Canon PowerShot A520 4.2 Megapixel Digital Camera

Pros: Compact, proven platform, 4X optical zoom, full manual controls, and very good battery life
Cons: Noisy ISO 200-400 images, LCD doesn't automatically "gain up" in low light

History often repeats itself and the past can be a good gauge of the future. Canon’s “A” series digicams have been industry leaders since the introduction of the groundbreaking little A20. Last year’s A75, A85, and A95 were huge sellers ...

Pros: Price, size, picture quality, optics, resolution, features, responsiveness, AA batteries
Cons: Flash overexposes macro shots and leaves shadow in corner, recycles slowly, no battery status indication

When I saw that using some coupons available at the time, I could get a C anon PowerShot A520 for only $180 at Dell, I immediately ordered it (along with the C anon A510 for ...

Pros: Nice feel to it, with excellent clarity for its price and it's easy to use.
Cons: Nothing Noted.

Back in December I was the lucky recipient of my first ever Digital camera. This gift moved me into a whole new world of taking images. The camera I received was the Canon Power Shot A400 Camera. It was very simple to use. My daughter recently picked ...

Pros: Great digital intro camera, auto & manual modes, price, battery life
Cons: shutter sticks once in a while, LCD screen in bright light

Need a good digital camera but don't have a clue where to start? Maybe you already have the knowledge, but are overwhelmed with the multitude of digital camera options. I had never held a digital camera, let alone used one when I was given the Canon ...

Pros: Great optical zoom; compact; lightweight; manual controls; uses AA batteries; movies WITH audio
Cons: No active power indicator; no internal memory; no zoom in movie mode; meagre accessories included

Two months ago, my wife and I lamented at how our Toshiba PDR-3300 (3.2 megapixels, 2.8x optical zoom) broke down right when our newborn son had come home. As with our first son, we wanted to take a slew of pictures of the cute, little guy, but the ...

Pros: Good pictures,low cost, 4X zoom, SD memory card, separate mode for picture review
Cons: no battery indicator, no setting memory, slow recharge time

I need a camera as a present for my daughter. After talking to her I came up with these requirements: - A point-n-shoot camera that also offers some manual functions for special occasions - A camera that is average in size, not too bulky nor too light ...

Pros: Relatively inexpensive, digital zoom, vid capture, battery life
Cons: Next shot delay, no battery level indicator, flash range

Info from: (http://www.canon.co.jp/Imagin g/psa520/index-e.html) very useful page if you own this camera The PowerShot A520 is the successor to the PowerShot A85 with enhanced compactness and functions. This camera is equipped with an approximately ...

Pros: Easy to use, special shooting modes, movie mode with sound, great pictures.
Cons: Delay between shots, slow to upload to computer.

When I was told that I would receive the digital camera of my choice for my 18th birthday, I started doing some serious research. I found that the A520 had more of the features that I wanted than any other camera in the price range, and Canon is at the ...

Pros: Easy to use, picture quality better than expected, decent software, good price, 13 shooting modes
Cons: Needs rechargeable batteries, buy a memory card (expected), occasional red-eye, slightly heavy for size

Disclaimer: I am not a camera expert, by any means. I purchased the A520 for the sole purpose of capturing my new baby daughter in digital style, who arrived on July 7th. I have to say that for only 4 megapixels, it produces a very decent picture ...

Pros: Portability, 3-minute video with sound, two AA batteries, 4x zoom
Cons: Rubber AV/DC flap, no battery indicator

Last summer, my husband bought me the Canon PS A520 as a gift for a trip I was about to take. After all, I had talked about it for weeks. Well, over 2000 digital photos later, I still love my camera. It's relatively lightweight, easy to use, small ...

Pros: Very durable, great photos, easy to use.
Cons: Bulky, and the shutter lag.

I am one of those guys like Scrooge McDuck.  Well in some ways I guess.  Scrooge had the reputation of being very rich, but not ready to just give his money out to anyone.  I am not very rich, but when I go to buy something somewhat ...

