera features that will otherwise mean a trip into the menu tree to select, most likely just as the Abominable Snowman ducks behind a tree and you miss the shot.

The button can be easily assigned to any of the following functions:

Nothing (the default setting)
Exposure compensation

Normally accessed via the function button and one click down, this allows direct access in one touch without any fiddling around (or messing up) with the 4-way function controller
Very useful if you are shooting in low or very bright light

White balance

Normally accessed in 3 clicks, this is a feature any intermediate or above level photographer will be interested in accessing quickly

Custom white balance

Taking the previous point one step further, you could access the custom white balance settings in one touch, allowing you to set and reset custom white balance with just a touch of the button each time

Digital tele-converter

The subject of an upcoming TX1 101 post, this feature allows you to improve the already lengthy 10x zoom of the camera using some digital jiggery-pokery
Normally accessed via the Menu in 3 clicks, this could be a real winner if you want to quickly give your camera an extra dose of digital zoom at short notice

Image/display guides

This has 2 parts, the first being the capability to the show the well known rule-of-thirds composition grid overlay on the LCD screen. I had this on an earlier point-and-shooter and as someone who had become interested in better composition of my photos, found it to be fantastically helpful in remembering to put the main subject of a photo on or near one of the lines or intersects
The second guide allows you to see what a 4:3 photo might look cropped onto 3:2 aspect paper (think a printed 6x4)

Display off

If you're an owner of the TX1 you may by now have noticed that the battery life isn't stellar. This option allows you to assign the 'Display off' function to the button to immediately turn off the LCD rather than wait for the auto-shutoff or flip the LCD closed (which is what I tend to do)

Play sound effect

This final option allows you to assign a sound effect to be played when you press the button. Personally I think this is an odd choice, but the manual states it might be handy for getting people's attention just before you hit the shutter button. I've always found 'say cheeeeeeeese' is quite effective

To assign one of the above functions to the Print button, press Menu in any of the camera (not playback) modes. Make sure you're on the 'Camera' tab and either scroll down to the bottom, or just hit up once on the 4-way to get to the last item in the menu list, 'Set Print Button'. Select the item and then pick the chosen option from the list of icons available. You will then be able to press the Print button whilst in Camera mode and it will access the chosen feature in one-touch.

Those are some genuinely helpful options (save the last one I reckon), but what I'd like to see is some of the other functions of the camera able to be assigned to this button, like...

Switch between 4:3 and 16:9. I like taking 4:3 photos and 16:9 HD movies. Being able to flick between the two without accessing the menus would be just brilliant (please, please, please Canon!)
To be able to cycle through movie modes (640-30, 640-LP, 320-6-, 320-30, 1280-HD, 1280-LP)
Access super-macro mode

Despite missing these wanted options, I think Canon deserves praise for including a custom button that allows you to choose a function to access quickly. Some other cameras of theirs have this option and it's good to see them including it on the TX1, even if it's not obvious at first glance what's possible with this custom button.

For those of you who just must get it all from the horses mouth, you can find more details on page 67 of the Advanced Camera User Guide for the TX1.

TX1 101: Tips, help and how-to's

2007-06-10T20:54:00.000+08:00

The DPreview review from the other day commented that they couldn't really work out who the TX1 is pitched at. Whilst potentially not the kind of thing Canon marketing might be happy about, to me it just means that this camera means different things to different people.

And one thing I've noticed about people is that some are user's guide readers and some are not. These days I think most consumers expect that electronic products will be intuitive enough that they will be able to work out how to use them just by playing around. With products like the iPod setting the standard in that department, who could blame them?

I for one though, am a big fan of sitting down with the user's guide and finding out all I can about my latest gizmo. I'm not so dedicated that I read the manual cover to cover before getting my mits on the device itself, but I certainly head for the manual pretty quickly once I have worked out the basics. Not everyone is like that though, and some folks would rather see a dentist than sit and read a user's guide. If you're that person, then this new TX1 101 series of posts are for you.

The TX1 101 posts will not cover the basics of the camera that you can work out easily. Instead they will delve into all those hidden but nifty features that could really help you use the camera to it's full potential, but you'd never know unless some geekier manual reader (like me) told you!

Stay tuned for TX1 101: Changing the Print button function - hey it sounds boring but it's actually cooler than you think!

DPreview reviews the TX1

2007-06-09T21:54:00.000+08:00

The folks over at Digital Photography Review have posted a full review of the Canon Powershot TX1, the most in-depth I have seen to date, and up to their usual high standard. Pitching it as a camcorder that does great stills, they were struggling to work out who the TX1 is really pitched at, but eventually gave it a 'Recommended' rating by the skin of its teeth.

