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| Date Reviewed: 07/04/2005 |
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Strengths: Excellent photo quality; compact size; full manual controls; 4x optical zoom; strong flash; excellent battery life with NiMH rechargeables; easy to use; expandable; great value.
Weaknesses: Slow performance (startup, shot-to-shot and flash recycle); movie mode not all that great; some redeye.
Summary: This is my first digital camera and I bought it after doing a lot of research. I must say it's a great choice. I've taken thousands of photos with it over the past few months and am very happy with it.
It has plenty of scene modes and takes great photos on "Auto" but also offers full manual controls, which is very rare in a camera priced in this class. It's small (smaller and lighter than the A85 it replaced), portable, easy to use and stylish. Picture quality is excellent. (Some shots I took on it rivalled the quality of shots taken on my father's Digital Rebel XT, believe it or not.)
The 4x optical zoom lens is more than what is offered on most standard zoom digicams. It has an AF-assist lamp to help focus in low light, the LCD is bright and visible in low light and there's an optical viewfinder to bail you out. The controls are easy to use and intuitively placed. The camera is well-constructed and doesn't feel "cheap".
While alkaline batteries are mostly useless in digital cameras, this gets great battery life if you pick up a set of rechargeable NiMHs, and it's nice having the option to throw in a set of AAs to get through the day if the rechargeables die unexpectedly. That's why I prefer this kind of camera to one that uses proprietary Lithium-ion batteries.
Now, the negatives: There's some redeye, but then most compact cameras have a little and it's no big deal to remove in software. The movie mode only allows 30-second clips and not recording until the card is full, and its quality is somewhat lacking. But that's not that big a deal to me since I rarely use the movie mode.
My only real complaint is that it's a bit sluggish sometimes, especially when powering up to take that quick shot, or in the delay between shots. If Canon had added its DIGIC II processor to this camera, it would be pretty close to perfect. Even so, I highly recommend this camera for the beginner-to-enthusiast. It makes a great family camera as well.
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| Date Reviewed: 05/22/2005 |
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Strengths: Convienient size, light and comfortable in hand, well located zoom and shutter controls, easy to use, takes great pictures, lots of options to experiment with more advanced techniques, good manual
Weaknesses: None.
Summary: This camera is essentially the third in a series of Canon cameras that started with the A80 and A85. My wife and I have used the A80 for a few years now and have been exceptionally happy with it, so after again thoroughly checking out the competition (hey, I'm an engineer - I can't help myself :-), we decided to purchase the A520 as a graduation gift for our daughter. The A520 shares the same basic electronics (DIGIC processor) and features as the A80 and A85, but has 4x (versus 3x) optical zoom, uses two AA batteries (vs four), uses SD memory (versus compact flash), is significantly lighter, and somewhat smaller. Like its predecessors, the camera fits well in the hand, and places the zoom and shutter release literally right at ones (index) fingertip. (I have found some of the smaller cameras that are sized to fit in a man's shirt pocket to be too small to hold comfortably; they always feel like they are about to slip out of one hand and too small to hold with two hands.) The camera is well-designed and solidly built and has good optics. Most importantly, it takes great pictures! 4M pixels allows one to judiciously use the digital zoom (in addition to the optical) without giving up enough pixels to compromise the picture quality. There are numerous, well-chosen automatic settings, but for those who want to experiment, there are an incredible number of manual shutter controls as well. My daughter has used my wife's A80 to create some incredible low light shots and nature close-ups using the features common to both cameras. I regularly see comments on the Canon A-series cameras being quick to consume batteries. This has not been our experience (and is maybe why the A520 now only uses two AAs). However, I would recommend buying some inexpensive re-chargable batteries (W***mart) if you plan to use the camera a lot or care about the environment. The 16MB SD memory that comes with the unit is OK to start with, but I'd recommend waiting for a good sale and purchasing a 256MB SD card (or more if it's cheap); half the joy of a digital camera is taking lots of pictures and deleting those that you don't want. Practice makes perfect. :-)
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| Date Reviewed: 06/29/2005 |
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Strengths: Great auto-focus, superb battery life, high resolution. Small size, light weight, sturdy. Easy to use manual modes. Many accessories available.
