1. Picture quality is really good. In good light conditions you can make fantastic photos (a bit noisy in dark, especially with ISO 400)
2. With two NiMH rechargeables (2300 mAh) you can take up to 350 at 4 Mpix quality!!!
3. With my 512 MB SanDisk Ultra II SD card camera is ultrafast!

I researched for weeks before picking up the Canon PowerShot A520, and I must say I'm really having fun with it. It's my first digital camera - I've used regular film for years. I was able to take pictures with it straight out of the box, 2 minutes after buying the camera.

I like how it has a lot of manual controls but you don't need to use them unless you want to because "Auto" does a pretty good job with photos. The 4x optical zoom is great - more than the standard 3x offered on most cameras.

I've seen complaints about redeye and difficulty in low-light focusing on other review sites, but I have yet to encounter any such problems. My indoor flash shots at a restaurant had WAY less redeye than my old film camera, and I found they came out clear and sharp. Night shots without the flash are also easy to take, because you can slow the shutter speed right down. All the scene modes seem to do what they're supposed to.

A few minor gripes: the LCD is difficult to see in bright sunlight. The camera literally eats AA batteries, so I recommend picking up some rechargeable NiMH batteries instead. And the movie mode - while cool - isn't all that wonderful because you can only take 30 second clips and they look grainy. But hey, it's a film camera, not a digital one.

I'm still learning the camera but so far, so good.

Great image quality in "regular lighting" situations...but waiting for the flash in between shots is INCREDIBLY SLOW. I'm very disappointed in the actual recyling time of the flash, and even of the preview from picture to picture....

I picked this camera because of the compact-ish size and the features it has for the price.....but if I was able to borrow someone's to test it, I wouldn't have spent the money...

I'd keep looking if I were you.....

Let me begin by saying that Canon makes exceptional digital cameras; the best in the market right now. This is because they have always used high quality components since they began manufacturing digital cameras. This one is no exception.

The Axxx series is the successor to the excellent Axx series, with a few very useful upgrades, such as the switch from 4AA to 2AA batteries (with no decrease in camera life!), and the 4x optical zoom.

A510 vs A520 vs SDxxx

First off, the A510 and A520 are identical except for the 3.2 megapixel sensor in the A510 and 4mp on the A520. Today, megapixel ratings are similar to Ghz ratings in the computer world: They used to mean a lot, but with today's cameras, it doesn't mean that much anymore. More megapixels do NOT mean a better image. They mean a larger printable image. In this case, the A510 has a maximum resolution of 2048x1536 pixels, or an 8.5x11 picture. The A520 has a max resolution of 2272x1704 pixels, or a picture slightly larger than 8.5x11.

Unless you need a slightly bigger picture, the A510 is a better buy.

When it comes to the Axxx or an SDxxx, it depends on what you need. The Axxx series will give you a better picture quality, manual controls, and standard AA batteries which actually last twice as long as the SDxxx series' proprietary batteries. The SDxxx series will give you better movies, the new Dig!c 2 processor, and a compact, cool looking camera, at a higher cost and with a very fragile exposed LCD screen.

Features:

Pros:
-Beautiful image quality, better than any other camera at this price range (no purple fringing like on the SDxxx)
-4x optical zoom! It's very hard to find another camera in this class. This alone makes the camera superior to most of the competition
-Excellent, intuitive manual controls
-Easy to hold naturally - no fingers in the way of the lens
-Beautiful 1.8 inch lcd that looks great under various lighting conditions
-The lcd is protected by a plastic layer, unlike the exposed and easily broken SDxxx lcds.
-Uses AA batteries, which are cheap and easy to find instead of expensive proprietary batteries
-Uses widely available and cheap SD or MMC cards (SD are faster)

Cons (most of these are minor quirks):
-Movie mode isn't as good as the SDxxx series
-Only USB 1.1 transfer speed (SDxxx have usb 2.0)
-Uses the still good, but outdated Dig!c processor, instead of the Dig!c 2 in the SDxxx series and some newer Canons
-A historical problem for Canons still shows in this camera in the flimsy battery/Memory card covers

If you do choose this product, the first thing you should buy is a larger SD memory card. The camera comes with a 16mb MMC card, which is pretty much useless. MMC cards are slower than SD, and 16mb will fill up very quickly.

You should also consider a case, such as the very affordable and custom fit PC-65.

Also, as with any camera, rechargeable NIMH batteries are a must. You don't need to pay for the expensive Canon set however, similar offerings from Energizer, Rayovac, etc. will work fine.

Canon has fully redesigned the Powershot A series to make it lighter (uses only 2 AA batteries now), smaller and with 4x optical zoom.

Pro's,
1. Very good image quality.
2. 4 MP and 4x optical zoom (A510, the 3.2MP version should be fine for most though).
3. Priced right, unlike some overpriced digicams out there.
4. Works on 2 normal AA batteries (buy rechargeable ones for extra life and lower cost), unlike expensive & hard-to-find propreitary batteries.
5. The menu on the Canon cameras is light years ahead of most other manufacturer's. Lots of manual options and scene modes.
6. Battery and SD card doors seem to be of above average quality.
7. 1.8" LCD screen is bright and fluid.
8. Uses standard SD cards, unlike propretary memory cards like Memory Stick or xD card.
9. Can attach extra lenses if one buys the adaptor for it.
10. Actual LCD screen looks nicely protected below a plastic plate.

Con's,
1. The camera is still quite thick (although not bulky).
2. It uses Digic instead of Digic2 processor in other new Canons.
3. Tripod mount is on the corner and made from plastic.
4. Doesn't have that cool-ness like iPod or Elph series.
5. Nothing else different except extra MP from A510. Save your money and get the other one.

I guess you gotta spend more money to buy Elph series for more pocketability & style. I am almost sure this will be THE best selling camera series of 2005, just like A60 & A75 in past. With a price this low for a fully loaded A510/A520 there really is no reason to buy slightly cheaper but vastly inferior cameras from HP, Kodak, Olympus, Fuji or Samsung. Just check out the top sellers list right here on Amazon!

Let me say that this cam is exceptionally well for its size. The best modes are the portrait and the landscape mode. this cam provides a very good grip which makes taking pictures very stable. The shooting modes are fairly easy to grapse. This camera is fairly light compared with the SD series. As with all powershots, the lens can be removed and additional lens can be added to shoot pictures with even better quality. This makes the A520 a must have for amateurs to regular photo makers.

However there are a bit of technical difficulties. The "Pets" mode doesn't do a good job on the pets. This cam requires good lighting from the cam/surrounding to make pictures crisp and sharp.

See sample pics from yahoo search. The pictures here devalue the cam's abilities.

Good luck

If you are just an amateur photographer that is either finally switching from analog to digital or just want a decent camera to take on family vacations or school projects, this is a great camera. It is small, lightweight, and does just about anything you could possibly need it to do. It won't take pictures of hummingbirds feeding across a forest bed, but it will take a decent photo of the grand canyon. The quality of the 3x optical zoom is really good, but the picture is sacrificed slightly as you try to artifically enhance it with the digital zoom. The battery life is good enough to take on extended trips from your hotel or on a hike without having to carry around a charger or spare batteries. If you plan on taking lots of high quality large photos, you will need to get a larger memory stick (64 MB will work, 128 MB even better), but the memory stick it comes with will be enough to photograph your child's birthday party as long as you download the photos onto your computer afterwards. At 4 MegaPixels, this camera will pick up hairs on a persons head and it will even be able to define a flea in the hair. 4 MP is just barely enough to make clear 8x10 prints. There are 5+ MegaPixel cameras out there, but at the consumer level there is really no point in spending the money on one (5 MP won't come in handy unless you are student taking pictures through a microscope or a telescope, it is more of a prosumer level) All around, while Sony's camera lenses may not compare with Canon or Olympus, Sony makes up for it with their superior knowledge of how to make a great consumer digital device and turn it into a decent digital camera. It is a great value for the price.

I was really excited to get this camera because all of the features it has, and it has a ton. I liked the feel of the camera in my hand, though the camera itself is smaller than I would have liked. Still, the controls were easy to access, and the weight of it felt good in my hand. It looks to be quite a sturdy camera. The 4X zoom is great, the colors are brignt yet natural, and the screen quality is pretty good.

But despite all the strong points this camera has, the negatives were enough that I returned the camera. I found ALL the images were overprocessed and needed sharpenening when editing the photos on my computer. One of the reasons I am in the market for a new camera is because my current digital camera now produces images that need to be shaprened, and it is annoying to go through every single picture and adjust it. Many (%80) of my pictures needed red-eye adjustment when a person was not looking directly at the camera. I found the start up to be too slow, the focus was too slow, shot-to-shot lag time was too slow, and (the biggest negative in my opinion) the flash recycle was WAY too slow. The screen goes black for 6 to 12 seconds after taking a shot with a flash, depending on your battery charge. It was incredibly annoying, and one of the major reasons I returned the camera. I missed a lot of great shots waiting for the flash to recycle.

Overall, the camera has a lot of great features that I really liked. However, the negatives were so major that I couldn't see spending money on a new camera that would just frustrate me, especially when I am buying new camera to replace the one that is breaking down...and frustrating me!

I bought this camera for a friend who had never used a digital camera. She loves it, and is becoming quite the modern technology photographer. The pictures are excellent, it is easy to carry and fits her hand perfectly. Spend time with the manuals before going too far; it has some features that take time to learn because the manual needs minor interpretation.

I have never had a camera that I hated as much as this one. Very slow to start up. Your subject can literaly walk away. Very tough to focus if the autofocus chooses to be finiky.

This is the second canon digital camera I have owned in the last 3 years and think they are great. This is a small, light weight, compact camera with all the gadgets to take great pics. Not a camera for the "professional" photographer out on assignment, but one for an individual who carries a camera with them always to capture the moments in life. Easy download of photos onto computer. The only addition needed is to increase the size of your memory card. Enjoy!

I really like this camera after I got the 256 Scan Disk memory card, a set of rechargable batteries with a charger, and a Canon case for it. I got mine for a special price of $212.00 which I felt I could not pass up. The 4 x zoom is a big plus on this camera, it is comfortable to hold & use despite it's small size, & it takes great pictures.
I had compared this between the Canon A95 and did alot of reading reviews on the internet also. I believe I made a great choice.

I've just taken the first 133 pictures. They are all great! The flash is incredible for such a small camera. The picture quality is real good, even when zooming in on my computer display screen. I am really impressed with the color and light balance in the interior pictures I took, which usually challenge many 35mm automatic cameras. Outdoor pictures are not usually a problem with any. I bought a 512 MB SanDisk memory card. I took the 141 pictures on the first set of AA batteries. So I am going to get some rechargeable ones. The nice part about AA, is that if I am out somewhere, and need some working batteries fast, I can just buy them. Otherwise, recharge is cheap. I've got $214.94 in the camera plus $44.99 for the extra memory card ($265 total, including shipping). The camera comes with a USB cord to instantly download picture to the internet. It also comes with an A/V cord, so you can just show the pictures directly from your camera to a TV. This is a great feature when you are on vacation, and want to look at full size pictures before returning home to your computer. The camera screen is 2", and does fine. I had no trouble holding the camera still enough to get excellent pictures. And it is small enough to fit in my jeans pocket - although I wouldn't want it there all the time. Add a small $5 gadget bag to put the cords, extra batteries, charger, and camera in - you're ready to go! BTW, this is my second digital camera.

I'm very happy with my purchase. Camera takes beautiful pictures. Battery seems to last quite a while.

Even before the recent price drop, this camera is all the casual photographer needs. Pocket-sized (at least my pockets) without the extra cost of the smaller form factor models. 4MB is more than sufficient for any pictures I take. I traded up from a Canon A70, which went to my son. Gets more use than my new EOS Rebel XT, which like all SLRs requires serious lugging of large camera bag

This is a very good product to buy. Recommended for people who wish to buy a digital camaera.

Had been using a Powershot A70 and wanted the higher optical zoom (4X)and pixels. It's similar to use, smaller, great pictures. Good buy!

I am really happy with this camera. The Canon A520 is my first digital camera. It is very simple to use. I can also transfer the photos to my computer with no trouble at all. I did alot of research before choosing a dig. cam. This model seemed to be the best value. If you get this camera just be prepared to also by rechargeable AA batteries and a bigger memory card (it only comes with a 16MB card, which holds about 20 good quality photos). Happy snapping!