What do they like?

Good quality stills
Compact design
10x zoom
Good image stabilisation
Minimal purple fringing
720p movies
Super macro

What they don't like?

Vertical design and ergonomics
Lens not very wide
Noisy over 400 ISO
Focus hunts a bit too much
Huge movie files
Soft looking HD movies
No HDMI
Movies noisy in low light
Small LCD
Weak flash
Poor battery life

DPreview do some of the best and most well balanced reviews around, and to be honest I think I have to agree with the vast majority of this, although I also don't think there were many surprises for those of us who already own one. The TX1 really seems to be a love it or hate it kind of camera. I for one am down with the luuuuurve.

Link to review

Full res Matterhorn photos

2007-06-08T05:27:00.000+08:00

Hey folks, I am back from my recent trip through Switzerland and Italy, and can upload the full resolution shots taken with the TX1 that I had smaller versions of before.

Unfortunately last night I managed to corrupt my SDHC card as it was being read on my machine, so I have lost a great many videos and some stills that I hadn't backed up. Thankfully I only took a few stills on the TX1 (as compared to over 1900 on the DSLR), and backed up all of my Switzerland alpine railway shots on a portable drive during the trip. So I've said arrivederci to all of my lovely Lake Como and Italy vids. I religiously backed up all of my DSLR photos every day but was a bit more lax with the TX1. Geez that's annoying. Not the TX1's fault, more likely the crappy SDHC card reader I got off eBay. I think from now on I'll put up with downloading directly from the camera and be more vigilant with the backup up whilst on the road.

I have a stack of cool video, but as per usual that's going to take a bit of time to edit together into something half decent for the viewing public!

Anyway, here's the full size versions completely unedited. Click to enlarge...

On the way to Zermatt on the open windowed Matterhorn Gotthard Railway.

On the way up the mountain to Gornergrat on the Mattherhorn Gornergrat Railway.

View from Zermatt of the Mattherhorn, at widest angle, then 10x zoom

View from the top

New USB sticks slash H.264 encode times

2007-06-08T03:13:00.000+08:00

Gizmodo and others are reporting that Elgato, fine purveyor of hardware based TV tuners for the Mac have started shipping a USB based H.264 encoder that can speed up video encodes to H.264 by up to a factor of four on newer Core 2 Duo Macs and up to 10x for older G4 spec machines. This could be especially useful for TX1 owners who are gagging to convert their weighty Motion JPEG movie files to something more lightweight and accessible.

Video enconding is extremely CPU intensive and can paralyse your machine for hours whilst it converts from one format to another. The Elgato Turbo.264 offloads the computation tasks from your computer's CPU onto it's own hardware based processor, allowing you to continue to browse questionable websites or frag a few enemies whilst the svelte little USB powerhouse munches down on your video conversion.

Typical targets for conversion include iPod, Apple TV and PSP. The Elgato unit retails for about €99 or US$99, and is available now.

If you're looking for a similar solution for the PC, ADS has been offering up Instant Video-to-Go for a while now for US$80. Check out the Engadget coverage.

Whilst I am not yet doing a lot of conversion to other formats, as I sit here now and think about all the footage I captured on holiday, and how I'm going to have to leave my laptop crunching it overnight, these options seem like a real time saver.

On top of the world with the TX1

2007-05-22T16:26:00.001+08:00

Just a quick posting with a few pics taken with the TX1 on my trip through Switzerland and Italy. So far we have been to Zermatt which has views to the Matterhorn and on the Glacier Express from there over to St. Moritz.

The TX1 has been a great companion to my Canon EOS 400D (Rebel XTi), and has proven top be exceptionally convenient as a backup stills camera (esp. with the 10x zoom), but more so as the 720p movie shooter.

Unfortunately I can't upload any movies at the moment, but here's a few pics from the TX1 so far...

On the way to Zermatt on the open windowed Matterhorn Gotthard Railway.

On the way up the mountain to Gornergrat on the Mattherhorn Gornergrat Railway.

View from Zermatt of the Mattherhorn, at widest angles, then 10x zoom

OK, that's it for now. I have to go and catch the Bernina Express from St. Moritz down into Italy. More soon. Matt

Where would you take your TX1?

