Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)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!
Click Here to see more reviews about: Canon PowerShot TX1 7.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
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