Canon TX1
Camcorders are not usually known for taking still pictures, which was why I was quite surprise when the the Canon TX1 comes out a winner for taking still pictures with the guys at Gizmodo (who obviously gave it a try). According to them, the video camera is currently the cheapest video recorder you can find in the market that gives you a great bang for your buck.
The picture taking mode for the Canon TX1 is likened to the quality of a 7Megapixel ultra-compact cameras. In my opinion, that’s pretty good as it is. I only use a 6.3MP Fujifilm’s Finepix for my food blog. I may need to do some tweaking after but it’s all good.
So, since the Canon TX1 has better photo camera functionality that most others camcorders, it is still not advised for the sole purpose of photo taking. This camcorder is just an all rounder as it gives good quality HD recording while it allows you to take stills whenever you feel like it. But if you want some serious picture taking gadget, it’s better to invest in a Canon D40 or D200.
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June 9th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
I give this a C+. Sure it’s a nice all-in-one type but it really doesn’t excel at anything specific. The camera quality definitely won’t be as good as a Canon Powershot and the video quality won’t be as good as a Sony HDV camcorder. However, it’s probably a good middle road for someone who can’t afford both.
It should be pointed out the HD recording is in 1280×720 at 30fps. If this isn’t progressive it’s as good as 480p, which is average for any widescreen camcorder I believe. HD doesn’t really mean High Definition unless it’s at least 720p. Also, they don’t list the encoding format. So it might not be a very good video recorder either depending on the recording format.
According to their spec. sheet, a 512MB stick will record 1 min. 42 sec. So 2Gb stick will probably hold around 6 minutes of video at the highest resolution. That’s not worth having HD video capability. They should have put a hard drive in it.
July 31st, 2007 at 5:50 pm
In response to Nathan, it definitely is 720p @ 30fps. The encoding format is MotionJPEG which is a weird choice but results in pretty low compression. A 4GB flash card holds about 14 minutes at the highest HD setting.
If you want to find out more about the TX1, there is an active community over at http://powershot-tx1.blogspot.com