Canon PowerShot TX1 7.1MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom | 
| Brand: Canon
List Price: $599.99
Buy New: $348.50
You Save: $251.49 (42%)
New (28) Used (4) Refurbished (1) from $245.00
Rating:  73 reviews
Sales Rank: 480
Color: SILVER
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Floppy Disk Drive: None
Optical Zoom: 10
Display Size: 1.8
Maximum Focal Length: 65
Minimum Focal Length: 6.5
Maximum Resolution: 7
Has Red Eye Reduction: Yes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.7 x 6.3 x 2.5
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 1265B001
Model: 1265B001
UPC: 013803076790
EAN: 0013803076790
ASIN: B000NK6DZI
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | 7.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints | | • | Ultra-compact 10x optical zoom lens; image stabilization | | • | Digic III image processor With Face Detection Technology; auto red-eye correction | | • | Vivid, high-resolution 2.5-inch PureColor LCD | | • | Compatible with SD/SDHC, MultiMediaCard, MMC Plus cards (not included) |
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Product Description
Imagine a tiny digital-camera that takes great still pictures and also takes movies compatible for viewing on widescreen HDTV. With Canon's PowerShot TX1, Canon takes a futuristic wish-list and makes it a reality. This is an ELPH-sized camera with a whopping 10x optical zoom that not only captures 7.1 megapixel images, but HD movies, too! The stylish vertical design in stainless steel houses plenty of premium advancements including Optical Image Stabilizer Technology, DIGIC III Image Processor, Face Detection Technology and Red-eye Correction. And because you'll want to take this compact wonder everywhere, it's equipped with a built-in lens cover and tough new scratch-resistant, anti-reflective coating on the LCD screen. It's virtually pocket-sized and automatic, easy to use.. And all images can be stored on compact SD or MMC memory cards and easily transferred to your computer or directly to your video output. progressive-scan compatible to HDTV. Self-timer Built-in electronic-flash Optical Image Stabilizer Resolutions - Still Image - 640 x 480 (Small), 1,600 x 1,200 (Medium 3), 2,048 x 1,536 (Medium 2), 2,592 x 1,944 (Medium 1), 3,072 x 2,304 (Large), 3,072 x 1,728 (Widescreen); Movie - 1280 x 720/640 x 480 (30 fps/30 fps LP), 320 x 240 (60 fps/30 fps) available up to 4GB USB 2.0 Unit Dimensions - 3.50 x 2.36 x 1.14 in. / 88.8 x 59.9 x 29.0mm; Weighs Approx. 7.76 oz. / 220g (camera body only)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 68 more reviews...
 Best Blend of Still Pix, Video, and Compact Size July 15, 2007
J. Weber
119 out of 121 found this review helpful
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!
Do not buy it for its camera features, but for its HD video capability... May 7, 2007
M. E. Balzer (Morro Bay, CA USA)
90 out of 91 found this review helpful
Do not buy this camera if you are looking for either a great camera or camcorder, buy it as the best micro image recording device available.
As you will find in other reviews, the camera portion is average. What makes this camera stand out is the fact that it will do 1280 X 720, 30 frames PROGRESSIVE! This is simply amazing since this camera is no larger than a box of cigarettes. It is not perfect though. There are few manual controls, e.g. no shutter rate or ISO control, however you do have control over locking ASE and Focus, as well as white balance. Some reviewers have complained about ergonomics, but a small monopod or makeshift grip that attaches to the tripod mount will do the trick. I personally would have preferred a REC button in front of the camera. If I could also make a couple of wishes, I would also ask for an external 1/8" stereo external microphone connector, as well as LANC control that could be used for zoom, focus, record/pause and stop. Finally, low light levels are very noisy.
There are also concerns about battery power. I have been able to go an hour without a charge. Again, it is suggested to buy an extra battery. If you really need to have this camera running continuously, buy the external power adapter. If you need more remote power, buy one of those extra lithium ion external power packs that has an output of 3.5 volts and retrofit a coaxial plug to fit the external power adapter.