First of all, let me explain to you why I narrowed it down to two Canon digital Cameras. After extensive research on the net looking at prices and reviews, I really thought that their wasn't a camera for me, one that I would be happy with. Most Digital cameras on the market, for consumers, are these really small things that are fully automatic and have limited capabilities. And to add the to the previous statement, really really expensive. Olympus offered some nice cameras with 10x Zoom lens, at a reasonable price, but if you look deeper you'll find that it uses these tiny rechargable batteries. Two reasons why I do not like those, the main reason is cost. They cost a bit and you cant do with just one, you have to atleast buy several. Another reason, (which is quite big) is that if you somewhere were you're not going to get access to a power source then you're screwed when you run out of batteries.

O.k. so I finally got two decent cameras that fit basically my needs, and they both happen to be Canon. The Powershot A520, and the PowerShot A95. So now to explain why I chose the former. The main reason was "Cost". The A520 was quite allot cheaper than the A95, (err, around $80-$100/¥8,000-¥10,000). The secound thing that I was looking for was Image quality, both are great, i mean really! But the A95 came out slightly higher. Next thing was Manual controls. Both met that one with flying colors. And then there was Optical Zoom, A520 was the winner here. Then there was which one was newer? (not a big deal but still, the newer the better) The A520 was newer. Which one felt nice in the hands, looked nicer? The A520 in my opinion. Which one was lighter/smaller (I never really looked for that, but when it came down to the A520, and A95 it did) the A520 was.

So those were the main reasons that I looked to compare with the two cameras. The main reason was which one was cheaper, and in the end I decided to go with the A520, and I deffinetely think I made the right choice.

I was able to buy the A520, with a 512mb High Speed (the fastest one there was, read 20mb/s) Buffalo SD card (around 220 pics, Large and Superfine). A520 Case, 4 rechargable NiMH batteries (one of the, if not the best there was). And a A520 Lens Adapter, for the same price if Id bought the A95 by itself (the SD card was the expensive one).

The major difference between the A520, and the A95 besides the extra megapixel is that the A95 was faster at taking and saving pictures. Thats is why I bought the extremely fast SD card, making the A520 a fast little bugger. The major downfall of the A520 which is the only reason I see customers going for other cameras is the time that it takes to reload the flash. Its quite allong time.... But really if you think about it, and if you get to know your camera better and its manual controls, the only time you need your flash is at night or indoors. Neither of those settings requires you to quickly capture a little critter jumping from one shrubbery to another. You can take great pictures with-out using the flash, and just adjusting the shutter speed and Aperture, and if you really need to the ISO.

So I chose the A520 and I love it! (Pros)
I love its small size,
I love its great quality pictures,
I love its manual controls and many pre-settings.
I love that it takes only two batteries and has great battery life with the NiMHs.
I love its 4x Optical Zoom.
I love that you can get other lenses to atach on.
I love its design.

I also dislike (Cons)
I hate its really really slow "flash charging".
I dislike its Optical View finder, it only covers 81% of the actuall picture!

This is a great little camera. Perfect size to take traveling and with you everyday. It's very easy to use and takes great photos

I bought this camera a month and a half ago and was so excited to have my first digital camera. I mainly bought it for my best friends wedding that I was a bridesmaid in. I took the camera to her wedding, which was in a hall, but not awefully dark, and about 10 out of the 150 pictures I took were decent. Most of them were grainy and out of focus. 80 percent of the pictures had red eye. I compared shots I took to her shots in the same room on a fuji 2 mega pixel camera and hers were twice as clear. The camera takes great shots if you are at the beach or in an outdoor setting, but if you are anywhere indoors you are sure not to get a clear picture. My boyfriend has the Powershot A40, 2 megapixel camera and I compared his pictures to the ones that I was taking and his were a great deal clearer then the ones that this camera was taking. My other downfall to the camera was the battery life. I bought the duracell batteries rechargables since I knew that the batteries would not last long on a digital camera, but this weekend I put two new batteries in on Saturday and when I went to take my first picture 24 hours later it said that it needed new batteries. Suffice to say I might have a defective camera so I am taking the camera back to the retailer and am going to invest in a better camera. I would just say, if this is your first digital camera...don't get your hopes up like I did.

Wanting just a small/cheap digital camera this one overachieved my expectations. The same easy use like the big SLR's, intuitive controls (no need really to read the manual) with easy access, batteries lasted long, resulting pictures (even taken under difficult light conditions) very good. Sligh problem with automatic opening of the lens cover (gets stuck half-way ocasionally). I am really happy about the camera.

This camera takes the best pictures I've seen by far. For the price you can't beat it. Even though it's not huge, the LCD screen on the back looks great -- crisp and clear with great colors -- way better than ANY I've seen. All of the features and settings are cool. You can go in full auto mode, or fully customize the white balance, aperature, exposure, focus, etc. If you want a quality camera, go with Canon, because they definitely know what they're doing.

I've been using this camera for about a month now. And I like it very much.

This is my second Canon digital camara, the other was so small that it was accidentally thrown out in the trash.

I like this one because it fits in my pocket well and I can carry it everywhere.

Any name brand camera with 4-5 Megapixels will take good quality pictures--this is no exception. The pictures are great. I shoot in full resolution and crop and size down the files later. For the most part I think a 2-3 Mega Pixel Camera would suit me for 90% of the shots I take.

I don't like to keep printed pictures any more. They take up too much space. Digital pictures allow you to store every pictures you have ever taken on one DVD. So you can build a photo album and organize it any way you like. I use these to keep track of clients and to help remember names. I send copies to them, which is always welcome on the other side.

The big drawback to most digital cameras, this one included, is the lag between pressing the button and the shot being taken. However, if you press the shutter release halfway down, it will focus and set all exposure settings, and then further pressing the button will take the picture. So you can catch a particularly nice expression before the moment is lost.

These cameras take nice videos. However, you will need a large and fast SD card. I recommend the 1 GB versions--be sure to get a fast one. With a card that size you can shoot pictures and videos constantly and never seem to run out. THe only disadvantage to shooting video is the longest segment will only be 3 minutes. I found I used this for videos more than I would have expected. A better camera will take longer videos, but then you might be better off with a camera designed for taking video, not just still images.

I like the SD cards-they are very small. My last Camera had a bigger card--compact flash, that I could slide into a slot in my computer, which was easier than connecting a cable. However, I've found the cable works ok too.

I think video cameras will no longer use tape in the future. Only small hard disks or memory cards where the data can easily be transferred to a computer for editing.

Comparing this to a 5MegaPizel Canon SD camera with special battery that my brother bought. I'd have say that despite the more expensive and less readily available battery. I'd go for the SC camera, because the size is so much smaller that it is truly a take anywhere camera.

I use both digital camera batteries, which cost a lot, but seem to last forever, and also two pairs of rechargable batteries, which I have not tried because the other pair have not worn out despite tons of use for the last month. Standard alkaline batteries do not last, and should not be used. In my other camera I did not use rechargable batteries for the same reason. A four pack of digital camera batteries, two pairs, would last me about six months. So you may not want to bother with rechargable batteries.

ONe disadvantage to this camera is I find the shutter cover does not always open all the way. I flick it open with my finger. However, I did not think this was a serious enough problem to return it.

The display on the back is somewhat vulnerable. I've heard you can get plastic stick on covers for it. Given that I keep the camera in my pocket without a case, I plan to get some.

Enjoy.

Estoy muy contento por el servicio prestado, la entrega del producto se adelanto al tiempo pautado y sin pagar nada adicional. Recomiendo con los ojos cerrados a kwardle1!

I bought a Logitech digital camera before for 50 bucks from Amazon, and the pictures were horrible. You couldn't see a damn thing if you took pics at night, or even during the day at times. So this was my first decent camera with a flash. I read a lot of reviews online and my friends recommended Canon. The reviews were awesome i just wanted to something to point and shoot. The pictures are amazing, granted 4mp isn't the most clear at times when you want to take visually striking pictures of lanscapes of many colors, but it'll work for most amatuers like myself.
PROS - The lenses are retracted once the camera is shut down, so there's no possibility of it ever being affected by dirt of smuges.
GREAT picture quality -- for a camera bough at Dell for 166 bucks.
Software usage was EASY

CONS - Batteries dont last very long.
You might get addicted to taking pictures of yourself and your girlfriend :)
enjoy one of the BEST brands in Digital Cameras out there!

this is my first digital camera, and till now it works perfect for me!! It is easy to use and it takes very good picture; for sure a very fit camera for beginers (like me:)). The only thing is that it is a little too small, and I always feel that I have to treAt it very gently, otherwise it will FALL appart!!..but it is only an impression; for peolple that like small, easy to carry cameras, this is is perfect!!.. A VERY GOOD DEAL!!!

Really very pleased with this camera. Does an awful lot for such a small light unit.

This was a gift for my son-in-law. He loves it! It's easy to use, has all the features he wanted and comfortable to hold.

I am quite happy with this purchase - the quality of the picture is satisfactory.

I bought this camera for my daughter and it takes great pictures. It is easy to use and the AA batteries have a decent live span using Metal Hydride batteries with the LCD on exclusively. Highly recommended.

I first bought the sd300 camera, then i returned it after i heard all the bad stories about the lcd cracking. I bought this camera to have it handy most of the time and not worry about tossing it around in the car or the back bag. The camera takes very nice pictures, the amount of manual control is nice. I will definitely recommend this as an emergency point and shoot camera with some manual control, but that is about it. If you are looking for a good movie mode, look else where, the camera is soo slow, the movies are so short and grainy. If this camera had the faster canon processor, it would have been near perfect.

This is my first digital camera so I don't have much to compare it too, but in my opinion this is a great camera. I can take pictures in low light, outdoors, whatever. With the various modes to choose from I get the right picture every time. I think the general purpose for this camera is for sharing pictures, not anything professional. And it does just that. I have heard from friends that know a great deal about photography that Canon is one of the best brands. They helped me in deciding that it would be better to get a lower end Canon than spending the same ammount to get a higher end camera of less quality(such as Kodak, Panosonic, etc.)

For general sharing and printing of photos this camera is a great deal.

I used Canon digital cameras for the last 5 years. I decided to step up from a model A60 to A520. What a mistake!
The picture quality is still very good,
functionality is also very good.

So what is wrong with it?
- Camera feels light and fragile
- Batteries have been reduced from 4 to 2, which requires changes after 100 pictures or less, depending the use of the flash light.
- Zoom is very fragile and locks
- My camera stopped to work after 200 pictures! The lens got stuck in a open position. Camera beeps and shuts-down

I miss my good old A60.

First, let me start by saying I have owned two Canon digital cameras prior to this one, and have loved them both. I bought the A520 to replace the S200 that I've used for about 3 years. The S200 wasn't extremely fast, but it wasn't slow either. I've also never had any complaints about the picture quality. I purchased the A520 for the higher resolution and the 4x optical zoom. The A520 is by far the slowest camera I have ever used. Believe what all the reviews say about it being slow. Sometimes there would be up to an 8 second delay between pictures when using the flash. The picture quality was sub-par. Outside shots look amazing, but every single shot I took indoors was really grainy. I returned my A520 and purchased a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2. The Lumix doesn't even have an AF assist lamp and still takes far better pictures in low-light than the A520 did.

So many choices and so many brands. So many special offers, rebates, in-store specials, etc. Where does one begin to isolate the camera that they want to buy for themselves or as a gift.

If you're looking for an outstanding digital camera, you've found it in the Canon Powershot A520. This is a VERY dependable camera and probably one of the top in durability. It's a camera that will always take great photos for you-even if you make a slight mistake or move your hands slightly when photographing.

Canon Powershot Digital Cameras are hard to compare with others in the 4 Megapixel arena. I've had a Powershot for a long time and I've taken over five thousand photos with it. Aside for requiring a great set of alkaline batteries and using a good amount of power, there is no downside to this incredible digital camera from a great camera maker.

If you're looking for a gift for someone, you've found it in the A520. If you are an avid photographer, like myself, and wish to have a camera for digital shots-this is the baby you'll want to buy.