Pros: A lot of options, functions. Relatively easy to use.
Cons: Functions not needed for point/shoot. Ok quality. Slow write to card time.

I am an intermediate user on a limited budget. When I purchased my Canon Powershot A520 two months ago it was with some reservation as I had read mixed reviews. I found this camera to be relatively easy to use but with a lot of features the lay ...

Pros: nice quality photos, easy use, several features, good value
Cons: slow shutter speed

I bought this camera about 3 years ago and have never regretted it. From the time I got it out of the box until now, I have never had a single problem with it. It takes quality images and has many user friendly features including a wonderful macro. I ...

Pros: Great build quality, good pictures, priced right, and easy to use.
Cons: A tad bulky, and digital zoom makes pictures look rough.

I have owned this camera for about one and a half years now. It is my first digital camera, and have had no problems with it. The optical zoom is adequate for most applications, and the pictures turn out quite well. However, the digital zoom is not as ...

Pros: Ease of use, quality, features, durability
Cons: Price (somewhat)

I researched this camera on Consumer reports and found that they highly recommended it. I then looked on the internet and saw much of the same reviews by individuals. Found the best price for this on the internet and purchased it. Took it out the ...

Pros: Nice size, better low light than Nikon. Like the AAs. Satisfied EXCEPT -- (see cons)
Cons: Lousy repair service. See above description. Also no onboard memory at all.

I wanted a pocket digital and the reviews on this were good. I had to send this camera (A520) in to service under warranty 2x in the first year. First it was trouble with zoom, then the lens cover would stick and not open all the way. I'd have to ...

Pros: Lightweight, easy to use
Cons: Focusing is problematic and lens is slow

I bought this camera to replace a Fuji digital camera about 7 months ago. I like its small size and easy handling in my hand. I replaced the puny memory card it came with with a 512MB card, so storage capacity is not a problem. I do not use the included software other than the download program; rather, I use Picasa to organize and edit my pictures.

On the downside, I am not happy with the focusing system: it seems that too often it chooses to focus on the wrong part of the picture. One can focus manually, but I am used to better focusing systems. Also, the lens is slow so low-light situations are tricky. The delay between pictures is longer than I would like, even with the flash turned off.

Pros: Features, style, small size, intuitive function, (I barely opened the manual) price
Cons: floppy rubber cover to access cable ports on the side.

I searched the web for many hours looking for a great, easy to use camera. I found many that were close in features and price. The Canon won me over for style, features, size and price. It's the best camera I've owned to date for the money.
Picture quality is really superb. I read that others felt because the A520 only had two batteries instead of four like many similar cameras, high battery use was a problem. I use Nickel Metal Hydride rechargeable and they last for days even weeks of normal use. I didn't feel it was an issue.

Pros: ease of use, good size, good photo quality for price
Cons: poor customer service, slow transition between photos, poor low light photos

While otherwise a good camera, this digital camera is very slow to transition from one picture to the next while also performing poorly in low light. The shutter initially was slow to open and would only open partially to eventually not opening at all. Cannon offered to replace it with a refurbished model for $90 plus $10 shipping. Hardly a customer satisfying solution when you can buy an A530 with 5.0 megapixels vs. 4.0 A 520 megs for around $149.

Pros: Great Camera!
Cons: Long lag time

I bought this camera in Oct. of '05, and it worked wonderfully. It has a longer lag time than some more expensive cameras, but for the money you can't beat it. It was priced close to a Sony I considered, but the zoom was a little better and the sales rep. recommended it. About 4 days after the warranty, the lens became stuck. So I called Cannon and they said send it in. 10 days after I dropped it at the post office, it was at my door. They not only fixed the lens, but they replaced the glass on the display (which was a little scratched up), and the battery door, which had a small ding on it. So this is more of a review on my experience with Canon, whom handled the repair beautifully, much better that expected.
I am very pleased with their product as well as their customer service.

