Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
 Great starter camera, May 10, 2023
Given this camera is not as small as others, it offers great value for money in the starter camera genre. With a 4x optical lens and a 3.2mp resolution it gives me great pics for a fraction of the cost of similarly equipped smaller cameras.
This is a nifty little thing that you can carry around anywhere and snap pics with. The portrait function is especially nice. I've taken quite a few stills that came out awesome!
0 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
 Canon a510, May 3, 2023
I bought this camera of Amazon. When I received the camera, the box wasn't sealed. The camera is nice, and it does have a lot of options. The sad part was that when I received it, I received a damaged item because the camera kept telling me that the batteries are dead and it kept shutting off. Amazon sent me the replacement, so hopefully once ill receive the new one I will fully enjoy it.
12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
 Flash recycle way too long, Apr 29, 2023
I used this camera for 3 days, and returned it back (to Amazon) yesterday.
Why I returned it:
- Everytime you take a picture with flash, the camera displays the picture for 3 seconds, after which it goes blank for 8-10 seconds. You can not take another picture till that time.
- It takes 3-4 seconds to achieve focus
So imagine you're taking a picture of your kid cutting his birthday cake, and someone stepped right into your frame... you can not take another picture till 8-12 seconds until the flash is recharged, and it tries to focus again. By that time, the scene and moment are gone.
I used to own a Canon A75 before (and a Canon A70 before that), so I'm a hard-core Canon user. But I am very disappointed with this camera. I would advise folks to check other forums on digital camera sites and then decide if they want to buy this camera or not. The user reviews are not pretty.
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
 The best camera in this class (Entry level camera), Apr 23, 2023
In the entry level class of digital camera, Canon A serie is the best for design, quality, feature and price.
Design - Canon redesigned the A serie to be smaller, lighter, thanks to the use of SD memory card and only 2 AA batteries instead of 4 previouly. The battery compartment allows the camera to be a little bit thicker on the right side and it allows you to have a firm grip on the camera with one hand. The shooting mode dial on the top of the camera allows you to switch modes quickly, no need to navigate thru menus to switch modes.
Quality - Even thought the camera body is plastic, I find the fit and finish excellent. And of course Canon legendary lens quality. Start up time seems faster than the previous A serie generation.
Features - Starting with a 4X optical zoom, most other brands give you only 3X optical zoom. The A510/520 gives you a full range of shooting modes (Full Manual, Semi Manual - Shutter & Aperture, Automatic, Presets), no other brands give you the manual mode. Macro mode can snap pictures as close as 2 inches. A wide range of accessories, particularly the external flash which allows to extend the flashlight to 30ft.
Price - The A510 is cheap for what it is capable of doing. I got mine for $160 at OfficeMax. Is it worth spending more to get the 4 megapixels A520? Not unless you want to print picture size bigger than 8x10.
So far my A510 takes very sharp pictures and I don't have any problems with this camera. An excellent price/value purchase.
40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
An excellent Camera at an Amazing Price!, Apr 18, 2023
This camera is an incredible value for the price.
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.
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