There is a great deal of information that you can read about this camera. You can also go to [...] and compare the camera with others in the same category. You might find some better deals with other brands that might offer increased amounts of Megapixels. That is NOT what you want. You'll never need a 7 Megapixel camera unless you plan on blowing up your photos into poster-sized photos, so don't think that your Canon is less-than or not as good as a 7 Megapixel camera.

I wanted to also let you know that the software that is included with the camera package is fantastic and is literally worth the price of the camera in itself. However, you're getting a super package with this deal and a camera that will never let you down. I've dropped mine, exposed it to rain about 20 times, and I've not EVER had any even small incidental problem. It's like the Energizer Bunny of Digital Cameras-It just keeps on Going and Going and Going!

I hope that this honest review was of some help to you as it was a pleasure to write it.

I am very satisfied. It zooms nicely, it takes nice pictures. I would recommend indoor pictures are actually shot without flash, unless under really dark conditions, because Canons overexpose shots .

Got this camera yesterday, works like a charm. Really great, the features are awesome, and it's so easy to use. Very surpised, had the free shipping, came really fast. Overall this is an excellent camera.

This is a great camera for people who've had some experience in digi-cams but are still "entering the digi-cam world". It is easy to use, but there are a lot of settings and special modes that might confuse the very beginner. However, if you are comfortable with digital cameras but are still sort of new to it, this is an excellent camera. It is sturdy, except for the flimsy computer port case. It is easy to turn on, zoom, and click. The mode dial is just a bit sticky, but not awful. Movie mode is great for informal movies. You won't get camcorder-quality movies, but the A520 is great for those small moments--first steps, blowing out candles, a short recital, etc. An excellent buy, with just a few bugs: exposure delay could be a little more efficient, but not awful. However, if you want to capture images rapidly, such as pictures of wildlife moving fast, you may want to see if other cameras have faster exposure delays. Otherwise, it is a great camera for everyday use. Choose Canon! I'm saying in all honesty and not just endorsing a product, Canon is the best. P.s. I am sixteen, but I forgot my Amazon account info! TEE hee!

These power shot cameras make it easy to take great pics.

this is great I have been taking all kinds of photos they are so clear . vary light . easy to use . and I took a photo of my mom and dad having sex . you have got to buy this .

I bought this for Canon's lens quality and reputation as a camera-maker, and not a film, video or other electronic maker. I originally bought the Canon Powershot A610, spending over my $200.00 budget, but returned it because the on/off button was noticeably uneven and, for $299.99, that shouldn't be the case. Lo and behold, upon opening a second A610 (at the store this time), the camera I swapped it for had the same issue(?). Although it took incredible pictures (fine resolution at 200% enlargement),I decided to look for another model and chose the A520 for the Canon lens and reputation. So far, I'm happy with my decision. I don't plan on anything larger than 5x7 pictures and occasionally an 8.5 x 11. I feel better at saving $100.00 since this will be used mainly for family photos. From an amateur's perspective, I'd rate the resolution on the A520 as "very good", whereas the A610 was excellent. For $100.00 savings, "very good" is good enough.

Got this camera for my birthday, on October 19th, and I love it! The pictures it takes are amazing! It's easy to use & the images load very quickly onto my computer.

Pro (so far):
- Great pics!!!
- Very easy to use
- It's small, and it feels great in your hand
- The screen it big & bright
- The zoom is outstanding
- It has a macro setting
- 4.0 mega pixels (plenty for outstanding prints)
- Lens is protected when off
- It's a Canon!
- Images & videos load quickly to your computer

Cons (so far):
- It's a little thick compared to the ultra slim models out there, but it's a better camera than most of those (if not all of them) & it's priced better
- The speed to take a pic is a little slow for my liking (you have to press it half way, then again (all the way down) to take the pic
- Comes with a small memory card, but that's easily fixed (you WILL need to buy a bigger card)
- Videos look great on the camera's screen, but they're too dark once you upload them & the editing software is crap (better software will take care of the issue... sound quality is quite good, fyi)

Overall, it's a beautiful little camera & it works wonderfully! I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a point and shoot camera. But if the lens cover doesn't open fully you can point and shoot to your heart's content and what you end up with are crap pictures! Read some of the other A520 reviews...this is an on-going problem with this model. I sent it in to Canon for repair. To their credit it only took 1 day but the problem was not resolved when I got it back. The retractable lens cover sometimes sticks halfway open covering part of the image. Sure, you can give it a little 'flick' with the back of your finger and it springs to the open position. But believe me when I say, just when you are in a hurry to get a fast, candid shot, that lens cover will stick halfway open, and you end up with the nicest picture of the inside of the lens cover. Let the buyer beware. This camera let me down and so did Canon's customer service.

Searched awhile for first digital camera, and this seemed to be best value overall. Excellent camera in all respects for the money, except as noted in other reviews the lens cover sticks and doesn't always fully open on its own. Annoying and you would think quality controls should prevent this. I bought the camera despite reading this in other reviews, and hoped I would get a good one. Don't count on it.

I bought this camera after a lot of poking around the stores and researching on the net. I read a lot of reviews about all the cameras. I made comparision sheets of all the cameras that I researched and went to all the stores and used every single camera that I could lay my hands on. I finally bought this camera from Amazon and boy what a neat little package this camera is. No wonder it features as the number one all the lists and is the largest seeling. Canon does make some of the most awesome cameras. The camera is very user friendly and easy to use. If you want to get a little professional well the camera accomodates this yearning of yours very eaisly. The bundled software is top notch and lets you play around quite a lot with the photos and the camera too. Although the camera is a little bulkier than the SD200 (which costs around the same as the A520), the features of the A520 are far better. The red eye is very limited when compared to the SD200. I took quite a lot of pictures in the dark and the photos turned out very very good. Overall the image quality is unparalleled. The feel of the camera is good and it is comfortable to hold and shoot pictures (even with one hand). The protected 1.8 inch LCD is perfect in size and works wonderfully under different light condiditons. Oh! and before I forget, this camera features a 4x optical zoom which is very rare for a "less than 5MP" camera.

The A520 uses the standard AA batteries and is suprisingly long lasting. Better to buy rechargeable NIMH batteries but it is not necessary to buy the Canon brand. Other lower priced ones work as good. As with all digital cameras today a seperate flash memmory is requried since the supplied 16MB would not be sufficient. Thei camera is comaptible with both the MMC and SD cards.

some cons that I found are that the movie mode is not that great but hey this is just a Digital Camera so I dont care about that since I shoot my movies on my camcorder.

If you are looking for a top class digital camera with everything that you wanted but at a very affordable cost then look no further than the A520.

This powershot is a super little snapper, and for only a few bucks more than the next model down, it's totally worth it!

It should be noted that if you have a Mac with something less than OS X you will be unable to download the software that comes with this item.
You will need to purchase a memory card reader.

This is my first digital camera and I like it very much. I find it easy to use and although it is not as small as some of the ultra compact ones, it is still quite small. The main difference being, I believe, the thickness of this camera. But in my opinion I would not want anything thinner as it would be very difficult to get a grip on. This camera is very light and it is shaped somewhat ergonomically on the right side to provide easy grip while shooting (assuming you're not a leftie). Makes it stable to shoot using one hand if necessary. If you use the flash it does take several seconds to reset itself. An absolute necessity is an upgraded memory card as the 16mb that comes with the camera will only hold about 13 pictures which is absolutely useless. Canon should up the price of the camera and include a card that is actually useful and save their consumers the extra time and steps of buying another card. The zoom is very nice, the pictures are clear and crisp and using standard AA batteries is great. Buy yourslf at least 4 rechargeable ones and you will be set. A great little camera for the average camera user, family pics, vacations etc. Also, the Canon A510 was rated by Consumer Reports as a best buy. The only difference between that camera and this one is the # of megapixels.

I used to have a Powershot A70, until it was stolen. Even though it was only 3.2MP, I think it provided crisper pictures than the A520 (at least up to 5x7). The biggest drawback with the A70 is an unbelievably long time for the flash to recharge between shots (often 30 seconds), making it impossible to shot any type of sequence photos. The A70 didn't have the problem (because of 4 batteries vs. 2 batteries in the A520). Plus, the A520 eats batteries and doesn't work well with rechargables. I'm definitely in the market to replace this thing.

This is my first digital camera, purchased for a recent trip to Europe. First off, the batteries that come with the camera will last just long enough for you to play with the little memory card, maybe two hours. You will need a bigger card, and lithium AA batteries will last much, much longer. In fact, I didn't need my back-up set of batteries during my week in Prague (and no need for an adapter and converter for rechargables, either). Perhaps I'm spoiled by my old 35mm camera, but I found the slow shutter speed annoying, especially at night with the flash. The camera would click just in time to catch some random person walking in front of me. Good thing I can preview and delete the bad photos. Once I got the hang of it, the A520 did very well (and the prints impressed my co-workers) and I look forward to learning how to best use the extra features.

After a long hold out, I bought this as my first digital camera.

This camera is worthwhile for a entry level digital photo enthusiast. I got this for $159 from [...] (including some coupons).

Tips:
1.Buy atleast 512mb sdram from online(example: newegg)
2.Need to buy rechargable AA batteries, since this camera runs with 2 AA batteries. This is mandatory because digicams uses lot of juice while LCD is used.

Following are the haves and have nots for the product.
Has:
1. Comes with Wrist strap,USB cable,A/V cable
2. Comes with CD-ROM featuring Canon Digital Camera Solutions, ArcSoft Camera Suite, and drivers
3. There's a built-in lens cover on the A520, so there are no messy lens caps to worry about.
4. Despite having a more powerful zoom lens, the A520 is quite a bit smaller than their predecessors.
5. Support for optional conversion lenses, external flash, underwater case
6.Excellent photo quality, period.
7.4X optical zoom lens
8.Full manual controls, unusual for a camera in this price range

Negatives:
1. Takes a long time(about 10 secs) to move onto next snap, due to having only 2 AA batteries.
2. Poor low light focusing, despite having an AF-assist lamp (worse than old models)
3. Redeye.
4. Movie mode still needs some work
5. Noisy images at ISO 200 and above
6. LCD doesn't "gain up" very much in low light

For the price and picture quality it provides, you can not go wrong with this Canon product. Sure suitable for casual digital snap requirements.

This camera and all Canon A-series cameras should be avoided. Do a search for "canon e18" on Google and you will see complaints from thousands of people talking about an error these cameras experience that renders them useless. Essentially what happens is the retractable lens gets stuck and the camera ceases to function. I have recommended a Canon A-series to two friends and both have had this problem. The worst part is Canon refuses to acknowledge the problem and won't do anything about fixing your camera if it's out of the one-year warranty period.

I am a huge Canon fan and this is a really great camera until it has the E18 problem. You are taking a gamble if you buy this camera.

If you ever need to take indoor shots in succession, DO NOT buy this camera. I loved my last Canon and went with this one which was newer, but in the same series. The recharge time for the flash is terrible between 7 & 15 seconds and really makes a difference when you're trying to capture the perfect shot. The reason seems to be that this model only uses 2 batteries. The A620 is entirely worth the extra $100 since it has 4 batteries and the fold out screen.

I have S400 so I did not beleive when many people mentioned here that A520 is slow.. But I regret it today. It is very slow between clicks.. I tried a very fast SD card.. no use, still it is slow.. On average it takes 5-6 sec between clicks. sometimes much more..

This is my third digital camera and I am well versed in computers. I had been lusting for a Canon A510 for about 8 months when I finally broke down and came to Amazon to buy it. The A520 had come out a few months ago and was pretty much the same price. I was going to stick with the A510 but upon hearing the A520 was lighter, smaller and used 2 batteries as opposed to 4 I decided to take the plunge.

There is a TON to like about the camera. The pictures it takes are excellent, the most important aspect of a digital camera. The controls are very intuative, and I find it to be the perfect size for a grown man. There are smaller cameras out there, but having used them I find it difficult to hold them steady and keep my fingers out of the way of the lens. The number of accessories for the A520 (and A510) is second to none for anything it's class (and above). Lenses, flash packs, underwater skin, etc.. are all very readily available. Most excellent.

Now, for my complaints. I wish the processor was faster. It definetly is slower in compressing and storing the photo than my friends modern digital cameras (3 and 4 MP cameras of the past year or so). My other complaint is in Canon software. I had no intention on actually using the included software to download pictures. On every other digital camera I have attached to my computer, the memory card appeared under "My Computer" and I could freely move or copy pictures from the memory card. Not possible with the Canon A520. I was forced to install the TWAIN software for the camera, which does work fine with the Canon downloading program. Unfortunetly the included TWAIN driver crashes Picasa which is my picture manager of choice. Sigh.

