Sharing TX1 informatioin

Hi Folks,...just another kudo for the TX1.

It's probably no big deal and I doubt if it's the only P&S that could do this but wanted to report that I went to my grandsons little league game today and got some GREAT action shots using continuous mode. There's probably a better way to do it but I just left the little rascal in manual and fired away. I didn't set anything except continuous, no different ISO, aperture, shutter speed etc. Almost every shot was at 10X zoom and the pictures are sharp as a tack. I wouldn't take the price of the TX1 for the great shots I got. In other words, as far as I'm concerned, the TX1 paid for itself today.

I also got some really good videos. The sound is good and everything is just as good as I could ever expect.

It was interesting that the kids didn't seem to know they were on camera, another advantage of a small camera like the TX1.

I'm happier every day that I bought this fine hybrid.

Although not identified as such, the TX1 can shoot stars. I even took a handheld video of the ISS (international Space Station) and space shuttle close proxemity flyby last year. The pair was moving quite rapidly, but the video caught to fast moving dots easily. This shot of the constellation Orion rising in the East, was taken tripod mounted, f/3.5, ISO 400, 15 sec.



Ciao....Barry

In previous discussions of the advantages and disadvantages of the Canon TX1, I was concerned by posters who pointed out that in situations where there was a very bright object in the scene, the camera produced images with a distracting vertical purple line.
I had seen this effect, but discounted it as an infrequent situation.

Today I was faced by such a scene. A car window was reflecting the sun and causing the dreaded purple line. However, although the line appeared in the LCD image, it does not feature in the actual recorded image. So although it is a nuisance whilst taking a picture, it does not appear to affect the final result.
--
Cyril

Photofreak7: did you end up buying the TX1 from that e-tailer? What was your experience? Was the product as priced, as promised. And was it a US warranty?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270213660374&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017

GD1: what is this business about pink streaks on video? Is this a common flaw to the TX1? Is it very infrequent, unique to just a few bad lot TX1's or is common to all TX1's, when video is taken in certain lighting conditions? Is there a) a software fix or b) does the camera have to be sent into Canon for repair or c) do you have to just live with this design flaw and grin and bear it?

"Only issue I have had was that I also noticed on one sunny HD video, that pink streaks came up in one part of the video."

Considering another toy. Thanks, guys.

I had the pink streak problem only once outside and once in a restaurant. It is distracting but doesn't happen often enough that I've figured out exactly what causes it. On the outside shots, I think I was shooing into the sun and inside the restraurant there was probably light in the background. I would doubt seriously if this is a flaw that can be fixed. It's sure not a deal breaker for me.

One tip that I've found handy that I'll pass along. When I shoot continuous at the grandsons baseball game, I get much better results in 4:3 aspect ratio. It's much easier to keep him in the frame with the full LCD available. The continuous mode is blazing fast. I really lilke this mode for getting a good action still. For videos, though, I find the 16:9 preferable. These are great videos from this little camera.

Hi,

I took a my TX1 on a 6 week trip to France last fall. I purposly left my DSLR (IDnII) at home as I wanted to travel light.
The TX1 performed excellently. Some minor quibles.

Lack of a real wide angle was limiting when photographing cityscapes. Though out in the country the panorama stitch mode worked well. Due to the vertical shape of the camera I had problems keeping the horizons horizontal. I had to spend some time at home with photoshop to straighten them.

The flash is very weak. I used a small (pocketable) tripod for interior, night and panorama shots.

I have to wear reading glasses and the small lcd was limiting without putting them on, but I soon got used to it.
The zoom and image stabilization works great.

Video is very good. I only had 2 4GB cards, so I had to do a lot of downloading to my laptop.

I used a lanyard around my neck and the camera either in my front shirt pocket or under my jacket. It was always ready at a moments notice. This camera is very fast to turn on compose and shoot.
I am very pleased overall with my TX1 and came home with some great images.

One major problem- my camera suffers from what must be sensor dust. Big blobs in my images that show up especially in the sky or light areas. I had to spend more time in photoshop cloning them out. I can't do the same for the video's unfortunatly. Any body else had this problem or is it just me?
Canon Canada wouldn't fix it under warranty as I purchased the camera in Japan.