Weaknesses: Slow flash cycle. Slight shutter lag. Picture to picture time is a little slow. Tripod mount not in-line with lens. Lots of "noise" at ISO400.
Summary: 2005-07-06 12:16:06 One of the best budget cameras I've ever used! This is a great camera for the beginner and amateur photographer alike, since it has many scene modes and plenty of manual controls. It can grow with you as your skills improve if you choose to learn how to use it. This camera works great as a basic point and shoot, but with a little tweaking, great low light (long exposure) and macro shots are also possible.
I did not notice any noise at ISO 50. At ISO 100-200, the noise is more noticeable, but also acceptable. The noise levels at ISO 400, however, are awful. Pictures taken at the ISO 400 setting are not usable without more extensive post-processing. I was very disappointed at this, since my old Olympus C-5050 produces less noise at ISO400, and that camera is almost 3 years old. Left in the automatic modes, the pictures are sharp and well saturated.
The camera feels sturdy and light, and is small enough to fit inside my pocket. Although this camera is not as small as the digital elph series, or made entirely out of metal, it is smaller than the previous generation (A85) and fits in my hand better. I have big hands, and with the elph series in particular, I always got the impression that I'm about to drop it! With the A520, I can confortably grip it with both hands for steadier shooting.
I found that battery life is quite good while using rechargeable NiMH batteries. I was able to do an entire day of shooting, with the screen and flash on, with just 2 sets of batteries.
The only significant drawbacks I found were the shot to shot delays. While in burst mode, the camera can capture almost 2 fps, but in the normal modes, it takes at least 2-3 seconds to snap pictures with the flash turned off. This isn't so bad, but it means that you need to be a little more judicious as to when to take a picture. With the flash on, the delay rose to about 5-8 seconds, depending on how far your subject is. If the flash does prove to be a problem, Canon does offer an external flash unit with its own power source.
I was happy to see that the camera had several accessories. You can add an additional telephoto or wide angle lens. There's even an underwater kit for the more adventurous. As with most digital camera, the bundled 16mb SD memory card is too small. In the 4.0mp superfine setting, each picture can take up to 1.5mb.
Overall, this is an excellent camera for the money.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/27/2005 |
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Strengths: optical zoom, battery life
Weaknesses: red eye, flash recycle, auto focus
Summary: I compared photos taken before the purchase with test photos for Sony, Kodak, Panasonic and Nikon. All camera were in the same price range, but the Canon's were a little sharper.
Now that said. The camera isn't as easy to use as a kodak. My wife doesn't like it much because you have to know what you are doing to get good pictures. Yes it does have a auto everything selection, but using auto everything doesn't get you the best pictures if you are inside. It works great outside, but for inside you will need to use a different setting and will actually get the best results by going to manual. This is really true if you will be using the flash.
Why? well if you use the flash and don't go to manual you can't set it for the lowest flash power possible. You will want to use the lowest setting though or you will have two bad experiences... 1) redeye will be very bad. 2) the cycle time for the flash will be very long. You can avoid those two problems though by using the lowest possible flash and compensating for it in f stop and shutter speed.
Also, you will want to turn off the camera's automatic auto focus. The camera does a very bad job of telling what you want it to focus on. You have the option to just focus on the center square and that is the only reliable thing to do. Otherwise the camera tends to just focus on the high contract straight lines. If someone is standing close to a door it will almost always focus perfectly on the door's edge and not the person standing in front of it.
So, I say all these negative things and give it 4 stars... the reason is good things about a camera are easy to find but the bad ones are often over looked. And for the camera in its price range it gives the best results. It just requires a little more thought than the other cameras.
If you want a idiot proof camera get a Kodak, just know that Kodak's compress the images more than just about any other brand.
If you want the fastest recycle time get a Sony, they are way faster than the Canon. Although the pictures aren't quite as crisp and you will be forced to use memory sticks that tend to cost more than SD.
And you can still go with Nikon, you just wont get as many features for the same price.
