Canon Powershot TX1, 720p 30fps to SD and MMC! at DVinfo.net

Chris Harris · February 22nd, 2007, 10:58 PM

http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedat...70221_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!

Jack Hanson · May 7th, 2007, 07:37 AM

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.

David Tamés · May 7th, 2007, 01:06 PM

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.

Jack Hanson · May 8th, 2007, 08:17 AM

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.

Jack Hanson · May 14th, 2007, 07:48 AM

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!

Charlie Durand · May 14th, 2007, 02:01 PM

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?

Jack Hanson · May 15th, 2007, 07:07 AM

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.

Charlie Durand · May 15th, 2007, 09:36 AM

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.

Jack Hanson · May 16th, 2007, 07:35 AM

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.

Charlie Durand · May 16th, 2007, 08:33 AM

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.

Charlie Durand · May 16th, 2007, 03:54 PM

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.

Jack Hanson · May 17th, 2007, 07:40 AM

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.

Charlie Durand · May 17th, 2007, 08:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack Hanson

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.

Jack Hanson · May 17th, 2007, 08:21 AM

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

Jack Hanson · May 17th, 2007, 06:36 PM

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)

February 22nd, 2007, 10:58 PM	#1
Chris Harris Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Francisco, California Posts: 487	Canon Powershot TX1, 720p 30fps to SD and MMC! http://www.usa.canon.com/templatedat...70221_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!

May 7th, 2007, 07:37 AM	#2
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	Canon PowerShot TX1 And SDHC cards 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.

May 7th, 2007, 01:06 PM	#3
David Tamés Kino-Eye Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 457	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. __________________ David Tames { blog: http://Kino-Eye.com twitter: @cinemakinoeye }

May 14th, 2007, 07:48 AM	#5
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	Kingston Sdhc 8gb Speed Class 6 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!

May 15th, 2007, 07:07 AM	#7
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	Recording Time 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.

May 8th, 2007, 08:17 AM	#4
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	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.

May 14th, 2007, 02:01 PM	#6
Charlie Durand Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 92	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?

May 15th, 2007, 09:36 AM	#8
Charlie Durand Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 92	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.

May 16th, 2007, 07:35 AM	#9
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	Battery Life 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.

May 16th, 2007, 08:33 AM	#10
Charlie Durand Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 92	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.

May 16th, 2007, 03:54 PM	#11
Charlie Durand Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 92	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.

May 17th, 2007, 07:40 AM	#12
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	Recording Times 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.

May 17th, 2007, 08:21 AM	#14
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	16 mins 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

May 17th, 2007, 06:36 PM	#15
Jack Hanson New Boot Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Sedona AZ Posts: 15	final battery test 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) Last edited by Jack Hanson; May 17th, 2007 at 06:38 PM. Reason: bad spelling