I like the camera so much I am considering buying another one or maybe I'll wait for the TX2.

Ian

After some pretty intensive use of the TX1, I find that I now have formed some real impressions about what I like (lots of stuff) and what I don't like (not much). Mainly, I know what I'd like to see in a new model, if there ever is one.

An optical viewfinder would be very nice. I find that shooting my grandsons Little League games is fine, for the most part. However, being on 10X zoom most of the time so I can tell who he is, I often lose him in the LCD when the action starts. The narrow field at 10X would be no problem with an OVF.

Better design of controls would be nice. Sanyo has Canon beat hands down in this regard. The Sanyos are a cinch to operate through full zoom range, stills and videos, with one hand. The TX1 is simple for stills but when zooming, it's a two handed operation.

File size and quality,.....some object to the large files. I find this no problem and I love the quality of the videos and stills.

Switching aspect ratios from 16:9 to 4:3. This is easy to do, but switches both stills and videos. I'd personally like to be able to set up the manual mode in 4:3 and the auto mode in 16:9 or vice versa.

LCD size. Although I'm living with the tiny TX1 LCD, I'd like to see it larger, especially if they don't use OVFs in the new model.

Overall, I think the TX1 is probably the best hybrid camera/corder on the market today. With a few changes, it could be even better.

Thanks for sparking more discussion on the TX1 on various forums.
I should be getting mine tomorrow. I can't wait!

Rodfather said:

Thanks for sparking more discussion on the TX1 on various forums.
I should be getting mine tomorrow. I can't wait!

Click to expand...

Rod,.....let us know your impressions. I will be very surprised if you don't really like the TX1. It's very unique, high quality in every way.

I suggest a couple of extra batteries.

Jack

Setter Dog said:

Rodfather said:

Thanks for sparking more discussion on the TX1 on various forums.
I should be getting mine tomorrow. I can't wait!

Click to expand...

Rod,.....let us know your impressions. I will be very surprised if
you don't really like the TX1. It's very unique, high quality in
every way.

I suggest a couple of extra batteries.

Jack

Click to expand...

I did a lot of research so hopefully I'm covered.

I ordered from Newegg and grabbed a Dolica kit which includes a battery, case, screen protector, and mini tripod for only $15. Grabbed another Dolica battery for 3 total and a ADATA 16GB SDHC card.
It should arrive tomorrow so I'll be listening for the UPS truck.

Cyril had an interesting post in another thread about the TX1 playing a slide show that includes stills and videos in the order that they were taken. This is actually a Canon feature that I find useful. After todays Little League game, I'll download all the stills and videos into my computer and look them over. I'll save most of them but delete some from the card. I can then play the card directly into my Panasonic HD DVD writer in slide show mode. I leave in just enough stills to make it interesting. It makes for a great DVD when I put all these clips together.

I usually erase the card between these events but you can leave the scenes on the card and select what you record to the DVD writer by date, or just those you choose with the little selector switch. I actually wish I had done it this way from the beginnning since at the end of the season I could pick out a few clips and make a "highlight" DVD.

I know all of this is pretty boring, especially if you don't have grandkids, but I couldn't think of another way to bump this thread back up so new enthusiasts can read some of the good stuff you folks have written.

Yesterday I was using the TX1 at the grandson's Little League game. I couldn't get very close so decided to try the 1.5 teleconverter mode to achieve 15X zoom.

I had always thought that I could not hand hold a camera steady at more than 10X but I must say I was presently surprised at the pictures I got. I used the "shoot only" OIS and the results were solid, as good as my eye can judge. I'll do this often.

This mode will also extend your range in 640x480 videos but I stuck with the 16:9 for videos. I really have grown to appreciate that wide picture.

hey hey--

I just got my TX1 and LOVE IT! save the minor issues with low light handling and its still a bit shaky even with the IS. I actually got the TX1 after giving the new panny tz5 a whirl. I was SO SO looking forward to that panny and it does have many endearing qualities but the deal killer was the mono speaker which was horrendous, unbearable, miserable. I am willing to give a little here and there to get the incredible beauty of compact HD video, but it really was too much to bear.