A great price for a very good camera. I'm not sure I would buy it again if I had to do it over again. I'm aggrevated with the two flaws (IMO) but I haven't found anything I like more in my travels.

We bought this camera for our 15 year old daughter after having very positive experiences with other Canon cameras. It died with the "E18" error on Christmas Day after she had taken a few dozen pictures. I then Googled Canon and E18 and discovered just how common this problem is. I guess Canon is cutting some design/manufacturing corners. Too bad since their cameras take great pictures. I guess I'll be sending this camera back under the warranty and hoping for the best...

My wife bought a Canon A520 a couple of months ago after doing quite a bit of research. The camera takes good picutes and has many exposure options. Being able to use standard AA batteries is especially useful if you're traveling or outdoors and don't have ready access to a charger. I have been using a Dimage X for the past 3 years and have been very happy with it; however, the Dimage provides relatively few exposure options and movies are limited to about 20-30 seconds. The Canon offers many more features.

So far I have found 2 major drawbacks with the Canon A520:

1. You can't zoom while making a movie. The 3-year-old Dimage provides this feature. This is frustrating, because while the Canon provides seemingly unlimited recording time compared with the Dimage you don't get enough control while filming.

2. The Canon does not emulate a Windows disk drive when you connect it to a computer. To download picutres you have to install special software that Canon provides or use another program compatible with the TWAIN standard. This is a big inconvenience if you want to use the camera on different computers, as I often do. (I have sometimes used the Dimage as a USB disk to share files with others while traveling on business.) Copying images with the Canon software works ok, but it seems slow - and that's one more piece of software that you have to install and manage. When I connected the camera to a computer that lacked the Canon software, but had Adobe Photoshop Elements, I could use Elements to get the images - but it took forever: don't just go out for a cup of coffee; take a long lunch.

If these 2 features aren't important to you by all means consider the Canon A520.

I bought this camera recently at CompUSA. I have been VERY satisfied with it.
PROS:
Excellent photos
Awesome movie mode- it has audio!
Many different shooting modes- they are impressive!
Superior flash
4x optical zoom, 3.5x digital zoom, 14x COMBINED ZOOM!
Made by Canon!!
Small and lightweight (about as long+wide as a large flip cell phone)
Moderately large LCD
Simple controls
Convenient location of zoom control
Many more PROS!

CON:
Takes 1-5 seconds to take a picture, but cameras that take pictures fast cost big $$$, so you try to live with it

For an amateur, 'point and shoot' kind of photographer, this is a good camera for me. I got it from my husband (who owns a 5060 Olympus and and D70S Nikon SLR) for my birthday.

Several factors to remember when buying a point and shoot camera :

-You cannot expect it to work amazingly fast like an SLR camera. It is after all, 'point and shoot'.

-The features of a point and shoot camera is usually basic and if you need it very much to take good videos, then get a digital video camera to fulfil the purpose.

It is true that Canon requires for their software to be downloaded, like many other digital electronics, but you also have a choice to configure the options in your computer on where you would like to store your newly uploaded pictures and you can use other softwares (like IrfanView) to view and crop the pictures. To tell you the truth, I dont use the Canon software to view my pictures.

This camera fulfils my purpose. My pictures look awesome and I dont have any problems with it. And again, if you're looking for a camera that is fast and gives more features, get an SLR camera (which doesnt have a video feature)which is super fast or pay more for the higher end of this product.

You can get this product, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in this special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: amazon.top-deal.biz

I was so excited to get this cute li'l camera for Christmas until I tried to move the pictures to my hard drive. Thinking that it's a standard USB drive, I plugged it in and no go. I had to install the software that came with it to get my pictures. Okay, fine. I've used Canon software before, it's annoying, but I can deal. I installed all the software, went to the directory to open it and much to my horror, the only software on my *entire* machine was Canon. Microsoft Office, gone. WinAmp, gone. Trillian, Macromedia, etc, all gone. It completely wiped my drive of any other application software, including previous Canon software I'd installed. And to add insult to injury, it borked my DNS servers so I couldn't even get on the internet to find a fix. In the end I had to re-format the hard drive and re-install Windows. This thing is going back ASAP and I'm getting a Nikon!

I've had this for about a week now. I'm very happy with it so far - here are the main points:

Pros:
o Reasonably good optical viewfinder.
o Manual exposure and white balance controls.
o Small.
o Good exposure metering.
o Reasonable battery life.
o Adequete depth of field.
o Good in bright daylight, portaits, good macro.

Cons:
o Small memory buffer.
o Flash recycle time.
o Weak flash, slow lens, indoors is challenging. Don't use
over 100 ISO equiv.

The important thing to remember - this is a small point-and-shoot camera. For what it is supposed to do, it is very good. There are few things my Nikon D70 does that this cannot. If you are looking for a small camera for your pocket/purse, this is ideal.

As others have said, 2500 mAh NiMH batteries and at least a 256 MB SD card are mandatory.

The zoom feels like 30-130 mm 35mm equiv (not sure what it actually is). This is good for a p&s - the optics really aren't fast enough for anything longer.

As the world's largest chip makers throught the world, Samsung's devices are flaweless whether it is Phone, Camera, LCD, and Plasma TV. I own a mid ranged price cell phone and a Digital Camera by Samsung and they are very strong and superior in doing their job. The chip architechure and hardware support is superior, which helps us to not worry about the inside quality. They, also, implements the most functional yet stylish LCD preety-screen-looks to make devices very practical in use yet extremly strong in our real life. I would strongly suggest anyone who is looking for Stout devices, then it is Samsung's Devices- seriously. However, there another that is preety competutuve to Samsung. That is Iriver. Iriver makes really innovative product. They are one of the many electronic manufacturer that adopted Samsung's powerful chips to build their own chipboard. They build their own devices to expand the innovative boundary. I would strongly reccomend the devices from both manufacturer.

This is my first digital camera for myself though I have bought several for other family members. After spending a little time with the camera and a good book on how to use it, I am amazed at all the features packed in this camera. It takes amazing pictures in auto mode but still has the flexibility to allow even a seasoned photographer to accomplish professional quality photos. The only shortcoming of this camera is its movie mode, but this is a digital still camera not a video camera so who cares!! If you are looking for a camera that is just point and click, buy this camera. If you are looking for a camera to get started in photography, buy this camera. If you are a semi-pro, buy this camera, you wont regret it!!!

P.S. I would also recommend buying "How to do everything with digital photography" by Dave Huss, as it seems the book was written for this camera.

Do a search on google "canon memory card error". Canon has a major problem whether it is brand new cards, in my case, or used cards. The card reader has major problems. I just bought a new 512 kingston pro sd card and it does not work in the camera. Others, many others, have had similar problems with various Canon models in the past.

I like a lot of things about this digital camera:
*Cute, small, easy to hold and comfortable to operate.
*Simple controls, easy to use and understand.
*Very clear LCD display.
*Takes nice crisp pictures and the flash works well.
*Great sound quality on the movie mode.

The reason we are not going to keep this digital camera is that the shutter speed is a joke. I like to take funny pictures of things to share with people, like when my cat is trying to teach my dog manners... well by the time the camera powers on, and the shutter decides to snap a picture, the action is over, the sun has gone down, and the moment is over. This is not the camera to use if you want to capture sponaneous moments, it is fine if you want to take a picture of a flower, a work of art, or a posed photo- but be warned, the shutter takes its time to click and that time is too long for me.

I needed a camera for a college course, and I was sick of borrowing the cameras from the school. That however was why I bought this camera. The school gives out the same ones for people to borrow.

So I bought the camera and have been using it on my terms the last few days. The picture quality is great. It's easy to use, even my roommate got the hang of it quickly. Also it uses SD.

I say the use of SD is a plus because I have an SD reader on my computer. This saves me from what I read is a complaint with the camera. Having to install the software. I just pop out the SD card and put in in the reader. No software required.

I do recommend you buy a bigger storage card. The one is comes with is a slow 16MB MMC card. It's basically worthless.

All in all it's a great camera for anyone who isn't a professional, and wants great photo quality.

I'll keep this short. Before you invest in a Canon Powershot camera (regardless of model number) please take a few minutes to Google information about the notorious "E18 error" that occurs on these cameras. This is a major defect and Canon knows it. It took less than two weeks for my new camera to become unoperational.
In all fairness, during the two weeks that it worked the camera did take great pictures.

You can get this product, along with any other products on Amazon up to $500 Free! Participate in this special promotion and get a free $500 Amazon Gift Card at this web site: amazon.top-deal.biz

This camera is perfect for the beginner or casual user. You can not beat the price and ease of this product. I have problems turning on my laptop, so to say this camera is easy to use is BIG! The drawbacks are (1)the battery needs replacing frequently, but luckily uses cheap batteries, not these expensive(what size is it???) variety. A upgraded memory card is a must! I found one at Tiger direct for $18.00 (reg. $80.00). I am pretty happy with the quality, but not excited with the zoom option; I would give it a C rating. However, overall I do like my Cannon very much, especially since it is slim and carryable!! It is perfect for the Mom on the go that likes to carry her camera around for that perfect pic!!!

A lot of quality for the price. My daughter uses it for college. It has just the right amount of manual adjustments without being too complicated.

I've owned this camera for six months now, and a lot of my happiness with this camera has faded. Others have discussed many of the reasons I bought this camera - great size, great zoom, great price. I especially like how it autofocuses in portrait mode.

However, as I look over the photos I've taken, the photos aren't even close to the quality of the five-year-old Kodak DC4800 that this camera replaced. The photos aren't as sharp, even when on a tripod, and when I handheld the camera I had a lot more blurry pictures. Worse, the camera has to save each picture as it is taken, you can't snap two or three pictures rapidly, then let the camera save it. I'm constantly waiting for the camera to catch up with me.

Perhaps I'm expecting too much for the price, but five years in the technology industry is a long time and I was disappointed that this camera was such a step backward. I'll be giving this camera to the kids and buying something else to get the picture quality and speed that I'm looking for.

Canon is probably the best buy when it comes to digital cameras. I have several and bought this one as a gift for my sister in law.
She love sthis camera. Compact, easy to use (a trained chimp can use this camera!!!) Nice basic features.

If you lose it you wont feel like you lost an arm and a leg.

However, you get what you pay for. SHutter speed is not comparable to Cannon's high end cameras (S or SD series) but comes with the package.

I bought this camera as a gift. Actually this is the 2nd A520 I've bought in 3 weeks. Both of these A520s were defective - the lens cover would not open all the way on either of them, so I of course returned the original and the replacement. In general, I like Canon cameras. You get a lot of camera for the money compared to some other cameras. For this reason, I ordered a Canon A610 and so far it has worked beautifully. My husband and I both have Canons and have never had problems. After my experience, however, I would not recommend the A520. I've seen good reviews of it in several magazines, but for myself, I will not go for a third try!

this camera is a little big for the price and some pictures I took came out very bad quality. I tried to take a small passport photo and was unable to make a good one. I returned it for a camera with more than 3mps

I have had this camera for a month now and absolutely love it. Totally delivers! I have found it just like the other reviews describe it - very intuitive manual controls, great picture quality, light weight - great value for money. With 4MP, prints come out really great. Video mode is decent. Yes there is a slight wait time between pictures but hey I am not one who uses multiple shots very often. Battery life is not too bad either. I just bought a Sony 15 minute charger so hopefully won't have to worry about batteries running out now! All in all - a great buy

The A520 is a great buy especially for those who have never owned a digital camera before. The camera is easy to use and takes great pictures.

Only cons are that the AA batteries drain fast, I would suggest purchasing a battery recharger, which will save $$$ in the long run. The other con is that it comes with a 16 MB SD card, I upgraded to 512 MB straight away (look for rebates they are out there!)

This is my second Canon Digital Camera purchase (also bought an A40 5 years ago which is still working perfectly as when I bought it. Their products are high quality and superior.

This is a great camera. Easy to use and takes very good digital pictures.

The Cannon Software that comes with this camera is not very user-friendly.

I personaly have had a horrible nightmare with the software and currently Canon Tech support is unable to remedy the problem.