Some reviewers are complaining about Canon using the Motion JPEG file format for video. True it is not the best compression format for making small files, but the quality is better than most MPEG 4 or even MPEG 2 file formats. Plus, you get frame by frame editing. To make up for the poor compression, just buy a larger card.
There are also some questions if this camera can support more than a four gigabyte SD card. Yes, but it will need to be a fast SDHC card. This poses its own problems because it is not backwards compatible with SD card readers so you will not be able to use it with any card reader unless it specifically says it is compatible with SDHC. This is not too great of a problem since the camera uses a standard mini USB female connector and XP, Vista, OS X recognize it without additional software.
In my opinion, this has been my answer to a stealth high definition documentary camera. I will find many uses for this camera in the upcoming months. Look for my documentary "Gamer: The chronicles of Evanor" [...] to be released at the end of the year. It will contain footage from this camera.
I gave it a four out of five stars for not adding an external microphone adapter, LANC control, and a few more manual controls. This would have garnered a perfect score from me. I hope Canon is listening.
Perfect for me June 12, 2007
P. Yoon (New Hampshire)
62 out of 64 found this review helpful
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.
 Great features, but ultimately not great results June 11, 2007
Avi Flax
26 out of 41 found this review helpful
I was very excited about this camera when it was first announced - finally, HD-quality video in my pocket! 10x optical zoom, optical image stabilization, excellent! And I've always been a huge fan of Canon's SD series - tiny pocket-cams which take great stills and decent video. This seemed like the next step - great stills and great video too. So I pre-ordered the camera as soon as I could, and waited eagerly for it to ship. And waited, and waited...
When the camera finally arrived, I was surprised at the bulk and heft of it. Sure, it's still highly compact, but for someone used to the SD300 and SD600, this is a step backwards in portability. It makes my pockets kinda bulge. Right off the bat, strike one: my primary use case for the camera was to keep it in my pocket all the time. Once I tried it though, I realized that it'd have to go in a bag most of the time.
Strike two: it's kinda awkward to hold. I have very large hands, so I rarely have a problem with any camera. I'm not sure if others would have the same experience, but it's worth noting, since I've always been comfortable with various other Canons, Nikons, and Pentaxes.
Finally, my main criticism, Strike 3: Picture Quality. I wasn't happy with either the stills or the video. With the stills, I had trouble with the focus system. The face-tracking system seems useful at first, but when I viewed the photos on my computer, the focus never seemed quite right. Even when I switched to a more conventional focus mode, the picture quality just wasn't as satisfying as that of the SD600, an older and cheaper model.
Video quality was, for me, the last straw. Sure, it may be technically HD, but for me, HD promises more than just resolution. When I think HD, I think sharp, clear, and vibrant. The video produced by the TX1 is high-resolution, it is wide-screen at 16x9 - but it's not really HD. The video picture is blotchy and fuzzy, and really no better than that, again of a much cheaper SD series camera. It's nice that it's wide, the video is definitely much better proportioned for today's wide-screen televisions, but it's not much of an advance beyond that, and it certainly isn't really HD.
Also worth noting is that the video files produced by the TX-1 are immense, making it fairly inconvenient and/or expensive to use as a video camera. These file sizes certainly aren't justified by the video quality.
To sum up: the TX-1 has an impressive array of features, and had the potential of being a truly groundbreaking device, of finally bringing HD video and stunning stills into a single pocketable device. Unfortunately, however, it doesn't deliver on quality, and it's not as pocketable as its predecessors, which take better stills and video that's nearly as good as the TX-1's.
Ultimately, for me, the TX-1 wasn't satisfying as a still camera or a video camera. I've returned mine; I'm going to stick with my SD600 for now.
I'm still eagerly awaiting the first truly pocketable device which shoots both high-quality stills and video. I'd even be willing to pay more than I did for the TX-1 - maybe that would give it a better chance of succeeding. In the meantime, I've got my eye on the Canon HV10 HD Camcorder to supplement my SD600 and Nikon D80.
[...].
I LOVE IT July 5, 2007
Bruce R. Peterson (Utah, USA)
25 out of 25 found this review helpful
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.
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