2007-05-19T12:08:00.000+08:00

Hey folks, I am going to be on holidays for the next couple of weeks, TX1 firmly in hand whilst I travel around Switzerland and Italy. We've got a pretty full itinerary, taking in Zermatt and the Matterhorn in Switzerland, then a trip on the world's slowest express train, the Glacier Express through the Alps across to St. Moritz. We have booked into the first class panoramic coaches so I am hoping for some pretty stunning scenery. After that we head south into Italy for a few days at Lake Como, then further down into Tuscany, Florence and finally up to Venice. If I can't manage a few keepers in the photo and video department then I ought to send the lot back for a refund!

I intend on posting from the road, but we'll have to see how accessible the Internet is in some of the places, and I don't know whether I really want to be sitting at an Internet cafe tapping out technology related stories when there are so many other relaxing things I could be doing - and more importantly, looking at.

I'm taking my cameras (EOS 400D, TX1), an iPod with Video and an E65 Nokia smartphone (for Gmail of course), but my mum who's over from Australia is outdoing me by packing her iBook, so you never know how many posts I might get in on the road!

Speaking of trips and vacations, if you had your pick of places, where would you want to pack your TX1 and head off to right now? And what other gadgets would you pack in your bags?

The purple haze

2007-05-14T15:46:00.000+08:00

As TX1 use becomes more widespread, some people are beginning to report niggles and other dislikes of the camera. This is to be expected since people have a wide range of criteria by which they measure the success or failure of the newest bit of kit on the block, and of course we don't all agree with each other on whether these issues are a major problem or just a minor nuisance.

Something that is generating vigourous debate on forums at the moment is the issue of purple smearing and streaking when you point the TX1 at a bright light source whilst recording video. I noticed this from the outset when using the TX1, and wasn't overly impressed with how it looked, but also wasn't getting too worried about it until I started reading a few strongly worded comments on other sites - now I can't stop seeing it!

I was in New York City on the weekend and it was bright and sunny, with loads of reflections coming off buildings. This is where I noticed it the most. I have a couple of videos where the purple haze is really obvious and quite distracting to look at. But, and it's a big but, I took over 70 clips whilst in NYC and even though 60 of them would have been in bright light, I reckon maybe 3 of my clips have obvious purple streaks, and maybe another 10 have the odd purple artifact, the rest are completely OK.

To my gadget obsessive eye they jump out like the proverbial dog's bollocks, but I used the tried and true spousal test, and she didn't even notice them - I had to point them out, and even then she just said, 'is that because of the really bright reflections?' So in my mind, there you have it. It's not a deal breaker for me, it's just a minor annoyance that's a by product of the technology used in the camera (and not just this camera either).

I am a TX1 fanboy - why would I spend time writing this blog if I thought the camera was a piece of crap? That said I'm not loyal enough to blindly ignore faults with it. Some people are really not going to be happy about this problem, and it'll be enough that they'll send it back for a refund or pass on it all together. That's the great thing about the gadget market, there's so much choice around that we can all afford to be picky.

But in the end, the TX1 has so many more good points than bad, and that's why I'll happily keep using it - that is of course, until I really find something to hate about it, or something better comes along, maybe the TX2?!

Flash card performance on the TX1

2007-05-10T02:39:00.000+08:00

We've had a lot of discussion both here and on forums about the performance (or lack thereof) from various SD and SDHC flash cards when recording high quality 720p HD movies on the TX1. It seems there is a wide range of experiences, ranging from good performance through to constant buffering issues and card failures - sometimes with the same card type in different units. Not good!

These are some of the experiences to date (updated 6th August 2007):

