Canon PowerShot A520

Canon PowerShot A520

PowerShot A520 Review, by Eric Butterfield June 7, 2005

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• Reviewed by: ericole1

  Strengths: good picture quality, lots of features & manual controls, lightweight, USED to have good battery life

  Weaknesses: issues with writing to memory card and dealing with battery charge

  Overall: We bought this a week before our wedding (6/18/05), and took it on our honeymoon - all without having time to "break it in." That's probably for the best. For a full week of picture-taking in Boston, we NEVER had to replace our NiMH rechargeables. A lot of pictures at full resolution. For the rest of that year, the same way - great battery life, great pictures.But about a year after we got it I tried to take a picture and after the click, the camera just shut off and right before it "died" I saw "E30" in the bottom, left corner. After checking on the web I found out that was a "card writing/reading error." So, we assumed it was the SanDisk SD card. We got a replacement, but while we were waiting for it we were using the 16MB card that came with the camera. We got the same error! Turns out there was nothing wrong with the cards as I could read/write to them fine with my computer. I discovered yesterday (10/17/06) that when I was trying to take a picture that used the flash, I got that error. After another ?turning off? event I had discovered that if I removed the card, then replaced it, the camera would come back on. So, I did that. After several flash picture tries, I put it on a setting that wouldn?t use the flash. Whamo - it too the picture fine and wrote to the card. So why can?t it write to the card when the picture uses flash? I don?t know! It also tells me to ?change the batteries? ? sometimes a DAY after they were fully charged and not used. I got tired of this and put the batteries in another device to test them and they are fine.I THINK that something is wrong with the power source readings in the camera. I believe it thinks it doesn?t have enough juice to do what I am asking it to do at times, so it just shuts off. I contacted Canon about it and they just said ?send us money and the camera and we?ll fix it.? I?m thinking, if it just crapped out on its own, how can I trust that your fix (almost half the price of the camera) will be worthwhile? I wish that I had sent it to them the first time the error appeared, right at the one year warranty mark. These consumer electronics cameras are really frustrating. Nothing stays on the market for any length of time b/c it always has to be newer/better every few months. So there is no way to get any reliability ratings that are worth squat on these products. I am not one who believes I should put down $200-$250 every year for a product like this ? especially after having a Pentax SLR from the late 70s that didn?t mess up until 2003! I understand these things aren?t made to that level of detail, but come on, one year???If anyone has any suggestions about this, please contact me at ttueric(at)gmail.comthanksEric

• Reviewed by: JasonEverett

  Strengths: The camera is very well made it has a view finder it is quiet to operate and user friendly.

  Weaknesses: None.

  Overall: Very good camera It has a lot of features and is very user friendly. This is my first digital camera and I found it easy to use. I really like that it uses two AA batteries.The screen on the back is very good very crisp and it adjust to any lite condition. It has a view finder which is very important. It has a great zoom range. Compact but not so compact that it won't fit in your hands with out touching any buttons that may change settings. It has a large flash for long distance pictures. The shape is very good and you can buy different lens adapters to make the lens wide angle and more. The updated version of this camera doesn't have as many features which surprised me because I was going to buy the updated one but it had less features. I really like that the batteries and the memory card slot are separate from each other, makes it easier to change the batteries when they die.

• Reviewed by: emmanuelm

  Strengths: Easy to use

  Weaknesses: Grainy pictures

  Overall: This is the 4th digicam I use/own. This own was bought for us at work. I have one specific problem with it. The pictures are very grainy. Worse, the graininess does NOT change significantly with ASA setting. Is the problem unique to my camera or a known feature of this model?I am saddened because this is my third Canon digicam. The other two gave/give me less graininess than my old Coolpix. As you know, no digital darkroom magic can save a grainy picture. Other than that, I agree with the previous reviewers complaining about excessive battery consumption and occasional jamming of the lens cover. I am also underwhelmed by the macro range.

• Reviewed by: ftan

  Strengths: Small compared to other Canon A series. Clear, crisp pictures.

  Weaknesses: Low battery life. 3-4 second pause when using the flash.

  Overall: This is a good and affordable camera. I liked the fact that it uses AA batteries which is very convinient when you're travelling. However, this camera uses up the battery life fairly quickly. So you may want to get rechargeable ones. The pictures taken are clear and crisp. Definately, an excellent point & shoot camera.

• Reviewed by: jhay_anne

  Strengths: Excellent picture quality. AA batteries. 4X optical zoom. Size.

  Weaknesses: Macro is not good as Nikon series. Small size(16MB) basic.

  Overall: 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.