So, for those reasons... the camera is a solid 4 or 4.5
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| Date Reviewed: 04/20/2005 |
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Strengths: Small size, not too heavy; 4x optical zoom (3x seems to be std); can manually set aperture and shutter speed; powered by AAs, so don't need to carry around charger or worry about camera dying
Weaknesses: not pocket-size; long delay between consecutive pictures
Summary: I have not been using the camera for very long, but so far i have found that its got everything I need. I like the fact that it is a little more manual than most point-and-shoots, giving you the ability to control aperture and shutter speed. makes the camera much more versatile. There's not really much about this camera that i don't like. It was a toss-up between this one and the SD300 (elph series), but the flexibility, zoom, and battery convenience pulled me toward this one. A BestBuy employee told me that with the SD300, you get pretty much the same options, but end up paying more because its smaller and because of the cost of the charger.
92% of People (55/60) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 10/15/2005 |
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Strengths: Price/Value: provide many programmed shooting mode, but also give manual option, good lens coverage for price, good 4MP quality, good software bundle, superb ease of use, good ergonomic/design.
Weaknesses: Hidden charges: MUST buy rechargeable batteries, bigger memory card, carrying case. Card reader if it should be counted as cost. A little slow performance.
Summary: This is absolutely THE BEST camera for first time buyers and beginners (intermediate-expert camera owners would likely see this camera as a downgrade however). It's hard to criticize this camera, because for under $200 you get very good package that includes reasonable megapixel, lens coverage (35-140mm, the lens is even interchangeble! amazing at this price), shooting options (even gives you manual option!), generally a very good and reliable system although a little sluggish, great design/ergonomic that doesn't embarrass, good flash coverage and good software.
However, if you're buying this camera for value, you need to know that you're NOT going to stop at $199.99 (retail price) flat. You MUST buy rechargeable batteries (from $15-$35), additional memory card (from $5-$60) and carrying case ($5-$30)to protect the camera. Plus a card reader if you want to count that as cost. Regular alkaline batteries is useless, gets about 7-10 shots with display on and flash. Heavy duty batteries (0% mercury & cadmium) is about $3-$5 per 4pks and fare better (about 20 shots with full display on and flash). Best would be rechargeable batteries, a decent one with brand name is about $25.
Next is the memory card. Supplied SD card only holds 14 pics JPEG. I'm sure you don't want that. I recommend you buy 1 GB card, about $60, but it goes a long way (battery will run out before you can fill it all out) unless you plan on changing camera that uses different card. And lastly, carrying case. Dunno how picky you are, but I want to protect my camera. How convenient it is to have Canon supply the carrying case instead of me buying it....If you want to protect the camera low cost but no style, carry it around with ziploc bag. That's what I did couple days after I just bought it. All these "add-on" charges are minor, but they are definitely an annoyance to me.
So conclusion: if you buy online, here's your cost scheme = camera $170 (on this website)+ recharge batteries $25 (any retailer) + 1GB memory $60 (this website) = $255 (cheaper if you buy bundle in some sites). You might want to consider Canon SD400 for $300 as alternative. All you have to buy after paying this is the memory card.
If you got unspent gift cards WORTH AT LEAST $100, go to the retailer. You'll pay cheaper out of your own pocket. Note on batteries: it depends on individual preference, but having experienced this, I think I'd prefer a rechargeable lithium battery next time. They definitely last longer, and since you have to charge a NiMH battery for this model anyways, I don't see a point why I have to pay extra to buy separate rechargeable batteries... On the other hand, when you travel, you don't have to carry around that bulky charger. But then again, you might have to buy lots of batteries. Thus goes the dilemma on...
If you wanna buy disposable high powered batteries, I suggest you look to Costco. Good luck and happy hunting.
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| Date Reviewed: 06/03/2005 |
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Strengths: Small, Light weight, excellent photos, 4X zoom, Very smooth operation, Easy to hold, uses standard AA Batteries, and inexpensive SD media
Weaknesses: A little heavy for pocket use. Funky rubber cover for USB connector, Card supplied is very small, and pretty much useless.
Summary: I purchased this to replace a coolpix 3200, and like this camera better. The photos are tack sharp, and its very easy to use. The LCD has most information on the base screen, and the controls are very easy to use. My only complaint is the funky rubber cover on the USB connector, which seems flimsy, and is difficult to close. Overall its the best digital camera for the money.
87% of People (34/39) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 07/07/2005 |
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Strengths: Easy to use, great menu structure, great pictures, great pocket camera!