Picture quality, the "standard" setting takes pictures that are very "overexposed" or white looking.

Must have add-ons .... the 16mb memory card included only holdl hold 8 to 15 4 mpeg pictures.

You need to buy rechargeble 2500 mah batteries, standard batteries will take about 20 pictures with flash on.

Overall unsatisfied customer, i only paid xxx.xx and i believe that was too much.

Best wishes
Matt

This is my fourth digital camera. I am happy with the right amount of features packed in a small package. The quality of the pictures turned out to be reasonable for this type of camera.
The real disappointment was the quality of assembly. There are five white flakes visible by bare eyes between the clear protection cover and the LCD screen. The largest one was more then 0.5mm. It is annoying to look at the pixels blocked by these flakes when taking pictures.

I wanted this camera for my scuba diving. Now I have it, I am very disappointed. The camera came with a Canon!!! branded 16MB multimedia card. After the 1st shot I got a "memory card error". I could not format it in the camera. I used an external USB drive and after several tries I reformatted it. Afraid that the SD card had a problem I bought a new SD card (Kingston 512MB) with "life time warranty" I used it for weeks and weeks and hundereds of pictures without problems. Then one day we went to a photoshoot and after about 40 pictures the camera said "memory card error" and then "no images". In other words, all the unique pictures I spend a lot of time on were all gone. I read also other Canon camera's seem to have a memory card reading problem. I don't understand why Canon can't fix their problems once and forever Now I am afraid to use this camera for any "special moments" , specially for scuba diving.. What a waste of money for the camera, weights and the waterproof case. I may need to use my old and very reliabile DC290 again for making pictures.. I don't believe it's the SD card. 2 different ones and the same problem. Canon, please wake up!

Canon is always the best when it comes to photography and this one is yet another example! crisp and bright pictures, long battery life and very easy to use... great buy for the price.

The Canon A520 is a grea camera for many reasons. First of all, it takes many pictures on many different resolutions! Second, it can also take at least 10 minutes of videos! Also, you can see what you're taking a picture of on the back screen of the camera! What a awesome camera!

When I finally broke down and bought a digital camera this winter, I did lots of research first. I was looking for good quality pictures with a relatively low price and I found that in this camera. 4 megapixels is pretty good; the print quality is comparable but could be a little better. For the amatuer digital photographer, it's very easy to use. I'll be upgrading in the next year or two to another Canon, and the only thing I would change is the megapixels. Last note--get rechargable batteries becuase it goes through regular AA batteries for lunch!

I bought this camera over four months back.

Here are the pros

It takes good pictures when the ambient lighting is good

Here are the cons

It does not take any good pics when the ambient lighting is bad and hence you get grainy images. I have used a Olympus e volt SLR and seen the kind of images you can get. I guess asking the same of this is asking too much from a point and shoot

After some time the zoom started to jam up. Now a days sometimes the aperture does not open fully. I have to shut down and reset the camera and still this is not always the cure. (Heck I even used my fingers to open the aperture !!! =)) Contacted Canon Support, they say that they are aware and that I can only send the camera back if only the zoom freezes permanently. Hope the camera remains under warranty till the time this happens &*(^%$#

The body is flimsy and so is the place to hold the AA batteries. It can break if you mishandle the camera a bit. Suffice it to say it is not robust

And finally the thing sucks up batteries like its main function is to finish these up even when you are not using the flash.

In summary no matter what you hear of Canon and its Quality Assurance practices dont buy this model. Spend a few more bucks and buy something else which does not have the definitive problems that this model has

cheers
~k

The PowerShot A520 is advertised as "The Right Camera For Any Person" which I will testify as true. Since I have gotten this digital camera I have never waited around for expensive film to be developed, but instead I print out my pictures right at home. This product comes with software that allows me to format and manipulate pictures the way I would like them to be. The crystal clear 1.8-inch display shows me the picture I have taken within seconds whereas many other brands and models like the Samsung Maxima don't even have a screen to view the moment I just captured. The convenient switch from taking to viewing pictures just takes the flick of a switch. While the screen may not be as large as the 2.5-inch screen of the Olympus SP-350, it gets the job done. Size does matter when it comes to cameras, the smaller the better. You don't want a big, bulky one to carry around during family picnics and Christmas gatherings. The A520 model is wide but not awkward compared to the Canon A610 at a massive 2.9 pounds. Zooming in is exceptional for a camera of this small size; this camera may not have the focus of a professional photographer's camera, but it is perfect for those in-the-moment party pics. Many would expect the above features to be standard, but the random, personal features are a bonus. This camera allows you to choose themes for your camera like planets or birds. These themes allow for fun sound effects when taking and viewing photos. The thirteen different modes may also seem like a bonus, but they're not necessary. These modes let you chose the setting you are taking a picture in to get the optimum quality. Thirteen is a bit much if you ask me; I just leave it on auto, which works well enough. This camera has all the necessary fundamentals and then some to satisfy all of your digital camera qualifications.

Nothing exciting about this camera. Got this as a Christmas gift. Not a bad one though. My brother has a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 and I've used it a few times. If I were to pay for a camera, I would've bought the LZ2. A recent Business Week article mentioned LZ1 & LZ2 as the best selling cameras in Japan immediately after introduction. Lumix LZ2 must be good....So far, I don't have any complaints about A520; it's just an average camera.

I have own this camera for 5 hours now.

Biggest problem default picture size is 1024 x 768 with the 16 Mg card supplied that means 14 Pic's.; of course first 2-3 are wasted working the controls.

Default should be 800 x 600 and the base card supplied should be at least 32 mg.

Yes, I know read the manual, come on, I wanted to take pictures. That is why I bought it.

The reviews had been good, and I figured I would be happy.

Well I was able to get a few pictures and they turned out much better then I expected. I only wish that while in the moment of a new camera I could have experienced more then 10 pictures before it told me "NO MORE".

Ok, Coulda, Woulda, Shoulda, but damn. I got the camera 20 miles from home and could not offload the pics.

Even a film camera gives you 24 - 36 shots out of the gate.

PS: Picture Capture is very slow, I had heard that but decided to see for myself - Do Not Make this Mistake; get faster SD cards right from the get go.

This camera was wonderful - it was easy and intuitive to use and provided crisp, clear pictures. I truly loved this camera. However, today, after using the camera on maybe 4 occassions for the past 2 months, the infamous E18 Error appeared on my screen - the camera started beeping loudly, and the lens will not retract. My camera is now completely inoperable. Luckily, it is still covered by the warranty, and I will let you all know how Canon responds to this problem. However, I am extremely disappointed by this malfunction. I used my camera only a few times, and I was very careful with it each time. It should not already be broken.

Easy to use, good pictures, good value for the money. What's not to like?

The photos are very fine, and the video is very acceptable. It works almost like the A95 Powershot.

Buy it for a friend. Picture quality is fine for a Canon under $200.

Well, compared to other cameras in the market, it is actually not so little, but is still an excellent buy. The actual trend is very much directed to make digital cameras smaller every time, but nonetheless this one has a good size. It is not one of the tiny little narrow ones, but it is not bulky either. It is narrower than it's older brothers on the "A" series from Canon, because it uses two AA batteries instead of four. It will still fit in your jacket pocket.

Some people call this the Canon "economic" series. I think that is true if you compare them to the Digital Elph series, and this is mostly because of the use of plastic cases and several plastic parts instead of metal. Like one reviewer stated, the tripod mount is made out of plastic, and yes, I don't understand why it is in the corner. If your tripod is very light and the tripod head is small, it might cause the camera to tilt to the side and find it difficult to make it sit straight. To me this is a major flaw which I noticed at once at the moment of using a tripod, which I do often. You have to be real careful when you screw it on and off the tripod, frequent use might wear the plastic screw receiver.

You also have to be careful when you pull up the rubber strip that covers the inputs and outputs to transfer your pictures to your computer or view them on your TV screen. If you pull it too far back, this may cause the little rubber hinge that attaches it to the camera to break, with which you will loose this cover forever and beyond repair. I have seen this system before on several cameras and camcorders of different brand names and I think it is too fragile and should be changed.

This are maybe the main reasons I did'nt give it five stars, because otherwise, I am very much pleased with mine. I got it about four months ago and I have enjoyed it thoroughly. I had a Nikon 3100 for two years before the Canon, and I liked it a lot, but I must say this is a better camera overall.
The fact that it has a Digic processor instead of a Digic2, like more expensive models, is true; but hardly noticeable by most users, given the excellent picture quality that it delivers.

The 1,8 inch display has a very nice size and is very clear under most light conditions. It does'nt scratch easily, which did happen with the Nikon 3100 (read my review on this).
Battery life is great. Last weekend I took more than 200 pictures in the M1 setting which is 1600x1200 quality, the second larger available (it fills your computer screen), on a single pair of AA rechargeables, and they are still going.

I very much recomend the wide angle snap-on lens that you can get from Amazon at... 20 bucks!! It makes a world of difference when you are shooting landscapes or... whatever!! Besides a memory card (I use a 256MB and it stores hundreds of pictures), a carrying case (it does protect your camera), and a battery charger (it WILL save you a lot of money), this is definitely the best accessory you can buy.

The camera has a huge menu of manual settings, effects, scene modes and more that, I must admit, I haven'nt figured out or used totally yet. But, does anybody ever?
I did a lot of online and offline research before I decided myself on buying this one and I am very happy that I did. You won't find a better camera for this price. Trust me.

You can't beat the price for this incredibly user friendly camera. It takes FANTASTIC pictures!! With a baby on the way shortly, I know we will get plenty of use and memories out of this camera!

Why settle for less, when you can get a brand new original top-of-the-line Canon Digital Rebel XT 8MP camera for Free! I got mine from this web site: http://xrl.us/rebelxt

I have so many problems whenever I ask someone to take my picture. They either can't figure out how to hold the button down to take the picture and try to tell me the camera doesn't work or return the camera to me thinking they took the picture when they didn't. Or they take an out of focus picture. This is a major problem if you travel or like taking pictures with your friends.

This camera eats up batteries so fast! It takes 2 AA batteries, yet it seems like I'm replacing them every week!

You can't take continuous pictures because the camera needs like 15 seconds after you take the picture to recover. Trust me that seems like an eternity sometimes.

All in all I don't feel my photos are as sharp as my pictures from film.

A simple camera that caters to the needs of the hectic life of a busy college student. Good quality photos - I use it for photography for the school newspaper. A smart buy if you want a digital camera but don't want to spend lots of money.

I received this camera as a gift for Christmas. If I must say so myself this is the best camera ever. I am new at digital photography, but I am really glad that I was able to get this one. It has built my trust in digital photography and Canon this is why:

PROS
1. The dial function is so easy to use. To achieve the best quality photos from different situations such as portrait, landscape, auto and fast moving objects (just to name a few).

2. The quality in the pictures I shoot are always bright and crisp no matter what condition.

3. Easy to use functions within the camera such allowing me to shoot pictures with fireworks, kids and pets, in the dark and even snow.

4. The function button is located in a convenient place for switching between lighting and continuous shooting etc.

5. The video function is excellent I was weary of whether or not I would actually obtain high quality videos but it did.

6. With this camera you can personalize by changing the start-up picture, the operation sound, the shutter sound and the start up sound.

I could go on and on about how wonderful this camera is but you would be here reading forever!

Now here for the bad news, the only thing I can really find wrong about this camera is the eating of the batteries. The first day of learning its features, I needed new batteries. I eventually bought rechargeable batteries.

i purchased this camera for regular usage after conducting considerable research for an overall good camera. This camera was rated a consumer reports best buy and I must agree that the camera has performed well. Although the menus can be annoying at times i am more than satisfied with the quality of the pictures. High resolution pics and movies are great but the small memory card sucks.

I love the fact that this camera has a 4X optical zoom and manual settings, both unusual in the usual compact point-and-shoot. There are other nice design features, like the specific design of the zoom feature. It also takes really good pictures. But I fear for its longevity. In particular, the switch between taking photos and playback feels really flimsy and plastic.

This is my first digital camera, and I love it! Apparently, I'm not much of a photographer. I have tried to use the manual settings, however, I found my pictures turn out better if I leave it on automatic. There is about a 3-5 second wait time between pictures. I don't take action shots, so this is not a big deal. I purchased additional memory because the memory provided only allowed for approximately 15 pictures. All in all this is the perfect point and shoot camera for an amateur like me!

