Any PowerShot Zoom users here?

Cyril Catt wrote:

Nowadays I only use the Canon PowerShot TX1 for infrequent macro shots

I bought it as a remarkably versatile, tiny, robust, always handy, image maker and stereo recorder

I thought it to be a unique convenience, bought a spare and one each for my 2 children

It IS a proper compact zoom, in a very small, robust packagea nd more convenient than a bridge camera

The battery is replaceable

Lovely camera, I wish they still made this

Cyril Catt wrote:

jackwelch wrote:

Cyril Catt wrote: Nowadays I only use the Canon PowerShot TX1 for infrequent macro shots. I bought it as a remarkably versatile, tiny, robust, always handy, image maker and stereo recorder. I thought it to be a unique convenience, bought a spare and one each for my 2 children. It IS a proper compact zoom, in a very small, robust package, and more convenient than a bridge camera. The battery is replaceable

Lovely camera, I wish they still made this

Unfortunately, some thick fingered reviewers with limited imagination,and perhaps unwilling to bother with the instructions, found the design insufficiently intuitive, and panned the TX1 heavily. I understand that it was not released in the EU, and perhaps less than 10,000 were sold worldwide. Presumably to avoid some Customs Services rating it as a 'video recorder' the recording time was restricted to clips less than 30 minutes.

The small, low resolution, LCD screen made it difficult to aim the camera on distant, small subjects; and it took a little time to become acustomed to the small, close set, controls. The running time of the small rechargeable battery was relatively short, but could easily be overcome by carrying one or two spares. Nor was its low light performance particularly good, so I complemented it with a camera with a much faster, wider lens.

As well as video recording, the TX1 could also record hours of stereo sound, so I wished I had had it when I was a student, to avoid having to scribble so many notes!

The metal case, into which the lens fully retracted behind a solid metal screen, made the TX1 robust enough to withstand falls onto concrete from the hands of users who failed to use the supplied wrist strap; whilst the smooth edges of the case, and its size similar to a standard pack of cards, suited it to being easily carried and deployed from a trouser pocket.

Macro shots focused as close as the front of the lens...

Computer screen

... or a bit further away...

USA 5¢ coin

Notodontid moth caterpillars on Eucalyptus leucoxylon leaf

'720' video with stereo sound, from which individual frames could easily be extracted to 'catch' sports action at a distance...

39mm to 741mm equivalent optical zoom reach...

Stockholm: Riddarholmskyrkan (Knights Islet Church), and Stadhuset (Town Hall) towers from about 2.4 Km

Stockholm: Stadhuset spire

'Grab shots...

Cat keeping warm on car bonnet

Imported cars unloaded on Adelaide dock

Roadside advert: Los Angeles

Road sign in leafy central Los Angeles

Afternoon dust storm: Newcastle, Australia

Dovecotes, alongside Alexandria- Cairo highway

Pooh Bear keeps smiling on an abandoned kite in a Sydney park

Which of you b******s put my bike on the roof !!!

... and the versatile angled screen enabled ankle level, overhead, or around corner shots at arm's length, without having to lean out too far!

Knossos archaeological site, Crete

The small flash was useful for closeup portraits, with an inbuilt redeye elimination capability if needed. Another in camera facility alows up to 26 overlapping photos to be stitched in camera.

Certainly a model that attracted fierce support and terrible complaints!

Sadly, no Model TX2 was produced to counteract phone cameras!

Amazing pictures, I actually made another thread discussing old cameras on YouTube and your post is exactly why. These old cameras pack a punch.

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4676908

Cyril Catt,

Excellent post