Weaknesses: None that I have found other than the small (16M) memory card Canon included with this camera
Summary: 2005-07-07 09:56:29 I was looking for a pocket sized camera with 3X optical zoom and at least 3 megapixel resolution. The Canon A520 has 4X optical and 4 megapixel, fits in a pants/shorts pocket and is very user freindly.
85% of People (22/26) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 12/16/2005 |
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 Great Camera - Poor quality control Strengths: Picture quality and manual controls
Weaknesses: Automatic lens cover intermittently jams
Summary: 2005-12-20 05:52:08 My Canon A520 is new and for three days I've noticed that the automatic lens cover jams intermittently. Called Canon - they said no problem they are aware of, and to send it in. I decided to read some of the reviews of this product, on Amazon.com alone this problem shows up in reviews on 11/24, 11/22, 9/7, 9/1; on the A510 it shows up on 11/28, 10/10, 9/11, 9/6 of 2005. On the 11/22/05 and 11/28/05 reviews, the purchasers returned the product only to both end up with another camera with the same problem. I skimmed other review forums and have seen the same problem show up, but have a job and cannot devote all my time to pointing out Canon's problem with this model. Hope this review helps other. I'm sure some others also have the problem, but are unaware of it, as the fruit of the problem is a picture with outer edges blackened. The problem fixes itself temporarily when the power is turned off and on, or some people flick the cover with their finger.
83% of People (15/18) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 05/08/2005 |
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Strengths: Nice size. Easy to take basic pictures. Good picture quality.
Weaknesses: Batteries don't last long.
Summary: I don't have enough use yet to give a very detailed assessment. The camera takes good pictures relatively easily. The size is good, but it uses up the batteries quickly. The amount of zoom is good. The LCD is a decent size too. I like that it uses SD cards for storage. Good price for a 4MP.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/30/2006 |
- jhay_anne
- Member Since:
Jan 2006
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Reviews
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Strengths: Excellent picture quality. AA batteries. 4X optical zoom. Size.
Weaknesses: Macro is not good as Nikon series. Small size(16MB) basic.
Summary: This camera takes excellent photos.
This camera takes excellent photos.
The size was small enough to take with me while bicycling. The controls are large enough to operate easily. The battery compartment makes the body easy to hold on to. Many optional settings . It would be nice if the zoom would work while capturing video.
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| Date Reviewed: 04/14/2005 |
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Strengths: NA
Weaknesses: NA
Summary: This camera has it all for a very low price. The only thing I didn't like about it was that the batteries don't last long at all. The first day I got this I played with it for maybe three hours and the low battery light came on. I would suggest getting rechargable batteries. Otherwise this was a really great camera and I highly recommend it.
78% of People (40/51) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/29/2005 |
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Strengths: Compact design, nice 4x zoom, canon's digic processor, uses 2 AA batteries, instead of 4 AAs, provision for expansion of lens, uses SD card instead of CF.
Weaknesses: No internal memory, only 16mb SD card supplied.
Summary: 2005-08-23 11:55:34 I bought it frm BuyDig $220 and i feel it was a really good deal. The camera can be used as a basic point-n-shoot camera as well as a camera capable of advanced photography. Either you can choose the auto mode or if you know the bits of photography, just go ahead with the manual modes and tweak all the parameters before you shoot. Overall, it's really a good, feature-rich camera for the general users.
78% of People (28/36) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 01/14/2006 |
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Strengths: Great quality pix, easy to use, good battery life, many modes
Weaknesses: auto focus, esplicaly in zoom or night shots
Summary: Canon has superb photo quality over others, i allways use the ISO 50 which enhances the picture quality. Other brands don't even give you the option to choose an ISO!!
Photos may get blurry with movement or in night shots spically if its zoomed in.
Because its not a professional camera you might not be able to get all you want from it.
It is excellent for the price though.
76% of People (16/21) found this review helpful. Was this review helpful or unhelpful for you?
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| Date Reviewed: 06/04/2005 |
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Strengths: Zoom Zoom. There are so many other features have not tried. The pictures come out really well. Can't tell really any differance between the 510 and this one.
Weaknesses: 2-3 second wait in between pictures.
Summary: I did take the advice of other raters and got 2500mHa rechargeable Energizer Batteries. Also went ahead and got a Kingston 512SD stick to hold more pics. Have not even tried the batteries or the stick that come with the camera, but with all the little upgrades, have not had any problems.
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