http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedata/pressrelease/20070221_tx1.html

I think this is very exciting. It's primarily a still camera, not meant to be anything to compete with HDV or AVCHD, but at a $400 price point, it looks very tempting for a possible HD B-roll cam.

edit: Whoops, I found that this had already been posted in the industry news forum, I should have known better. Sorry!

Well I Got My Tx1 The Other Day And Of Course Began Shooting With It B4 Reading Any Thing. I Did Set The Video Capture Mode To 16:9 @ Highest Resolution, Only To Find That Even With A 8gb Card It Would Only Capture 25 Seconds Of Video B4 The Buffer Whas Full!
Nowhere In The Canon "guide" Was This Explained. Well After Much Reserch I Found The Problem, My 8gb Card Has A Speed Class Rating Of 2. In Order To Capture Continuous Video I Need A Speed Class 4, Well It Seems Toshiba And Kingston Have Made These Cards Available Only Recently. Does Any One Have Any Experience With Either Card?
Btw The Canon Does A Very Respectable Job Of Shooting "home " Video In 720p Not As Good As My Sony Hd1 But Very Acceptable.

I've been shooting one minute to a minute and a half movies without buffer overflow problems in 720p mode using a 1G SanDisk Ultra II card (9 MB/sec write), however, I assume if I want to shoot longer movies I'm going to have to get an Extreeme III card that is rated at 20 MB/sec write.

Canon buried the high speed card (20 MB/sec write) requirement information on page 41 of the Advanced Camera Users Guide in a section called "Recording Pixels and Frame Rates" (English edition that came with my camera) and they should have put this on the first page where they discuss card compatibility.

So far the movies are reasonable when you consider the form-factor and cost of the camera.

I just found a Kingston 8gb card with a speed rating of 6! Will let you know after I get it, how well it works.
Thanks for the reply.

It"s the write one (pun intended). I can now shoot continuos 720p. It takes less than 10 seconds to write 2 minutea of video!

If I do some quick math based on recording capacities listed in the user guide I come up with aproximately 30mins of full(720p) quality video for an 8GB memory card.

Is this correct?

Your math is pretty good. most reviews calculated 28 mins. I am going to find out how long the battery will actuall last last, I do not think it will shoot continuos 720p for 28 to 30 mns but I'll find out and post.

Well thanks for catching my next question about battery life. Do you really think it wouldn't last 30 minutes?

Is this camera geared more towards the still pictures with the added benefit of being able to shoot some quick video if needed? Sounds like it to me. I was hoping to utilize it for a handlebar mounted video camera on my motorcycle. Something nice and small and unobtrusive.

I'll run a very good test this week and will post results. If it will shoot continuous 720p for 30 min then it's a "real" video camera. If not it,s still a good Hy-Brid.
Let you know.

I suppose I should be more careful when using subjective words like "real". My definition of real would have a battery life that is 4 to 6 times the recording length of the media in the camera. That's about what I get out of my camcorders for exmaple. Just because the battery will record 30 full minutes of video doesn't mean I might not want to stop a few times and may need 1 hour or even 2 hours of actual battery life to come up with 30 minutes of video.

Especially on the handlebars of the motorcycle. I don't record every mile of a trip.. just the interesting parts.

Just a quick note.. there is a 4GB file size limit for this camera so it looks like you end up with a 14 minute time limit, per recording, regardless of the size of your memory card.

When this unit records a scene does it create a new file or does it just append it to one big file? Creating a new file for each scene isn't bad but there are plenty of times where I record more than 14 minutes of footage so this camera is looking less and less appealing with each revelation.

I don't know if the 4gb limit is a fuction of the card or camera program, but I'll find out this weekend and let you know.

I don't know if the 4gb limit is a fuction of the card or camera program, but I'll find out this weekend and let you know.

This is usually a limit of the file system used by the camera.

I shot 16 minutes continuos 720p b4 it stopped and wrote to card, started shooting again, ran out of time this am but will continue test of battery this PM, will post

8 gb Card only allows 15/16 miutes of recording (4gbs) at a time. Recorded another 15/16 minutes and battery still good. Wiped card and shot another 7 mins b4 battery ran out.
So the battery outlasts the memory, by an R.C.H. Suggest aditional battery @ $ 42.00 and Exrta memory @ $100.oo or so
Ware it out! (pun intended)

8 gb Card only allows 15/16 miutes of recording (4gbs) at a time. Recorded another 15/16 minutes and battery still good. Wiped card and shot another 7 mins b4 battery ran out.
So the battery outlasts the memory, by an R.C.H. Suggest aditional battery @ $ 42.00 and Exrta memory @ $100.oo or so
Ware it out! (pun intended)

Thanks for the tests Jack. This is good stuff.

As I find out more I'll post it
Good Shooting!

May I ask how is the video quality compare to minidv avi 5:1 compress ratio?

TIA

Regards
Leigh

Picture Comparison Is Camera Specific. My Sony Hd1 Mini Dv Out Shoots The Canon Because Of Lens And Imager. The Canon Tx1 Is Great For "fun" Shooting, However If You Need To Shoot "serious" Stuff Use A Dedicated Hd Minidv Camcorder.

How does the camera record each "scene".

Does is create an individual file each time your press record or does it create one large file with all the scenes in it?

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Each time you press the record button the camera creates a new file.

I'm wondering if anyone has issues with theirs.
I purchased mine yesterday mostly for point and shoot stills, and to replace my old Canon Digital Elph, and the bonus for me is that it shoots "HD" video on the fly....I was happy with the camera and initialy everything was fine, but after just a couple of hours I found it is no longer working properly.
The LCD screen is not working at all, at first it was intermittent, but now...nothin at all. If you connect it via RCA cables, you can see an image on TV, but the LCD...blank. Also, the output for the component cables has a short in it. The signal breaks up unless you wiggle it just so.
Keep in mind this all happened within the first two hours of opening the box!!! I am hopng to take it back to the retailer I bought it at, but I think I'm iscrewed there. I purchased it at the local Apple store. :o(
They have an "as is" policy with anything non-apple purchased there. Wish Circuit City carried the TX1 in stock, I wouldn't have that issue there.Don't get me wrong, I love my macs, and I've bought about $7,000 dollars in gear from them in recent times, but I'm sure they are going to throw me out like last years iPod when I go complaining to them tomorrow.

Anyone have any input or suggestions here? Thanks in advance,
Ben

An as-is policy for a brand new product from a major retail store? For a defective product? I've never heard of that before. Is this allowed per a state law? Then again, I've never shopped at an Apple store. If that's so, perhaps they've just lost a loyal customer in you.

I think the only issue is whether Apple will replace it for you or whether you'll have to send it back to Canon to get it replaced. Either way I'm sure you'll get a replacement unit.

Good news. Apple replaced my camera without incident. They exchanged it right there in the store. Not sure why their policy is as stated, but I'm glad they don't adhere to it. I've spent thousands of dollars in that store, I'm just glad I can keep spending my money there so long as they continue to provide good custoer service.
The new camera so far seems to be working spledidly. Its really a remarkable little camera. Shoots pretty darn good video for a camera that's intended to shoot stills. 1280x720 "HD." Pretty cool little bugger.
http://www.mobilewhack.com/powershot_tx1a.jpg

Hi Ben,

Congrats on your new TX1.
I am glad you were able to get a new one.
I have been enjoying my TX1 for a few months now.
Here is a short clip for you to check out:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8H5FR1IM

Keep in touch,
ray