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Canon PowerShot A520-Easy Camera Review
by Editorial StaffThe A520 depicted fairly accurate colors, although reds and pinks are slightly over-saturated. Most digital cameras exaggerate those colors to enhance skin tones in portraits, so this is a common gripe. We tested the Canon A520 and found that it uses about 2.69 of its advertised 4 megapixels. This translates to smaller prints since resolution quality will become a concern. The images produced by the A520 had some noise, especially when compared to images from its sister model, the A510. The A510 will be a good option for users seeking a crisp image while those seeking a slightly larger printing size range should find the A520 to be a better candidate. 
The Canon PowerShot A520 is one of the best-selling digital cameras on the market. It replaces the also-popular Canon A85; the new model slims down both the body size and weight. It offers point-and-shooters a fully automated mode and some scene settings, while still offering a number of manual controls for those who wish to get a bit creative. For a retail price of $299, you can control aperture, shutter speed, metering, ISO sensitivity, exposure compensation, and focus. If all you want are automatic modes, you’re in luck; there are 13 scene modes. The A520 uses a 1/2.5-inch 4 megapixel CCD with Canon’s DIGIC image processor. This digital camera also sports a 1.8-inch, 115,000 pixel LCD, an optical viewfinder, still and video/audio recording modes, and an included 16MB SD memory card.
The camera body itself has a standard rectilinear shape with measurements of 3.6 x 2.5 x 1.5 inches and a mere 6.3 oz weight. The A520 is easy to handle unless you’ve got sweaty palms, as there are no gripping surfaces on the camera body. You also have to watch out for your fingers, as they could slip right over the zoom lens on the front.
The camera itself feels as though some of the seams and parts aren’t of the highest caliber and could prove worrisome in the long run. That said, this camera will still easily slip into a pocket or a bag when the user is out on the town or when shooting photographs on a hike. The 4x optical zoom lens completely retracts into the camera body, making the front face flat when the power is off.
The controls are well spaced and large for easy use. The microphone is placed out of the way of fingers, but the flash is unfortunately positioned where your left ring finger will rest. Another unfortunate feature is the optical viewfinder, which is so small you’ll have to readjust your eyeglass prescription after peering into it.
There are two menus on the Canon PowerShot A520. One menu controls the manual control options and shooting settings for the camera while the second menu controls the camera setup and other areas. This may confuse users at first, but breaking the controls into two menus will mean faster navigation since long single-page menus are replaced with a three tier menu system.
The Canon A520 is incredibly versatile with shooting modes ranging from fully automatic to manual. You can focus the lens both automatically and manually. The auto focus is both very responsive and quick to settle on a subject, which is a big plus for a compact digital camera. This model also has a manual white balance mode – in addition to its presets – so you can tell the camera what is really white and avoid the yellow wedding dress look. There are thirteen scene modes that include choices like fireworks, beach, kids and pets, snow, and foliage. Although Canon does sell a camera with more than 20 preset shooting modes and other settings, 13 modes should be more than enough for everyday shooting.
The burst mode on the A520 shoots 1.9 frames per second, which is respectable for a compact digital camera in this price range. Only slightly faster than this is the movie mode, which shoots 10 frames per second at its highest resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. This is slow and somewhat disappointing for a movie mode. There are two lower resolution formats that shoot 15 frames per second, but once again, this is still slow.
Once again showing its versatility, the Canon PowerShot A520 has the ability to attach conversion lenses and a flash accessory. This digital camera also has the ability to be controlled by a computer when attached with the USB cable.
The Canon PowerShot A520 provides consumers with manual control settings, versatility, a number of preset scene modes, and features that will be both easy to access but also simple to engage or turn off – all for under $300. The biggest concern is the disappointing movie mode that shoots at sluggish frame rates. However, for under $300, that may be forgivable, especially when the 4x optical zoom lens, 1.9 fps burst mode, and excellent color reproduction is considered.
| Canon PowerShot A520 - THE BOTTOM LINE... Rating: 324.14 |
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| Likes |
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- Manual control is complete and easy to use
- White balance system offers custom setting - Small and light while remaining substantial enough to handle - Produces vibrant, accurate colors - Excellent software - Accessory lens and flash options |
| Dislikes |
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- Construction is questionable – it squeaks when you squeeze it, and the plastic parts have manufacturing blemishes.
- Images are extremely noisy (ISO 200 and 400) - Video mode is atrocious - Runs on AA batteries rather than a high-capacity lithium-ion battery pack - At the telephoto setting, there are only two aperture settings: f/5.6 and f/8.0. |
Canon PowerShot A520 Compared to the...
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Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S90
Rating: |
Nikon Coolpix 5900
Rating:
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Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 Rating:305.81 |
Fujifilm FinePix E510 Rating: |
Olympus Stylus 500 Rating:292.71 |
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| Better | Better | Better | Better | Better |
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- 32MB MemoryStick (Sony compatible only)
- New lower retail price - 2.0-inch LCD - Larger shutter range/ 30-1/1000th of a second - Conversion lens compatibility |
- 16 preset scene mode options
- 2.0-inch LCD screen - In-camera lighting correction - 5.1 MP CCD - Movie mode settings and frame rates - Slightly smaller frame - Lighter weight - Higher maximum image resolution - Face priority AF mode |
- 5 MP CCD
- Better resolution scores- 6x optical zoom - 2-inch LCD - 3 fps burst mode - Better manual ISO noise levels - Image stabilization |
- 5.2 MP CCD
- Higher maximum image resolution - 3.2x optical (wide angle) lens - 2.0-inch, 154,000 pixel LCD |
- 5 MP CCD
- All weather durability - Thinner camera body - 21 shooting modes - Great resolution scores - Manual ISO noise levels - Faster shutter to shot times - Faster start to first shot - 32MB memory card - 2.5-inch LCD screen |
| Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal | Equal |
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- 4.1 MP CCD |
- MSRP
- Two AF settings - PictBridge compliant - Manual focus settings - Audio recording - Aperture control - Optical viewfinder - Burst shooting capable (more modes) - Manual white balance and presets - Exposure compensation scale - Metering modes |
- MSRP
- Simple external controls - Color mode options - Faster shutter to shot times (slower start-up times though) - Manual white balance settings - Direct Printing - Audio recording - Exposure compensation scale |
- Aperture priority - Shutter speed priority - Manual white balance control - Real image optical viewfinder - PictBridge compliant - Weight - Optional conversion lens opportunities - Manual ISO range - Manual focus control - 16MB of included memory (xD-Picture Card) - Good mic placement |
- Exposure compensation |
| Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse | Worse |
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- Mic placement
- 3x optical zoom lens - Limited white balance menu - 80-400 ISO scale - Limited scene modes - Larger and heavier body - Fewer in-camera picture effects - Metering mode options - Smaller aperture range |
- 3x optical zoom lens - Poor microphone placement - Smaller shutter speed - 13.5MB internal memory - Lower resolution on LCD |
- No Leica lens
- Lower color score - Higher noise levels in auto ISO mode - Larger body size - 14MB internal memory - Poor mic placement next to fingers - Potentially confusing menu labels - 5 point AF system - No manual focus - 80-400 ISO - Multi-pattern metering only - No manual aperture - Smaller shutter range
- Audio must be exported to be heard - Poor resolution (85K pixels) on LCD screen
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- Higher MSRP - Metering system - Color modes - Smaller shutter speed - Larger camera body - Fewer scene mode settings - Lower resolution movie modes with terrible frame rate of 10 fps |
- Higher MSRP |