In-depth Canon TX1 review

[Hulk]

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/CanonTX1/

Looks to be questionable if this thing really records at 720p...

[Jerry Jones]

The Canon TX1 -- at around $490 street -- now seems incredibly expensive when you consider the cost of the Sony HDR-UX1 AVCHD DVD disc camcorder has dropped all the way down to $599 at B & H.

And the HDR-UX1 has a microphone input, headphone jack and very decent manual controls.

Still, for somebody who wants something very tiny, I suppose the TX1 might be worthwhile.

But -- yes -- I wouldn't be surprised if they were simply upscaling standard definition to get that "720p" picture.

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net

[Hulk]

Good point about it almost costing as much as the UX1, which is a real HD camcorder.

That puts some perspective into the TX1 price/performance point.

[wkulecz]

Good point about it almost costing as much as the UX1, which is a real HD camcorder.

That puts some perspective into the TX1 price/performance point.

But isn't the TX1 a 7 MPixel still camera first that does HD video as a bonus? Or have I confused my model numbers?

--wally.

[Hulk]

Yes Wally you are correct. I am unfairly comparing the photo-based TX1 to dedicated camcorders. But hey this is a video forum!

Plus there are tons of great still cameras with comparable or better still quality than the TX1 for less money. Canon is boasting about the HD quality of the TX1.

[Jerry Jones]

Canon is a weird company.

They put out consumer HDV camcorders with great image quality, but often no decent inputs for microphones and headphones (HV10, for example).

Now, they've repented -- to some degree -- with the HV20, but the price is pretty high for that one.

And this TX1's 720p will probably satisfy most casual users; it's not like the image quality of the video is "awful."

But the TX1 video is too soft to be considered truly good 720p and the colors are a bit on the bland side.

And when you consider that some of Sony's nicest 1080i AVCHD camcorders have dropped below $700, the price tag of the TX1 suddenly seems rather high.

It will be interesting to find out how Canon's new AVCHD HR10 DVD disc camcorder performs:

http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-14095-The+iVIS+HR10+by+Canon.html

Jerry Jones

http://www.jonesgroup.net