Canon PowerShot A520 Digital Camera In Review
The 4-megapixel Canon PowerShot A520 is a nice little camera from the brand name manufacturer. It is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, the PowerShot A85, and it adds a longer zoom lens and a couple of new scene modes.
Those both experienced and new to photography will be pleased with what the Canon PowerShot A520 has to offer. What’s even tougher to beat than this camera’s features is its great value-for-money appeal making it a camera to consider if in the market for a camera purchase.
In terms of design, the Canon PowerShot A520’s body resembles a compressed version of the A85, mostly because Canon opted to make this model run on two double-A batteries instead of four.
Other than the size, the only other noticeable design differences are that the AF assist lamp on the front has moved to the opposite side of the viewfinder and you may notice the microphone has shifted but only a small bit.
The LCD remains at 1.8 inches diagonally, but the lens has been modified to a f/2.6 to f/5.5, 5.8- to 23.2 mm (35- to 140-mm, 35-mm equivalent), 4X optical zoom lens.
The optical system of the Canon PowerShot A520 has obviously been carefully thought out to enable one to take great photos. The digital camera comes with a 4.2 megapixel resolution and a 4x optical zoom. It also features an impressive ISO range of 50 to 400, along with a shutter speed range of 15 - 1/2000 sec.
The Canon PowerShot A520 maintains the first-rate level of manual control of earlier A-series models, including Program, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, and Manual modes, accessible via the top-mounted mode dial. The dial provides five common shooting modes (Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Slow Shutter, and Fast Shutter), as well as Stitch Assist and Movie mode.
The menu system is also unchanged and still provides good ease of use balanced by abundant options, though we’d like to see the scene modes illustrated with some on-screen help and sample images, as in Casio’s excellent menus on the Casio Exilim Zoom EX-Z55, for example
Battery life using the two included alkaline double-A batteries is quite good in the Canon PowerShot A520, and the camera is rated for up to 300 shots according to the CIPA standard (using NiMH double-A batteries).
The Canon PowerShot A520 allows your pictures to be stored in SD memory cards. These days, its pretty standard practice to have at least a 512 MB memory card in your digital camera (or even a 1 GB card). You can also easily transfer the pictures from the camera to the PC via the USB 2.0 interface.
There have been confirmed reports that the Canon PowerShot A520 is generally quite slow. The controls are not responsive enough - frequently one had to press a button more than once to perform the desired operation.
Hopefully you have found this overview of the Canon PowerShot A520 to be helpful. Should you be looking for a reasonably priced yet nicely equipped digital camera, you may very well find it in the Canon A520. Make sure to check out not only this camera but other comparable cameras to find the best suit for you.