Card Type	Comments (recording high quality 720p 30fps video)
Transcend 4GB SDHC Class 2 (Best 4GB performance)	1 user reports good performance with camera formatted card Some minor buffer warnings but doesn't stop recording Over 80 high quality 720p videos of 5-60 seconds in length recorded with this card, with slow zooming Three 13 minute videos recorded with this card 1 user reports buffering problems and recording stops after 30 seconds
Transcend 8GB SDHC Class 2	1 user reports problems with buffering, and 1 user reports ocassional buffering problems 1 user reporting good performance without zooming, some buffer warnings with slow zooming, but apart from that, was able to record full length high quality 720p
Transcend 8GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports problems with buffering when zooming a lot 1 user reports problems with buffering after about 26 secs 1 user reports good performance with this card
Integral 8GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports problems with this card
SanDisk 4GB SDHC Class 2	1 user reports good performance with recording available up to the max. limit
Kingston 8GB SDHC Class 6 (Best 8GB performance)	9 users report good performance across the board
Kingston 8GB SDHC Class 4	1 user reports good performance with this card
Adata 4GB SDHC Class 2	2 users report problems with this card
Adata 8GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card
Apacer 8GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card
Adata 4GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card (has tried two cards)
Lexar 4GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card
Patriot 8GB SDHC Class 4	1 user reports good performance with zooming and able to record 10+ min videos in high quality 720p
Patriot 8GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card
Peak 4GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card (has tried two cards)
OCZ 2GB SDHC Class 6	1 user reports good performance with this card
OCZ 8GB SDHC Class 4	2 users report good performance with this card
SanDisk Ultra II 2GB SD	1 user reports good performance with camera formatted card
SanDisk Ultra II 4GB SD	1 user reports good performance with camera formatted card
Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD	1 user reports good performance
SanDisk 2GB SD	1 user reports ability to record for over 2 minutes
SanDisk 1GB SD	1 user reports good performance
Qmemory 4GB 150x SD	1 user reports two cards that stop recording after 40 secs
Transcend 2GB SD	1 user reports buffering problems recording after 10 secs
Corsair 1GB SD	1 user reports buffering problems recording after 10 secs

These results have been gathered from commenters on this blog. If you have any further experience to add, please add a comment below. I'll keep updating the table as more information comes through.

Putting your TX1 videos on a slim fast diet

2007-05-04T00:43:00.000+08:00

Monstrous! That's the only way to describe the file sizes produced by the TX1 when it comes to shooting video. Every second of high quality 720p video is a whopping 4.5 megabytes. Shoot for about 13 minutes and your 4GB flash card will be begging for mercy. But why?

The TX1 employs the Motion-JPEG codec to capture video. Some argue that this is a very inefficient way of storing video (because of the large file sizes), whereas others say that the method of capture results in better overall picture quality (than other codecs like MPEG4) because each individual frame of video is captured as if it were a still image.

Much time and many words could be expended debating the why's and wherefores of Canon's choice of codec. Personally I'm not too fazed by the large files sizes - and this is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, flash memory is coming down in price all the time. Before we know it, 32GB SDHC cards will be as cheap as chips, and suddenly 13 minutes per card mushrooms to over 100. The other reason is that these days there are so many different mediums to distribute and play your content - like YouTube, DVD, iPod, AppleTV - that you're inevitably going to transcode it to something else. And that's where this post kicks in.

I have taken one of the original example videos and transcoded it into a raft of other formats, from Apple TV and PSP to Windows Media, DivX and MPEG4 - with the intention of giving you an insight into the different formats and levels of quality available. The results vary from ropey through to impressive, and the reduction in file sizes is staggering.

All the transcoding was done using VisualHub software on a dual core MacBook Pro 2.16GHz and the results are in a table below. Compression times are noted and bit rates shown. Low quality is in 11Khz mono AAC, and standard and above is 44Khz stereo AAC for the most part. The difference between the quality settings is related to the data rate - i.e. - the number of Kilobits per second (Kbps). The higher the rate, the better quality video in theory.

The first file in the list is the original from the camera which can be used for comparison. Also for comparison are individual screen grabs of (almost) the same frame in each video. From those you can get an idea of the level of compression being applied to the videos. Just because a single frame looks rubbish doesn't mean the video will necessarily, as most compressed videos look much better playing than paused. Still it's an interesting insight into what's being compromised as the video is being compressed.

Format	Dimensions	File size (% of original)	Encoding quality/time	Single frame example	Watch video
Motion JPEG (from camera)	1280x720 (16:9)	119MB (100%)	Original (29s in length), 36.67mbps	View	Save
Apple TV (H.264)	960x540	1.7MB (1.4%)	Low, 518kbps (1m:40s)	View	Watch
Apple TV (H.264)	960x540	8.7MB (7.3%)	Standard, 2672kbps (1m:52s)	View	Watch
Apple TV (H.264)	960x540	15.3MB (13%)	High, 4705kbps (1m:49s)	View	Watch
Apple TV (H.264)	1280x720	15.3MB (13%)	High, 4700kbps (2m:41s)	View	Watch
Apple TV (H.264)	1280x720	21.9MB (18%)	Very High, 6730kbps (2m:51s)	View	Watch
Playstation Portable (AVC)	368x208	1.8MB (1.5%)	Standard, 534kbps (41s)	View	Watch
Playstation Portable (AVC)	368x208	2.8MB (2.3%)	High, 840kbps (44s)	View	Watch
DivX (Home Theatre)	1280x720	12.9MB (11%)	High, 3960kbps (1m:38s)	View	Watch
DivX (Home Theatre)	1280x720	21.8MB (19%)	Very High, 6694kbps (1m:39s)	View	Watch
Windows Media (WMV8)	1280x720	15.2MB (13%)	Standard, 5247kbps (1m:10s)	View	Watch
Windows Media (WMV9)	1280x720	24.8MB (21%)	Very High, 7764kbps (?)		Watch