Excellent camera, simple to use but has many features - probably more than will be needed. Great price for such a multifunction camera. Battery life is a little disappointing but with display turned off, battery life is adequate. HIGH Quality pictures in a variety of conditions.

I purchased this camara October 2006. I have only used it indoors a couple of times, and it now does not work. I get an error message, and the company just informed me I have to pay shipping and insurance to send the camara to them, where they may or may not fix it under the warrenty. It will take me longer to get packaging material and mail the camara, then the time spent actually using the camara. I am very disappointed with this waste of money.

I bought this after returning a Fugifilm camera I was unhappy with. For just a few extra bucks there is a world of difference. Pictures come out crystal clear. There are a wide variety of settings for anything you could ever want to photograph. With the flash, without the flash, lots of motion, no motion. It doesn't matter all the pictures come out perfect. It has an awesome zoom. Everything is easy to figure out and use. The screen is a nice size and the software it comes with is very helpful. I am now a fan of Cannon and will conintue to buy Cannon Powershots if I ever have to replace this one.

I purchased the Canon Powershot A520 4MP Digital Camera for a family member to replace an older, Nikon 2MP unit, which was passed down. The Cannon pictures simply blew away those made from the older, Nikon unit. Of course the additional resolution contributed somewhat to this but the camera handles flash phoitography much better. The camera allows you to set it up a a simple point and shoot unit or you can, if you are so inclined, change many individual settings to address special photography or hobby needs. Great unit.

The quality and the ease of use of this camera is remarkable. Even though I have not learned most of the ins and outs of it, I can still use it to take great photos with tremendous resolution. I look forward to learning about all the other features, but until then, I'm having a lot of fun shooting away and emailing them to all my friends.

A couple of caveats: the memory card they give with the camera is too small to be practical. I've already bought the Viking 512 and it holds an unbelievable amount of pictures. Another negative is that the camera uses up AA batteries pretty quickly. As soon as I use up my Costco-size supply of Duracells, I'm going to buy some rechargeables. The last negative comment I have is the only one I won't be able to fix: there is too much of a delay between the time I press the button and when the picture is actually taken. It can be a pain if you need to take a lot of candid or action shots.

Over all, I love this camera, and in fact, I just bought another as a present.

This is a terrific first user camera. Now i know when you first look at the camera and the settings on the top you might feel a bit overwhelmed, however just look over the users guide which is very easy to read and you'll find what your looking for. If you have a specific topic you want identified then it is easy to look up in the glossary. The camera is very easy to use and once you figure everything out then it's all good. I'll list some pros and cons that i've found so far

Pros:
-Very easy to use and figure out. Users guide tells all and is easy to find things
-takes high quality shots
-has photo and video capabilities
-has a view finder and decent size screen
-easy to install programs and USB capabilities
-not too big, not too small
-able to change lens if you want a better zoom or whatnot
-comes with TV AV cables
-has tripod capabilities
-zoom works nicely and focus does as well

Cons:
-takes awhile for the flash to load, so shots taken in a row might not go as fast as when the flash isn't on
-doesn't come with a DC plug however it does have the hole for it
-it comes with a small memory card, so you'll have to buy a bigger one
-no battery indicator, it doesn't show up until the battery is critically low, and when the battery dies the lens doesnt retract until you press the power button again.
-Does suck up a lot of battery power. One night of constant useage might just eat your batteries.
-flash doesn't work at great distances, but many stock ones dont anyhow.
-flash might overwhelm at close distances


all and all this is a terrific camera. Everything has its pros and cons, there will be no camera that fits absolutely wonderful in every aspect but if you are looking for that entry level camera that takes wonderful pictures and is fun to use, this is it!

Love it. Got many compliment on how sharp the picture it. Does take a little time to be able to take another picture.

I think this camera takes great, clear pictures, and its really easy to download them on to your computer. It is pretty easy to use, although all of the different settings can be kind of confusing, even after reading the manual a few times.

My critiques of this camera are:

1. It eats through AA batteries really fast. Would be a good idea to use rechargeables and always have fresh batteries on hand.

2. The memory card it comes with does not hold many pictures. Plan on buying a bigger memory card.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this purchase.

We bought the A520 to replace our 4-year-old A20 just prior to leaving for a month long vacation to SE Asia. After getting it home I messed around with it (even read the manual, amazing what kind of information you can find there), taking probably 150-200 photos, checking out exposure etc. and it seemed to work and I was impressed with the quality of the pics and the ability to manipulate the exposure. The control of exposure is remarkably similar to my old Elan II 35mm. I have owned Canon equipment since 1978.

But from there it was all down hill.

The problems started while waiting for the plane at JFK. I pressed the button to turn the camera on and found the lens cover only a quarter open. Turned it on and off and it was fixed, I thought. Once in Bali it continued to hang up every once and while for the next day or two but it was tolerable, and we are on vacation (good), long way from home (good) 't too many camera repair shops there (bad).

A couple of days later another problem cropped up, it wouldn't retract the lens when you turned it off. Ok, I could just push it in.

A day later, it wouldn't obviously focus so it wouldn't take the picture, very frustrating. After getting back home I found that even photos that looked in focus on the LCD were actually out of focus but just a little. Shortly after that the zoom quit working too. And we still had three weeks left. Groan

What to do? We tried finding a repair shop in several towns but to no avail. We soldiered on with it screwing up regularly and with us getting a couple of decent photos here and there. We also looked at shops to buy a replacement. As an aside. Why don't cameras cost less in Southeast Asia? You think they would. The A520 is made in Malaysia, about 3 hours away from where we were. We never found any better deals than what you can find here and usually it the same camera was significantly more expensive????

On the next to last day in Indonesia it completely broke down, with the lens stuck almost all the way back in. We were without a camera for those two days and the three we spent in Hong Kong. And us with no camera to document the 15-hour flight back to JFK. Ugh to the flight and Bummer on the camera.

Called Canon (and actually talked to a person, wow) once I got back only to find out I had to pay for the shipping and insurance to their repair shop. Oh well at least its covered by warranty but I am going to rethink my allegiance to Canon. They need to get better with their quality control as I see others have had the exact same problems. Photography is an integral and incredibly important part of our vacations and we are deeply disappointed with Canon.

Positives were

Good battery life. Message to others, don't even try to use alkaline batteries. You have to use rechargables in cameras.
I like it only uses 2 batteries instead of 4 like in the older cameras.
Nice size, I don't like the real small cameras as they don't fit my hand but this still fits in a pocket easily.
Control of exposure is great lots of choices with all the priorities just like the big boys but I would like ¼ exposure compensation instead of 1/3.
Flash compensation is nice, another thing I found out after reading the manual. Amazing piece of literature, with a wealth of information.

I tell ya, every time I use this camera I am happy I bought it. I have yet to learn more about it, so in a nutshell a new-comer to the digital camera world can operate this immediately. It has become my new toy. Downloading the pictures on the computer is a snap and they are terrific. The down side...well, I'm here because I'm looking for a new memory card. The card that comes with it doesn't hold much....10-13 pictures if I remember right.
Still....this is one of my best buys for myself!

Initially I wonted to buy a 6-7 mp digital camera, but I liked it, the pictures are so clear and nice, I had alot of fun with it, it is so easy to operate it, in fact I it recommend for every body.

All the features and functions of this camera operate perfectly, but there seems to be a problem with the lens cover (lens cap, as Canon calls it) on some cameras. I bought two A520's for work, and BOTH cameras had malfunctioning lens covers, meaning they would not always slide fully open. If you touched the cover with the tip of your finger that would open them, but who want's to do that every time you turn on the camera?

But, I called Canon Factory Service and they were great. I was on the phone for maybe five minutes total. I returned the first camera for warranty service (I waited too long to return the cameras to the seller) and the camera was back in the office 12 days later with a new lens cap and barrier plate.

Five stars for Canon Service and the A520, but only 4 for the record because of the inconvenience.

I got my first digital camera in 2001: a Canon PowerShot A10, with 1.3 MP. Miraculously enough, it still works beautifully, and the image quality is still superior to many other digital cameras on the market. As an upgrade, and because I began to print my own images, I received the A520 as a gift. What can I say? I love it! It is easy to use, the image quality is solid, and now I finally have a camera compact enough to put in my pocket (or that doesn't serve a double function as a paperweight, you make the call.)

The only downside: sometimes it has a delay before allowing you to take another picture, but I find that this is a "Canon quirk," if you will. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes the screen goes black and the little light blinks in a "thinking" sort of mode before returning to the live screen. Other than that, I have NO complaints whatsoever. The battery life is fantastic (I reccommend rechargable batteries) and the image quality is great. Small, light-weight, and an overall good deal.

I checked out the digital cameras in several stores as to which is the best at close ups (macro shots) and the A520/A530 were the best (heard the A510 is the same but didnt try it). Nothing else compared to the A520/A530 really. I mean you can even use this as a scanner for copying text from a magazine and it comes out perfectly clear! Try that with any other camera! Canon's new line uses the Digic II instead of the Digic I sensor chip and is supposedly better and even takes good macros down to a centimeter! I might just upgrade in the future but for now I'm perfectly satisfied with Canon. The picture quality is great, the workmanship is great, the ease of use is great, downloading pictures is simple, it all adds up to a great little camera.

I've had Toshiba, HP, Nikon, and Casio and I've liked this better by far. I was especially disappointed in the Casio Exislim camera I had. Seems you sacrifice alot for the "pocketability" of smaller cameras, IMO. Anyway, be sure to check out Canon's line before you buy especially if you need to take alot of close ups!

It looked like a nice camera and it was lightweight, but as soon as I put the batteries in and turned it on, the lens cover would not open. I had to return it.

This is one of those cameras you won't be excited when you move from 35mm film cameras into digital world. Noise is horrible. I mean I can see noise even at lowest 50 ISO setting while using flash. I am silent about other higher setting. Yellowish tint. I think that Canon photo department is suffering from yellowish tint with its cameras, printers (I have pixma ip 4200) and all photo equipment. It seems that most of the pictures this camera produce have yellowish tint, with kind of warming yellow filter effect. And it does all the time. Highlights that are supposed to be white are slightly yellow. Most people won't notice this, but if you are photographer you'll see it right away. Auto focus poor too. In all, maybe good camera for 4 by 6 prints in a broad daylight. Otherwise stay away from this underperforming camera.

This camera performed beautifully. It took great pix, and I had ZERO complaints. Then, only four months after buying it, it inexplicably stopped working. None of the buttons functioned and I'm not spending at least half the cost of the camera to get it fixed. But if repairs don't bother you, it really was a great camera.

Canon replaced my A70 (which took beautiful sharp pics) with this one when my A70 died due to the CCD problem. I HATE THIS CAMERA! Only about half of my pics are in focus...and no, it's not operator problems. I am not new to digital photography. I have tried different settings and tripods, in an effort to get pics in focus consistently. Sometimes they are acceptable when I run them through the Photoshop sharpening filter. I have sent it back once and they worked on the "optics" but that did not help. The shutter lag and lag between shots is not acceptable. I don't understand why it gets such good reviews, although you will note the reviews mention its "soft focus" which I think is a code for "blurry."

I bought my first Canon A510 last fall and it performed flawlessly for several months. The pictures were amazing, it was easy to use and I liked the convenience of using regular AA's or rechargable batteries. After about 5 months, though, the camera simply stopped working. When I press the on button, the LCD screen lights up for a few minutes with the bright blue Canon screen and then goes grey. NOTHING I did would make it work. I was so disappointed...but then I bought a second A510 on sale. It too, performed well for a few months, and then, last week, developed the SAME PROBLEM!! I tried several new batteries, I cleaned the terminals, and I checked the battery and memory card covers. Nothing worked again. To say the least, I am very frustrated....Has anyone else experienced this problem, and if so, what did you do to fix it? Many thanks...

My son bought this camera for me at
christmas. I have never owned a digital camera. I am very, very happy with it. It is easy to use and takes great pictures. Canon customer service was very helpfull when I had questions before buying the camera. It is so simple to use, I have not had to get help. I recommend this camera for someone has never used a digital camera.

