Canon A520...anyone have it?

[goofymom/pop]

Any word on it? Thinking of it for my DD for xmas. Its getting good reviews but want to know if its worth the 199.00 that Office Max is listing it at. They are also offering a free 256MB card with it. Seems good....but thought I would ask you first.

 

[FergieTCat]

I was hoping someone besides me has one, but it doesn't look like it.

I just bought one and have only taken indoor shots. So far, I am happy with the images (color and clarity). It's small, lightweight, and takes SD cards. I've always been happy with Canon cameras.

 

[jordancej]

Well, from what i've been researching, it seems to be a good camera. The only complaint they say is in the lag time between pictures. But for someone like me who is never owned one... how am i gonna notice that? Anyway.... i will be buying one today, and with the bundle of them giving you a 256 memory card, those are running about $35 bucks... so i think its a great deal! Oh and by the way thanks for the tip about OfficeMax!! This will be for my trip at the end of the month. Good luck!

 

[ndelaware]

Found this on dpreview:

CONCLUSION - PROS

Good resolution
Bright, vivid - though natural - color
Good edge-to-edge sharpness
Useful new 35-140mm equiv. 4x zoom lens
Reliable focus and exposure
Lots of manual controls
Excellent build quality for a budget camera
Very little purple fringing
Excellent flash exposures and color
Good screen
Excellent battery life from 2x NiMH batteries
Zoom-linked flash
Usable manual focus
Playback histogram
Excellent value for money


CONCLUSION - CONS

High noise at ISO 400
Focus can be slow - especially at the long end of the zoom
Flash recycle way too slow
Minimum two-second shot-to-shot time
Slow start-up


OVERALL CONCLUSION

It would be hard to find a more suitable first digital camera for the novice digital photographer than the PowerShot A520. No matter what the situation, the A520 turns out perfectly exposed and focused results shot after shot. And the fact that as well as idiot-proof 'point and shoot' modes and scene modes you get a full array of manual options means it's a camera that you can grow with as your skills develop.

The build quality is excellent, the results - though probably a little 'over-processed' for purists (and almost all are in need of a little sharpening in post processing) are perfect for the target market; bright, colorful and contrasty. Our only serious complaints are to do with some aspects of the speed of operation - focus can struggle in low light at the long end of the zoom (sometimes taking up to two seconds to find its mark), the shot-to-shot time (when not in burst mode) feels very slow if you're trying to grab shots quickly, and the flash recycle time is frankly unacceptable.

So then, we have a solidly built and sophisticated camera that delivers more than one could expect at this price point, a camera that makes taking good pictures easy, but a camera that can sometimes feel frustratingly slow. For the money it seems churlish to complain about the performance of the camera when pushed to take pictures in rapid succession 'under pressure', but if that's your style of shooting, the A520 - or any budget camera for that matter - probably isn't for you. If not, this is a mature and capable product that's well worth a closer look.

 

[Shadeaux]

I bought my daughter the Canon A510 last summer. It's the 3mp version of the A520. It's an amazing little camera, considering it's relatively inexpensive. In my opinion, it takes fantastic pictures. If you're interested, here are some pictures she's taken with the A510:
http://shadeaux.fotki.com/ephotos/batonrouge/

 

[salmoneous]

Bought it, love it. Paid $180 from Amazon, but that was without the free memory card.

 

[keahgirl8]

I went to OfficeMax today, and that camera did not come with a free 256 MB memory card.

 

[clh2]

Try officemax.com
They are offering free delivery for orders over $50. You can order the bundle (camera and memory) or for the same price, you can order just the camera. i.e. make sure you would order the bundle, not the camera.

We also had a coupon that had not yet expired - for $40 off our first $200 on-line order. So...I am also getting a roll of double-stick tape, which I will be needing soon anyway. (We were hoping to get this type of pricing on Black Friday.) Now we don't have to get up early.

The camera bundle was on backorder, with an estimated delivered-by date of 11/28. Hopefully nothing will not get screwed up with the backorder.

So...THANKS for mentioning this goofymom/pop!

 

[keahgirl8]

It is actually in the OfficeMax paper this morning with the free 256MB memory card. Now, I am thinking about the Kodak Z740. It is $299 and comes with a 512MB memory card. Any opinions on this one?

 

[ndelaware]

It is actually in the OfficeMax paper this morning with the free 256MB memory card. Now, I am thinking about the Kodak Z740. It is $299 and comes with a 512MB memory card. Any opinions on this one?

Keahgirl8, you are a tough sell!! I mean this in a nice way.

 

[keahgirl8]

Keahgirl8, you are a tough sell!! I mean this in a nice way.

I told you guys I am confused!

 

[ndelaware]

My sister has the Z760 and she loves it. It is her first digital and she is kicking herself for not getting one sooner. The Kodak cameras are know for great color and ease of use. The Canon is probably faster and Canon cameras usually have more advanced features for the folks who want more control. Although I believe these "Z" models from Kodak are providing more of that sort of control. The Canon probably has a better lense.

The biggest difference is obviously the zoom feature. 10x versus 4X in favor of the Kodak. The 10X zoom on the Kodak is equal to a 38 to 380mm lens on a slr camera. The Canon is equal to 35 to 140mm.

So is it worth $100 to you?

 

[keahgirl8]

It's worth it if it is a better camera, but I don't know!

 

[ndelaware]

It's better if you want more zoom. If you don't care about the zoom it is not. If they both had 4X zoom I think the Canon would be the better camera. If you like great color right out of the camera get the Kodak. If you like super sharp photos get the Canon. You will probably be very happy with either.

 

[keahgirl8]

I think I'm going to go with the Canon. Thanks for the advice everyone!

 

[jordancej]

I posted earlier, I did end of buying the A520, it does run slow when you take a flash picture, but other than that, i've really had fun playing with it. Its my first digital camera. I got a heck of a deal, when i got mine they had the 256 card as part of the bundle, then at work at coupon came in for $30 if you spent over $150. Then i've bid on some more memory cards on ebay, got a Lexar 1 gig card for 49.99, including shipping (brand new) and then a Lexar 256 for $18. I find that the cards that are selling on ebay, (atleast the Lexar cards) are going for about 50% off of what you would pay in a store. Not too bad of a deal for me!

 

[CharlesTD]

Not the A520 but we did just get my 9 year old daughter the A510 for christmas on sale for 249.99 CDN at Henry's and we got my mother the A 410 as she is a very basic camera user and doesn't need any bells and whistles.