For mine, the very high quality 720p Apple TV conversion looks the best as compared to the original. Weighing in at 18% the size of the original, that's not bad at all. The low quality Apple TV and PSP settings look the worst, but considering they are around 1.5% the size of the original, that's not too surprising. I don't have a PSP to try that file out on, but I'd hasten to say it wouldn't look too bad on the smaller screen. Offline I also did a conversion to DVD (MPEG-2) and it looked very good. UPDATE: The WMV9 file is stunningly good quality! (Thanks for the encode UP).

These results above are just one batch of tests. By spending some more time tweaking codec settings, it's likely that better results could be obtained. If you're interested in compressing some of your own TX1 videos but don't know where to start, there are some resources below.

Resources

TX1 happenings

2007-05-03T04:02:00.000+08:00

It's been a bit quiet on the TX1 front this week - I wonder how many more people have taken the plunge and bought one off eBay before they are released? If you have, be sure to let us know your first impressions.

Also if you have any contributions to the FAQ or have seen other examples of video kicking about on the interwebs, do let me know via the comments section.

I am off to New York for the long weekend (UK) and will be packing the TX1 to take some hi-def video of the big city. I am only going to be taking my 16-35mm wide angle lens on the DSLR so I am going to be relying on the 10x zoom of the TX1 for all the long shots. We'll see how that goes.

I have a post in prep at the moment regarding encoding TX1 videos from M-JPEG to other more 'slender' formats like Windows Media and H.264. I will post the results soon, and hope to recommend some good settings to get the best picture quality vs. file size.

Finally, if you're liking this blog, and you're inclined to do so, be sure to mention it in your travels on forums etc - the more people we get contributing, the better it will be.

The Canon PowerShot TX1 FAQ

2007-05-01T05:03:00.000+08:00

UPDATED 10th June 2007.

This post will evolve to cover many of the most frequently asked questions about the Canon TX1, based on comments on this blog, discussions on web forums and other sources. If you'd like a question/answer added to the FAQ, or notice something's not right, add it to the comments section of this post.

This FAQ assumes you already know a little bit about the Canon PowerShot TX1 - i.e. - that it's a hybrid digital still camera and high-definition camcorder.

Table of Contents

1. About the Canon PowerShot TX1

Where can I read up on the features and specifications of the TX1?

Where can I download the user guide (manual), drivers, software and firmware upgrades for the TX1?

These should all be available in English on the Canon Support Site page for the TX1

Where can I read reviews online about the TX1?

There are a number of reviews of the camera available online
The TX1 Blog first impressions
Digital Camera Info first impressions
Gizmodo first hands on
DC Resource thorough review
CNET thorough review
Digital Trends full review
Digital Photography Review full review

What accessories are available for the TX1?

A list of accessories is shown on the Canon USA product page

Can I attach filters or a wide angle adaptor to the TX1?

Filters possibly, wide angle adaptor it doesn't seem so
There is a thread on the inside of the front of the lens which it's been though could allow the adding on of filters, but none seem to exist currently, and none are advertised by Canon
The rapid retraction of the lens back into the main camera housing seems to suggest that no externally protruding adaptors (like a wide angle or tele converter) could be attached

What types of memory/flash cards can the TX1 use?

As of May 2007, not many TX1's were in circulation, and for those that were, there has been different experiences with different branded SD and SDHC memory cards
See this post for the most up to date listing of people's experiences with different types and brands of flash cards

What's the angle of the lens on the TX1 and how far can it zoom?

The angle (in 35mm terms) is 39mm-390mm
This equates to a 10x optical zoom
39mm is not considered to be a very wide minimum angle, however a 10x zoom on such a small camera is particularly impressive
The TX1 also has the capability to set the digital zoom to 1.5x and 1.9x, with little degredation in resulting picture quality. At the 1.5x setting, the zoom range becomes 58.5mm-585mm and 1.9x results in 74.1-741mm. This can only be selected in 4:3 mode not 16:9

2. Video on the Canon PowerShot TX1

Where can I see some example videos from the Tx1?

