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!