We bought this because it was on sale with the purchase of a printer. I am amazed at the clear photos. Almost never come out fuzzy. Also the photos have very good coloring even in auto. Very good camera for taking landscapes picts. And uploading to the computer is a snap.
But not wonderful at taking close ups.
The worst flaw would have to be the pause you get when you take a picture. Even though its just a few seconds you may miss the target. But every thing else is great! I think its Good Buy

My camera worked fine for about 5 months and one day I turned it on and it had a memory card error, E 30 shows up on the screen. It won't do ANYTHING, not even properly turn on and I am in London for the summer and really getting screwed by this Canon camera. BE CAREFUL with this model, there is already a lawsuit going up against Canon for problems with the memory card.

I was really surprised about this camera, I needed a new digital one and was looking at a diff. kind, this one came with a printer and was on sale (not sure how often I will use the little printed) but it's nice to have.
The camera takes REALLY good photos, the pictures are clear and sharp and color is great. Even if you aren't the steadest picture taker, (like me) lots my past photos were a little blurry even with a bigger camera, BUT Not with this one, I even tried to make them blurry and they turned out GREAT.
I really like this camera.
So.... if you want a really good digital camera for a good price that will have you taking nice clear, crisp photos this is the one for you.
It really easy to use, and to load the picture on the computer, it also take nice little movies, great for having little kids and catching those little moments quick.

Overall, a small inexpensive point and shoot camera with general features.

Loved my Canon Powershot A10 -- an oldie but goodie. Still takes absolutely great photos even tho the hinge on the battery compartment is broken, and I'm using tape to hold it shut.

Bought the 520 with high expectations. What I got was disappointment.

1- I have thrown out many photos. Many blurry, even with flash, even with subjects sitting still.

2- Noisy chime when you turn on the power -- very disconcerting when in a quiet setting.

3- Long delay on flash shots -- subjects must remain still for several seconds before photo is actually taken.

4- Recycle time is excruciatingly long between flash shots.

Overall -- very very disappointed in this camera.

C.

I have been a devout 35mm film person for the past 30 years. I bought this camera in Oct '05 as I have family members in Iraq and Kuwait this year and wanted to be able to email them pictures asap. I found picture color to be accurate and the flash coverage good, even for a recent church wedding. The size is nice -- big enough to have a firm, safe grip on the camera yet small enough to want to take everywhere. But....most pictures have red eye, even when red eye reduction is on. The sharpness of the pictures is so-so. They just don't seem to have the absolutely sharp, in-focus look to them that I am used to with my film camera pictures. I am finding I only use this camera for those need-to-send-now pictures. If you want an inexpensive camera/are new to photography this is an ok camera. If sharp pictures and minimal red eye are important to you keep looking elsewhere.

I bought this camera on the recommendation of a store technician over another HP digital. The camera has spent as much time in the repair shop as it has being used. The delay between pictures is incredibly long. The lens/shutter doesn't open properly. (Two other family members who own Powershot A520's are having the same problems.

I'm getting ready to purchase my third powershot and feeling like a glutton for punishment. My first, the A510 was awesome, took great pictures and never gave me a problem, then it got stolen. I immediately tried to replace it, but could only find the A520. All went well at first, the same ease of use (although the night shots/redeye seemed a lot worse). The lens cover would sometimes get snagged and remain open, but I was always able to help it along with a finger. I was still happy enough to buy into a proprietary option like the underwater housing($150), but then the lens mechanism froze up completely and would not extend, and the display seems frozen on the canon splash logo.
From reading all the negative posts about this, I can see that they obviously had some kind of design flaw. Due to the low purchase price vs. potential repair, the kids and I dissected it for fun but still didn't get it working (doesn't seem to be mechanical flaw). Unfortunately for me, I use it underwater a lot and the cost of a closeout A520 is still cheaper than getting another brand of camera and a new underwater housing...so it looks Canon will get me for another $100.

the cover over the lense broke/small lcd screen/ pictures are pritty good/battery life is pritty good/some images can come out a bit blurry if theres no flash and your hands arnt that steady/takes nice portaits/ easy to use/ has a veiw-finder.

I have owned several Canon digital cameras and like them very much. I purchased the A520 as a gift for a family member. After several months the lens cover problem that everyone writes about started happening. It would stick paritally open or closed or all the way open. The key word being stick or stuck. I took it to a Canon Service Center and they repaired it under warranty. After trying to use it for the 1st time several weeks later the lens cover was stuck open and would not budge. I took it back to the Service Center and they repaired it again. While looking at the paperwork after the repair they stated courtesy repair only and not under warranty. It was under warranty and had 90 days from the date they did not repair it the first time. After emailing Canon they said to just email them if I have a problem and they would see what they could do. Very POOR. I like Canon digital cameras but wish I had never purchased the A520. I bought it because of it's low price, which was a big mistake.

This is my third digital camera, I bought it after my tot dunked my previous camera under water. I did a lot of research before I bought this and it was highly rated in Consumer Reports.

After a few months of ok pictures (the macro setting is not very good though) the lens cover started sticking but I learned to live with it. I would manually open up the lens cover each time. Then the lens cover got stuck in the open position and I was learning to live with that. But now the camera is almost completely dead. It will not power up properly and sometimes it beeps. I'm not sure but I think I am out of the warranty period with this.

I will not buy another Canon Camera. This camera was made too cheaply. I wish things were not made to break right away.

For average people who want a camera that just works-and takes good pics you should not buy this. I don't know about the specifics, but like other reviewers mine got stuck and quit working for no reason after a couple of months. So, I don't really see what all the bells and whistles are for if it doesn't even take a picture. It was fine while it worked, it ate batteries but the pics were good.

The Powershot A520 On Switch stopped working right after I started using the camera.

This was my first digital camera. I received it as an anniversary present; My Fiance thankfully has *Great* taste.
Anyhow, This particular camera took by far the best photos I have ever seen! The pictures were EXTREMELY crisp.
I thought the camera was very user friendly and a lot of fun to use. I used it for 13 months without a single problem. Until it was stolen. :(
So now I have decided to upgrade to the Canon SD700. By the way, I have tried out all of my friend's and family's digital cameras just to compare theirs to my canon and not a single one of theirs could compare to the pictures that my canon A520 took...
So try it out, you won't be disappointed!!!

Well, we've used this camera for almost a year now, and I confess that I still prefer my old Canon S200 Digital Elph. The A520 takes decent pictures, and has a nice menu like the S200, but it is larger and doesn't seem as well built. We had to send our A520 in for warranty service after several once-in-a-lifetime shots were lost due to the built in lens cover not fully retracting. We didn't realize this was happening until too late. To their credit warranty service was prompt and problem has not recurred. I also don't like the non-disposable batteries. It goes through alkaline batteries like a demon, unlike the Digital Elph (rechargeable). I guess its ok overall, it does have better resolution than the S200, and if your batteries die, at least you can readily get more AA's.

This is a great camera. My sister had the 3.2 MP model so I bought this one as I was getting a good price for it.
Now that I have had it for a year, there are tiny problems creeping up- the shutter response time/lag has increased and when I take a picture, I have to press the button a couple of times - HARD- for it to snap. This is the press-halfway- then-all-the-way type but ... it's giving me problems.

I've had this camera for precisely a year, and it's already collapsed entirely twice and been sent back for repair. There were also smaller breakdowns I just chose to live with, like the card cover coming detached. Great when it's working, but it doesn't stand up to serious consumer use.

The A520 Camera does take good pictures but the batteries don't last; i dont even have this camera a year yet and the batteries keep dieing. Canon is a very good name but i dont recommend cameras that take regular batteries, they die out way to quickly.

I love it...I am not a Pro, but I have been using this camera for months and I can say: Never been dissapointed! Excelent Pictures and easy to handle...It's great!

The camera worked perfect for the first year and half. Now when you take pictures it takes a lag of almost 8 Secs + i.e. after you click the picture it takes the shot after 8 seconds..
I showed the camera at bestbuy and circuit city both could not help figure out the problem. I am not so happy with such problems from Canon.
I purchased it from Dell because it was cheap and now I repent...!!

Although this camera has some great functions I, like many others, have had problems with a "sticky shutter" (ie. the flimsy lens cover gets stuck and you have to pry it open). I've already sent it back once to be fixed and the problem has reappeared. If you don't want to keep sending your camera in for repairs I wouldn't get this or any of the A series.

i agree with the fisrt review.. my camera has shutter problems i sent it back once they fixed it and it came back.. i would recommend searching another one.. allthough thsi cameras resolutin isn't that bad. but it has a lot of small dumb things.

I love the camera itself but there seems to be a problem with the shutter sticking. This is the second time I'm having to send it back for the same problem. I feel like this should be a " recall " product!

I received a Canon Powershot a520 last Christmas in 2005 It had to be sent in six months later because the shutter kept sticking and camera wouldn't take pictures. Came back repaired under warranty and again had to send back at Christmas this year for THE VERY SAME PROBLEM!
Canon wouldn't honor warranty as it was a few days out of warranty. When I said it was for the same problem again, they wouldn't budge and the fee was 98 dollars to fix. They offered me a choice of buying a refurbished one for 99 dollars so I bought that so i could get at least a six month warranty. I feel this camera should be recalled and that this is a racket. They need to improve the quality of this camera and stop ripping off people. Buy another brand!!!

This is a good solid camera except for 1 weakness - The lens cover sometimes opens just halfway when you power up the camera. I returned 1 camera to Amazon with this problem, but the camera I exchanged this for had the exact same issue.

It is simple to use and it makes great pictures.

Good features, allows manual operation also. No problems with it, clear bright pictures.

nice and easy to use, very magable and last but not least is a power shot

very easy camera to use, from point and shoot to using the manual features for a more specific touch. Zoom is very fast, and write time to the memory card is quick. Size is small enough to carry, but a good size for a man's hands. Canon makes a great product, and this is no exception

Awesome camera. It's a consumer reports best buy. It beats high priced brands easily in simplicity, ease of use and picture quality.

I received this camera as a gift and it had worked
wonderfully for about a year or so. I noticed some
reviewers noted issues with the lense...mine became
stuck and would not retract into the camera. Unfortunately,
the issue would cost more to fix than to buy another
camera & I do not have a usable warranty. I have tried
replacing the batteries (BTW-I found battery life on this
camera to be really bad) to no avail.

I'm giving Kodak's V603 a try-it also has a lense that extends...
so if I have this issue again, I think I'll be permanently scarred
and will have to buy one of those flat fronted cameras.

Good quality pictures, the only problem is that sometimes the lens cover opens halfway when you power up the camera.

PROS:
1) Very versatile for the price (Don't Pay $399 though - I paid about 165). I've had my camera for just over a year.
2) Good entry level digitial camera or for those transitioning to the digital world.
3) I'm quite satisfied with the quality for the price.
4) My main need was to be able to use the camera much the way I was accustomed to using my film-based Nikon 35mm. I like to experiment with f-stops and shutter speeds but I like the ability to hand over the camera to anyone for use as a PHD push-here-dummy camera. The average person was too intimidated by my Nikon 35mm with the bells & whistles.

CONS:
Get a much larger SD card immediately. The one provided is tiny.

The A530 is smaller but has fewer features - go figure!?

We paid $176 for ours, can't remember if shipping was included. Consumer Reports rated this camera the best in class and had the price as under $200 too. And remember, more megapixels does not mean a better camera, in fact it can be a worse camera.

I recieved the A520 as a gift. After about 3 months the lens would not retract (sound familiar?). The batteries died with the lens extended. After replacing them the camera would not power up and and the lens would not retract. I suspect that this is firmware bug. Cannon e-mail support suggested keeping batteries out for 20 minutes, but that didn't help. I don't have a receipt and so am unlikely to send it in for repair.

Before I buy another digital camera I will ask the sales person to power up the floor model then take out the batteries to see if it restarts when the batteries are reinserted.

This was my 1st digital camera. Akaline AA batteries don't last long. Importing images & movies to iPhoto is very easy. The 4x zoom helped a lot. The included 16MB memory card holds 8-10 photos. Latency is long compared to film. Most shots came out very nice. Red-eye reduction flash didn't work very well as most shots needed touch up. I thought the colors were bright, rich, vivid and accurate.

This is also my first movie camera of any type, even though it's core functions are for stills. My kids thought the movies were a hoot - couldn't stop laughing.

I also had the battery problem that others experienced. Within one year, the lens would not retract and I lost all the pictures on the camera. It doesn't work at all. It costs more to fix than to buy a new camera. I'll never buy a Canon camera again.

