There are many camcorders on the market that fail to offer even a reasonable quality model for your dollars. Often, you are endlessly paying out cash for a machine that does not provide you with the settings that you are accustomed to, and proves to be fruitless when it comes to capturing footage of your favorite moments. The Powershot TX1 from Canon is an interesting piece of technology that, while it has a few faults that are similar to others in that range, can be fun and quirky, but still provide you with a fantastic system that you can keep coming back to.

With a resolution of 7.1 megapixels, and 10x optical zoom including the high definition video mode, you would expect the device to be fast, funky and decidedly fair in terms of an inclusive menu system. The TX1 rarely disappoints. The device is comparatively tiny, and due to this, the system is controlled with a joystick to enable the best settings for any type of weather or lighting conditions. Images are still reasonably clear even indoors or in moderate lighting conditions.  The three shooting modes do not detract from the way the shots are taken, but rather enhance the design features of the machine.

The speed of the device is wonderfully fast. Rarely have any complaints been made about the speed with which it comes to taking shots. The shutter speed has been known to be intense, and it rarely takes a lengthy amount of time to recycle through the shots. In all, there is no indication that the TX1 has compromised on style and functionality.

However, when it comes to the image quality, it can be seen sometimes that there is a lack of sharpness to the pictures that are not seen in other cameras.  For a small machine though, the color accuracy was both typical and practical. In well lit conditions the images look bright and clear, but anything darker than that prevents the focus from shining through.

Even in video mode you can see how vibrant and detailed the video quality and sound recordings worked together. The footage was again, reasonable, and so the compromises that have been made to the image quality could be overlooked with the fact that this model fits under the $500 price bracket, and the fact that you can fit just less than 40 minutes of a recording onto the device using the 8G card.

More downsides come from the fact that the grip of the machine may not be what you’re used to. The button design an be awkward to grip, and the external features often make sure that the red-eye is predominantly ineffective due to the fact that the flash is set too close. This is a common problem with compacts, so this downside is not so bad. The TX1 is not an awful machine, and plenty of fun could be had with the design features on the machine that provide a decent compromise to the high definition model.