Review: Canon TX1 Powershot camera

HIGH DEF VIDEO: The Canon Powershot TX1 isn't a great still camera, but it's one of the cheapest ways to shoot high-def video on the market.

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The Canon TX1 Powershot packs an awful lot in for its price, including high-definition video, though the design won’t be to everyone’s taste.

The TX1 isn’t a digital camera that shoots videos, it’s more of a camcorder that takes photos. You’ll actually be hard pressed to find another camcorder that records high-def in this price range, and Canon has done a good job packing in the TX1’s many good features for the price.

The quality of the TX1’s photos was generally pretty good. It’s 7.1 megapixels and has a 10X optical zoom, and the quality was on part with other 7MP cameras.

The still photo quality was much better than any consumer camcorder, whether high-def or not.

The vertical design is good for shooting video, less so for taking a photo. The button to take the shot is on top, which is a bit tricky to use, and you end up feeling like you’ve got too many fingers and thumbs. It’s even worse for vertical shots.

There’s a flip-out articulated 1.8 inch LCD screen (which performed well in daylight) on the left side, a mode selection wheel on the right, and most of the menu functions on the back, accessed through a small joystick.

On the back is also the button for shooting video and the zoom.

The button to shoot a still photo is on the top. The recessed on/off button above the LCD screen is also difficult to use.

If you’ve used Canon digicams before, you’ll find the firmware familiar. It’s all quite straightforward to access the modes and settings you want.

It starts up extremely quickly, but you’re slowed down by having to fold out the viewscreen.

The video quality (maximum is 1,280x720-pixel (720p), 30 frames per second high-definition video) was incredible for a camera of this size and price, but not quite on par with dedicated high-def camcorders.

The image quality from still photos was roughly similar to other 7MP digicams, and that’s much better than what you’ll get on a camcorder.

It saves movies as mobile-jpeg, which chews through memory. At the highest quality video will take up several megabytes per second.

The optical image stabilizer worked very well, even in the bumpy cars in Mumbai’s traffic, where I tested it.

There’s also a “super macro” mode that lets you focus down to 0cm from the lens. Shooting this close is tricky, but it’s a neat extra.

There’s no battery indicator on the device, but a warning icon comes up when it drops below 30 per cent.

The TX1 fits in a grey area between camcorders and digicams.

It’s really for people who want to shoot videos, and take the occasional good quality still shot of the action. It’s too tricky to use to be much good if you’ll be shooting mostly still photos.

The Canon Powershot TX1 is $750 from electronic shops.

- © Fairfax NZ News