Pros: 4x Optical zoom, compact, good price, excellent clarity and sharpness, easy to use
Cons: no battery status indicator, the flash charges while disabling control of zooming and framing

The Canon A520 was my first digital camera purchase, which made my experience easy and hassle free. This standard point and shoot camera offers the 4.2 Megapixel resolution and 4x Optical Zoom, which is an upgrade from the A85's 3x Optical Zoom. The body of the camera is very compact and convenient to hold and travel with. The camera gives you the option of using AUTO mode for point and shoot simplicity, which the camera automatically adjusts all of the parameters. All you have to do is point and shoot! There's also the option of controlling the camera manually, which gives you the freedom of controlling the Shutter Speed and Aperture. The A520 also offers a video mode, where you can shoot a video with sound for up to 180 seconds. The camera offers many different scene modes for picture taking. Some of the options are landscape, portrait, snow, and beach. This lets the camera know what kind of effect you want for a certain picture.

Pros: 4 mega pixels 4 x Zoom Easy to use (point and click)
Cons: None so far.

My experiences of using this camera one of the best, I have not had any problems. I bought this product to take pictures for documentation, websites, and any events that I am may partake in. This camera has not let me down. It has always surprised me the quality of pictures that I get when I take the pictures.

Pros: Easy to use (shoot and click) under auto mode. Great picture quality
Cons: Consume lots of power. Pictures are sometimes blurry if lighting is dim.

This camera is relatively cheap and good for it's features and picture quality. I bought it for $300 and it has been my favorite camera for more than 3 years now and have no problems with it. It produces great pictures and it is easy to use.

Pros: very small and compact, very good picture quality
Cons: lcd eats up batteries very quickly, flash takes awhile to reload

my husband bought me this camera for mothers day this year and its the first good camera i have ever had, and i am very impressed by this little wonder....it takes very high resolution pictures and it even shoots short videos. it has got a very reasonable size lcd screen...you have gotta try this camera

Pros: Easy to use, great pics, variety of shooting options.
Cons: A little slow "recording" to the SD card.

I love this camera. I received a Canon PowerShot A520 digital camera for Christmas (2005) and use it all the time. The 4-megapixel photos are clear and crisp and the camera is VERY easy to use. It uses a secure digital (SD) card which is becoming less expensive every day. I just bought two 1 GB SD cards from Staples for $20.00 (after rebates). The card will hold about 500 pictures. The software that comes bundled with the camera is easy to use and, combined with Picasa (from Google) makes for some very nice photos. I highly recommend this camera for beginner “point-and-shoot” photographers. I recommend investing in a good “AA” battery charger since most of these type (digital “point-and-shoot”) cameras burn through “AA” batteries fairly quickly. For more info on both the camera as well as a good battery charger, go to "http://www.steves-digicams.com/"
This site is THE BEST for anything and everything to do with digital cameras.

Pros: great image quality, ease of use, 4x optical zoom, standard batteries, low power consumption
Cons: timespan between 2 images with flash, sd-card too small, flash too bright when distances small

The Canon Powershot A520 is an easy to use, 4 megapixel digital camera with 4x optical zoom lens and provides a high image quality. It comes with a 16MB MMC Memory Card, two batteries, usb-cable, tv-cable, good software and a brief manual (although the camera is pretty self explanatory).Before i bought this camera i already owned a Powershot A75, which had only 3.2 megapixels and an 3x optical zoom. Anyway, the A75 already did take pictures of great quality. So the reasons for buying the new A520 werent more pixels or the better zoom, but the smaller size of the camera's housing. Of course, if one wants a really small camera he has to look out for something like an Ixus, but has to accept a definite higher price.

Pros: Price, easy to use, excellent software, awesome photos, large view screen, size.
Cons: Red eye, slightly slower than expected writing to the data card and down loading.

This camera is a real treasure. I was worried about 4 Mp not being sufficient, 8x10 enlargements are awesome. Battery power is no problem - buy the 2300 mh rechargeable batteries 2 - 3 days of picture taking. Slight red eye problem but is easily removed with software. You can use this camera right out of the box but it is also complicated enough that it will take a couple of months to master the camera. Video is clear sound is great. Photos are true to color and the flash works well at night in the dark even up to 20 feet. Night shots of Christmas lights without flash are also great. Don't get caught up in spec details as I did. This camera will do all anyone needs for weekend and family photos.