This camera was a good camera for the first year. I did not use it very much. The first time I tried to use it after the warrenty was up the camera broke. The lense became off track. The cost to fix it $90 plus shipping and handeling.

It is nice to have a digital camera after using the Cannon AE-1 for 20 years. However, since I bought it the lense shield always sticks partway closed. I have to flick it with my finger until it is open all the way. This is a real pain especially when I want to get a quick picture.
Also night pictures have large spots all over, not noticed when taking normal pictures.

We bought this camera in Oct '05, right before we moved to HI from VA - we wanted to be able e-mail all of our friends photos of all the cool tropical things we were going to encounter. Well, the camera worked great for about 6 months. Overall, I was happy with the pics. We had put off a digital camera because I really liked the depth and feel of print film.

Now, for the bad things. Slow between shots and seems to be getting slower. The camera goes through batteries in no time - if we're on a trip I plan replacing them at least twice! Occassionally we get a message that says, "no memory card" - if we power down, remove and reinsert the card it normally corrects the problem. The problem, however, that has me really wishing I could give less than one star is that after less than 2 years the lens cover has had the same problem of sticking. We sent in to be repaired Aug '06, while it was under warranty - no big deal, except that we're in Hawaii, so it the shipping took awhile. Two weeks ago it started acting up again and now it won't open fully at all! I called Canon, was told they would e-mail a shipping label and repair request form. I was transferred to the factory repair people and told that I would have to pay to have it repaired because it is no longer under warranty. When I brought up that the camera had this same problem less than a year ago, I was told it didn't matter - repairs are only covered for three months, regardless of the fact that this seems to be a recurring problem that they "canon" seem unable to fix properly. At this point I was not to kind to the rep - didn't use profanity, but did use what my kids refer to as my "grouchy mom" voice. The rep started to yell at me and tell me to calm down and listen to him - all he did was repeat the script that was provided him. I asked for his supervisor, which at first he refused - then he put me on hold for 20 min. I hung up and got on-line and plan on posting this review on every site that rates this camera.

If you have this camera do not expect canon to be helpful. The lens cover sticking seems to be a common problem that they know about, but instead of doing the stand up thing and recalling it, they are putting to their customers!

THIS IS WRITTEN FOR CLUELESS PHOTOG DUMMIES LIKE ME- IF YOU ARE NOT CLUELESS, SKIP THIS REVIEW!

Got this camera last year, knowing only a few of the most basic features to look for, & having satisfied those criteria, chose based upon availability, price, comfort/convenience (lightweight, has a wrist strap, & felt good to handle for use in taking pictures of my child. I had no idea it was such a highly rated/high tech/quality camera! The bottom line is, this is an absolutely FABULOUS, easy to use, dummy can-do camera! BTW, the features I knew to look for were:

1) Decent MP resolution (ie 3 or above, which just isn't an issue anymore- any/all 'real' cameras have at least 3 MP resolution, this one has 4. In laymen's terms this means how many tiny grains per area, or how 'sharp' the photo quality will be- allowing for larger pictures overall to be nice & sharp, vs. photographed subjects/objects 'dulled' at the edges).

2) OPTICAL zoom resolution, at least 3 or 4X. This Canan PowerShot A520 has $X OPTICAL zoom. Again, in laymen's terms, this means an actual zoom lens that you can adust from where your'e standing in relation to the subject of the picture your'e taking. So you can zoom right in on that mean eating lion, & make it look like your'e in the cage with him at the zoo. Alternatively, you can zoom out, and take a more panoramic (larger range) photo. Digital zoom resolution, on the other hand, simply means that the camera's software zooms in- it's really practically a meaningless term- of course a digital camera has digital zoom! You really want to make sure you have OPTICAL zoom. Decent cameras have both. Cheap/undesireable camera's have ONLY digital zoom.

3) Battery type- some accept only hard to find/expensive to replace batteries (Sony is guilty & known for this- apparently thinking the Sony name can carry them to additional profits by requiring only Sony-specific batteries, counting on clueless people like me who just unquestioningly have trusted the Sony name over the years... No more!) This Canon PowerShot accepts readily available non-name rechargeables, and/or drugstore AA's. Battery power is decently long lasting, DEFINITELY bring along spare/back-ups for any important event, or for a trip. (Or just bring your second set of rechargeables, camera takes 2, 4 fit in a standard re-charger). I'm realizing that after a year, my rechargeables have about outlived their re-chargeable capacity, & I just need to purchase a replacement: ~10-$20. NBD for a year's worth of picture taking!

3) Ease of software installation & use: Self explanatory. Couldn't be simpler! Easy to initially load camera software & plug in using USB port (you need to make sure your'e using a decent/recent PC- if it's more than a few years old (this means 2 or 3 years at most!), your Desktop is outdated, and you'll likely have compatibility problems- this means you'll spend hours becoming increasingly frustrated because your'e too cheap to buy a decent, entry level PC, & your camera will not work with your computer. Provided your PC & your camera are compatible (if unsure, call Canon before buying, or before opening packaging, to ask!), it's SO easy to install software/configure camera, take & upload pictures, learn to modify them in all sorts of ways to improve them, etc., easy to attach them as e-mail attachments &/or send photo's independantly, etc. This is really a 4 year college degree in itself. But you can easily learn & use the basics, such as red-eye elimination, cropping photo's, etc. If you do run into software/useability problems, just call Canon right away for technical assist. (Make sure you call RIGHT away- after the return period has elapsed, & later the warranty period, they're less & less desireous of helping you). This has a zillion photo settings, including a highlighted 'Auto' selection- Hello! Works great!

4) Lightweight, small (fits in purse), wrist strap, easy to carry with you without severely weighing you down. Feels 'right' in the hand to snap photo's.

5) GREAT sized screen on back for both original picture taking- can use either actual eye-view hole, OR the digital screen, to see what your'e photographing. ALSO needless to say, this screen is FABULOUS for playback/review. You can set it a gazillion different speeds, as well as other options- I just left it at the factory setting, works great!

6) THIS AMAZING LITTLE CAMERA EVEN HAS BRIEF 'MOVIE MODE'! You can take up to 3 minutes of sound enhanced movies-my daughter LUVS this feature! (It's a power hog though, to use this function). Works great! Camera itself has limited memory capacity, and a card slot for insertion of a 512 MB (or up to 1G? Unknown?) for dramatically increased memory capacity- translation- you can take & store a lot of pic's, using a memory card (VERY readily available & inexpensive), before the card is full, & then you have to stop, upload those stored pics on your PC, clear ('reformat') the memory card, & start anew. EASILY delete, organize, file, & store photo's on your PC w/ the software provided.

7) Lastly, even the complete dummy (me) can turn out (PRINT on professional, glossy, photograph/cardstock weight paper) directly from your printer attached to your PC. No need to have a matching 'Canon' printer, although they're good too- I have just an inexpensive HP printer/copier/scanner (digital, not laser), it produces incredible quality, color saturated, high resolution photo's! (Tip- while your'e learning, set the printer setting to 'fast draft'- this will use dramatically less ink & produce a much less color saturated picture, while your'e getting the hang of it. Once your'e ready, change the printer setting to a higher level, & you'll get a more colorful, professional looking photo.) I've found that of the 3 printer settings, using the highest level just plain pours out the ink, wastes ink, saturates paper, smears before drying, etc. So I just use the middle setting.

I'm tired now, this camera is FABULOUS beyond my expectations! I recommend without hesitation!

I paid $279 brand new and after 6 months my lens stop working, i send the camera to cannon for rapairs. After a year the screen just goes black and it happens almost all the time. I will not recommend******************

I purchased this camera as an upgrade to my A70. In the year after I purchased it I had to return it 3 times for warranty service because of the stuck lens cover reported all to often here. I was informed by the repair shop that by using the camera outdoors I was probably getting dust particles stuck in the lens cover. For $260 I'd expect more than just taking birthday photos. Shortly after the one year warranty expired the camera stopped functioning all together (I suspect the CCD died) and it is now a paperweight.

I recently replaced it with a Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ7S 7.2MP Digital Camera with 6x Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver) which I'm very happy with.

This camera has worked like a dream since I purchased it a couple of years ago. The picture quality is unequaled in its class, and the battery life is quite long when using lithium batteries. In fact, I have been able to take many professional-looking photos and order enlargements up to 8x10 without any pixels appearing. At the current "used" prices, this camera is a steal.

It's hard to find anything negative to say about the Canon Powershot A520: I did crack the LCD screen, but was able to replace it myself by ordering a new screen directly from Canon. Compared to more recent cameras, this one is a little bulky--it won't fit in your jean pockets, but will fit easily into your coat pocket or purse.

My wife and I were very happy with our Powershot A520 for the year and a half that we had it. However, the camera died with an E18 error during our friend's wedding, and it has not worked since. A quick web search for "Canon E18" or even "E18" will show you that this is a common error (with a number of different Canon models). We have never dropped it or abused it in any way, and it has spent most of its life in its protective case. While the camera seemed to be great before the moment it died, I would not buy this camera again. Do not get this camera if you don't want to have to replace it in 18 months like so many other users.

After my Canon Powershot A520 stopped working, the first place I went to try and figure out how to fix it was online. Other than formal reviews from PC and photo magazines, it seemed to me that the most common other finding from extensive searches were customer reviews describing the exact same problem I was experiencing (camera refuses to 'power up' or stay on) with little or no explanations or ways to troubleshoot. Go ahead an do a google on it, you'll likely find more than a few customer complaints on it. My camera will not turn on anymore, and I gather that it is not worth it to try and fix it.

It should be noted that before I had this problem, I definitely did like this camera quite a bit. It wasn't the best in it's class, but, although it was a gift, it is more affordable than many options, and had more different kinds of options and gave the amateur photographer a lot of different options. Just consider that you'll probably only get a year or two out of this thing at most before it breaks down. That's not necessarily a bad trade-off if you take a lot of pictures.

I've had this camera for a while now (2.5 years). It still works great! I got my money's worth and more. I have abused this camera so much and it is still fine . It is a good beater camera that i can take everywhere and i don't have to worry about (since i only bought it for $120 new at Target). I'll keep this camera till it's dead, get stolen ,or lost. Well worth it!

I got this camera 2 years ago.
I did not like it from the beginning. It was cumbersome to use,
difficult to adjust the settings, and worst of all, the fact that it takes for ever to take the picture. The only way to make take the picture fast is if you have the continuous option, but then
you do not have any control as to which pictures you want.
The movie option is very poor.
To top it all up, the camera had a problem with the memory card reader and I had to send it back for repair exactly before a trip with my family.
Later models of the camera seem to be much better, but this is the worst of all.

Nice camera, takes great pictures. Not as smal as i like, but still a good camera.

My husband and I bought this camera 3 years ago. We still have this camera and use it daily (we have a cute toddler). In the 3 years that we have owned this camera we haven't had too many problems. This camera is a great camera for a family or someone who wants to take "casual pictures". I don't recommend this camera for someone looking for profession landscapes or other high quality photos. Otherwise, saying that, it takes great pictures for the photo album of family vacations or of a first birthday. Photos of faces have great detail! Onto the pros and cons:

Pros:
Lightweight and durable
Fits well in the hand
Short and longer timer settings
Different photo settings to choose from (videos, fast motion, landscapes, people, etc)
Spot for a tripod connection
Taking videos is a breeze...even has decent sound quality.
You can view the videos and photos right on the camera...it even allows for you to zoom in fairly well to see more details
Easy to use
Easy setup to transfer pictures from the camera to PC
I am sure there are more, but I am not big on remembering the zoom statistics...

Cons:
Taking pictures in a lower light setting (even with the flash on) isn't that great of quality
After 3 years I have found that older rechargeable batteries aren't working as well, but this is solved with purchasing new rechargeable batteries.

Other solutions for batteries...definitely buy rechargeable batteries. I also found that if you take the batteries (of any kind) out of the camera when you are done using it, the batteries will last longer. Now that last suggestion may not be for everyone, especially if you want to be able to grab your camera for a quick picture...but I would really recommend taking your batteries out if you are packing them for a trip or won't be using it for a while. This way when you go to use your camera again you won't be stuck with a "low battery" message.

Other suggestions...buy the case for it too. This makes it super handy to carry around and protect the camera from bumps.