There are 12 sample videos taken in bright daylight in this TX1 Blog post
There's also a bunch here at Blip.tv (if you are the author of those and want attribution, please leave a comment)
If you see any other collections, please leave a comment and a link to let me know

What sizes and formats of video can the TX1 film in (e.g., 4:3, 16:9, HD)?

320x240 @ 60fps (4:3)

1,370KB/sec

320x240 @ 30fps (4:3)

746KB/sec

640x480 @ 30fps (4:3 High Quality)

1,920KB/sec

640x480 @ 30fps (4:3 Long Play)

1,020KB/sec

1280x720 @ 30fps (16:9 High Quality, High Definition)

13 minutes per 4GB, 4,480KB/sec

1280x720 @ 30fps (16:9 Long Play, High Definition)

26 minutes per 4GB, 2,280KB/sec

See the Canon specs page for further info

What compression codec does the TX1 use?

The TX1 uses Motion-JPEG, which is essentially a series of JPEG compressed images taken in quick succession and strung together into a movie (for a more scientific overview of the codec, see this Wikipedia article)
Many people believe this was an odd choice by Canon because it is not a commonly used codec for video cameras, and creates movies that are extremely large (in file size) when compared to more modern codecs like MPEG4

How much video can I fit on my memory/flash card?

It depends on the size of your card, but typical results are as follows (per gigabyte of memory):

320x240, 60fps - 10.5 minutes
320x240, 30fps - 18.5 minutes
640x480, 30fps - 7.5 minutes
640x480, LP - 14 minutes
1280x720, 30fps - 3.5 minutes
1280x720, LP - 6.5 minutes

Why is the camera telling me the buffer is full?

The data captured for movies needs to be written to the memory card quickly enough to save every frame you film. If your card is not fast enough to cope, the camera will start to 'buffer' the information, which just means it queues it up as it is trying to write it to the card. If the queue gets full, you'll get a buffer full message and your movie will stop recording
So far it seems like any buffer messages tend to happen only when shooting in 720p HD mode, because the amount of data needed to be saved to the memory card is very high for every second you film
See this post for the most up to date listing of people's experiences with different types and brands of flash memory cards

I've heard I need a 'fast' memory/flash card to take 720p video, is this true?

See above

Can I zoom in and out whilst filming?

Yes you can, full 10x zoom in and out
Some flash cards have displayed poor performance (ie - buffering problems) when zooming in and out rapidly during movie capture. Check this post for more information

Can I use macro mode and other camera features whilst filming?

Many of the stills functions are also available during filming, including:

Auto focus
Face recognition
Focus lock
Exposure lock
Macro and super-macro
10x zoom

Can I take a photo whilst filming?

Yes you can. It will be the same aspect as the video you are shooting (ie - if you are shooting in 4:3 it will be a 4:3 photo. If you are shooting in 16:9 it will be 16:9)

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?

PowerShot TX1 on Flickr

2007-04-28T04:01:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-28T03:20:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-25T00:42:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-24T02:39:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-22T20:18:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-22T04:09:00.000+08:00

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

2007-04-20T05:04:00.000+08:00

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.

Canon TX1 reviews round-up

2007-03-19T03:24:00.000+08:00

Reviews are starting to pop up on the net about the TX1. Most are pretty good, focusing on the stills aspects of the 7MP shooter, with a few covering off the 720p HD video capabilities, with mixed reviews, normally based on a handful of stock videos and one or two actual user videos floating around the web.

Digital Camera Info first impressions review
DC Resource thorough review
Gizmodo first hands on
CNET thorough review
Digital Trends full review

Views on whether this is a decent camera or not seem to vary wildly between the reviews. Until I can see some example images and videos myself, I will have to withhold judgement.

Canon announces Powershot TX1 with 720p

2007-03-02T01:11:00.000+08:00

Canon has announced a new addition to the Powershot family with the release of the TX1, which is not only a 7MP happy snapper but also packs drool-worthy 720p 30fps hi-def video.

Gizmodo has a good first overview of the TX1 accompanied by some hi-res pictures.

I am very excited about this camera, especially the possibility of 720p in such a small form factor. I may finally be able to ditch my beloved Canon MVX3i in favour of this little guy. Why? Well it's tapeless for a start, meaning instant access to the clips off the flash drive (no tedious tape capture), it's got 10x zoom and image stabilization just like the 3i, it's an upgrade to HD from SD, and best of all it's about three times smaller!