Pros: Great picture quality, easy to use, nice size. Highly recommend it.
Cons: Flimsy side panel cover.

I've had the A520 for about a month and am very happy with it. I can stick it on fully automatic mode and it takes consistently great photos. I can also play around with the multiple modes when I want to be more creative and go for special effects.

I also like the size and weight. It is small enough that it fits in my pocket but big and heavy enough that it feels comfortable in my hand when I actually go to take a photo.

Definitely opt for a large flash memory chip. I got the 512MB one and it eliminates all worries about running out of memory.

The side panel where you plug in the cable to transfer images to your computer has a rather flimsy rubber flap that can be a pain to snap in place.

Pros: Ease of use, Canon quality, excellent photos
Cons: for the price, none. Maybe a faster focus.

I bought my 14 year-old daughter the A520 for Christmas (2005). I have a Canon A3 and love it, but I wanted something a little less complicated for her (and less expensive). It doesn't have quite the bells and whistles that the A3 has, but that's a good thing for a 14 year-old girl who just wants to take pictures. The ZoomBrowser photo software is easy to use in my opinion (especially since I was already familiar with it). While you can't fit this camera in your shirt pocket, I feel it's a good size for a camera and it takes excellent pictures!

Pros: Small package Good optical zoom Full shutter/aperture control Uses AA batteries
Cons: 2 AA batteries is not enough power to operate.

This camera is small and lightweight and has many useful functions including movie /w audio which my children love. However, I'm disappointed in the speed with which the camera operates. It can take as much as 5 seconds to store the image onto the SD memory card (or maybe it is recharging the flash), during which time you can't take another picture. In the past I had the Canon A75 which has 4 AA batteries and was a dream (I lost it). When I went to purchase a replacement this one was attractive since a)it comes with 4x optical zoom over the usual 3.3x and b) it has 4M pixels c) the A75 (and 4M pixel A85) is no longer offered by Canon. Well, I've since gone to eBay and bought a refurbished A75 for half the price and am much happier. The A75 (and A85, A95) are bulkier, but I don't mind that.

Pros: 4x optical zoom, superior canon optics, versatile great price....
Cons: none so far

I got this terrific camera as a replacement for a really clunky Fuji which didnt even have good image quality...
The canon has superb, crystal clear optics, with a 4x OPTICAL zoom, very unusual at this price point. The high res pics I have taken have been printed at large sizes with no pixelation, crystal clear... It has many features that most people will never use, but they are there for the dedicated hobbyist... My media savvy daughter tells me that the only thing missing is a microphone for small video clips.... I got this for $200 including a 512Mb stick.. transfer to the computer...fast and easy with their software, or import it directly into Photoshop...

Pros: Small size, 4x zoom, AA batteries.
Cons: Hope you don't get an optically defective unit.

Don't look too closely at your photos from the A520 taken at max. zoom or you'll notice one side of the frame is blurred, not as sharp as the other. View the photo at 100% full size to inspect for this - something Canon repair technicians apparently do not know how to do. Three times they've tried repairing it, sent it back to me one time and it was even worse! I bought it (online, unfortunately) in June 2005 and it looks at this point like maybe November I'll have a working unit - maybe, maybe not till December.

Repeat: Canon repair service is inept! Good only at generating repeat business for Fedex!

Pros: NOTHING, If this is not durable, any other goodness is not worth mentioning at all.
Cons: Piece not reliable, Will work only for a couple of months.

I BOUGHT THE CANON A520 from Circuit Circuit City, in 2 months the Zoom got stuck, and the camera could not be powered on. Now the camera is a piece of Junk. Canon charges more to repair that the price of the camera itself. I read a lot of review about the fate of Canon owners and all of them have complained about the same problem. I will never forgive CANON for this manufacturing defect in their camera's which they have not rectified and have not recalled. Why should i pay to get this fixed, when it is a new camera and I have used it just on 2 instances. I am hope CANON takes this seriously and replaces these defective pieces immediately.