The Little HD Shoot-out: Canon TX1 and Sanyo VPC-HD2by David KenderPublished on Jun 28, 2007 9:26 AM 
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Here's the final breakdown of the shootout:
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| Video Performance |
x |
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| Video Resolution |
|
x |
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| Low Light Performance |
|
x |
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| Stabilization |
x |
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| Wide Angle |
x |
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| Compression |
tie |
tie |
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| Media |
|
x |
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| Editing |
|
x |
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| Automatic Controls |
x |
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| Overall Manual Controls |
|
x |
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| Zoom |
|
x |
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| Zoom Ratio |
tie |
tie |
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| Focus |
|
x |
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| Exposure |
x |
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| Shutter Speed |
|
x |
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| White Balance |
x |
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| Gain |
x |
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| Other Manual Controls |
|
x |
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| Still Features |
x |
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| Still Performance |
x |
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| Still Resolution |
x |
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| Handling |
x |
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| Menu |
x |
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| LCD and Viewfinder |
|
x |
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| Battery Life |
|
x |
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| Totals |
13 |
10 |
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Conclusion
As you can see from the score tally above, the Canon TX1 and Sanyo VPC-HD2 are not quite neck-and-neck, but the competition was tighter than we would have imagined. In short, the Canon has much better ease of use from start to finish. The menu design is cleaner, the joystick operates better, and the handling is superior. However, Canon made some astonishing oversights on a product proclaiming itself an HD camcorder. There is no manual focus control, no external power supply option, and has bottom-mounted jacks that cannot be used in conjunction with a tripod.
The Sanyo VPC-HD2 trumps Canon with a better manual control suite and feature set, including a bigger, higher resolution LCD. However, as stated multiple times here and in the full review, the VPC-HD2 has terrible design problems, including a poorly constructed joystick and labyrinthine menu.
Performance comparisons were surprising. Canon proved to be better in bright light and outdoor shooting, as long as there was no motion. However, the Motion JPEG compression appears to be a very bad choice, resulting in bad compression artifacting and anomalous motion issues. In low light, Sanyo’s overhaul of the processor from previous years proved to give it a sizeable edge over Canon.
Finally, we have value to consider. The Canon TX1 is a great still camera that happens to function as a “kind-of” HD camcorder for limited usage. It’s built like a camera and handles like a camera, and is likely going to see a lot of action if purchased. The Sanyo VPC-HD2 is being marketed more as a camcorder. But there are camcorders that can do a much better job at capturing HD video for only a little more money. Yes, it has great still functionality, but it’s not very fun to handle, which means it’s going to get left at home more often. Overall, we have to side with the Canon TX1 as the victor. It’s far from perfect, but it’s a promising step in the right direction.