One other thing about the TX1 though. The HD video takes up SO much memory space it wears out my 8GB card pretty quick and is HUGE when its uploaded to my MAC. After all that HD drool I think I'll be using it in VGA just because of the space issue.

sillyzippy said:

One other thing about the TX1 though. The HD video takes up SO much
memory space it wears out my 8GB card pretty quick and is HUGE when
its uploaded to my MAC. After all that HD drool I think I'll be
using it in VGA just because of the space issue.

Click to expand...

I think with a little usage you'll find the TX1 is pretty steady. It does require two hands but the OIS seems fine for me.

HD or EGA,......well, storage and card life is a problem but the HD videos are really special. I load mine in a computer but back them up with an external HD periodically, make a DVD, and drop them from the computer. This is really a fine camera. Must say that, at least in my opinion, Canon has the video thing down pat in these small cameras.

I call that a "pocket."

My TX1 has never seen anything else anywhere near resembling a "case."


--
Tom Hoots

OK, so how many of you have wished that your TX1 would keep on shooting, even if you fully closed the LCD screen? Of course, bummer, the TX1 won't shoot if you fully close it up like that.

But, golly, if you notice.... There's a little "tab" sticking up from the upper right side of the LCD screen, which pokes a little "button" on the camera itself when you fully close the LCD. I'm pretty sure you could file that tab down, and get the thing to shoot, even with the LCD closed.

Not that I expect that most folks would find this useful. But, if you want to put it into continuous mode and "literally" point and shoot, I'm pretty sure you could do this. I just noticed that "Oh, that's why that little tab is there," so if this little insight causes you to go running for a file, "have fun!"
--
Tom Hoots

Hi Folks,

More news about using the TX1. Some of you may find this information useful.

I went to my shooting preserve today for some quail hunting with the setters. My wife has my field camera (A710) up north with the grandkids so I toted the TX1 to get some videos and stills.

All I can say in summary is, "Suspicions Confirmed". The tiny LCD made picking up the running dogs very difficult. Once they would stop and point a bird, I got good videos from 10-15 feet. I knew the LCD would be hard to use in this setting so I had set the aspect ratio to 4:3 in order to get a full view.

When comparing the stills and videos I got today with those taken at the same place over the season with the A710 I was quite pleased. Both cameras took 640x480 video and 7mp stills. The TX1 had noticeably higher IQ and much, much better sound.

So, if I can get the hang of the TX1 in the field, the results might be worth the hassle of a non viewfinder camera. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Canon to put HD and stereo in an A series camera,.......gotta love that viewfiinder.

I just posted elsewhere, I'm now running a CHDK firmware modified to include the TX-1, and it's GREAT!

Currently I can shoot in RAW, I have shutter priority ; 65 - 1/32,000 second (yes, really!)
some ISO priority, aperture priority, bracketed shooting, etc

Plus I'm running very cool scripts like motion detection shooting with completely adjustable parameters for sensitivity. This allows for crazy things like catching a lightening strike!

The gurus are still unfurling it all, but I'm hoping they get get zoom sorted for bracketing, and most of all, manual focus override and focus bracketing.

Who says we can't have it all?!

Kitty,....Glad you posted here! This thread needed booting back up and the CHDK is going to be of interest to a lot of TX1 ers. Thanks again. Clue us in on the details so we can enjoy these fine cameras even more.

Jack

Best thing I can say to do for those unfamiliar with CHDK is to check it out for yourself here: http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/CHDK

Then next week or so, after you've read everything (lol), go hit their forum here: http://chdk.setepontos.com/index.php

and express your interest in the TX-1. Be sure to search first, though, so you know the appropriate place to ask. (They don't like it when you don't read up first.)

The forum is a group of programmers that are constantly working on the CHDK firmware, adding new features and new cameras.

Though this is designed so that you cannot permanently mess up your camera (it's all explained in the wikia), it is STRONGLY recommended that you learn the basics of how to implement and use the CHDK by reading up on it. It's all laid out for everyone. But those guys get big-time cranky if you go asking basic "How do I get XXXXX to work on my XXXXX?" questions.

I've been helping Microfunguy and others in beta testing. I have no idea wth I'm doing, but it's been fun!

The latest revision for the TX-1 is available here: http://www.saunalahti.fi/nirsku/chdk/

You have to follow the wikia instructions. Find out which firmware version you have as that decides which CHDK version you will need.