Steve'sDigicams

vickygella · Apr 26, 2006, 10:27 PM

For summer vacation, I'm going away for about 3 months, and I want to take a lot of pictures. I've narrowed my choice down (the original list was about 20 cameras) to 3 canons. I either want the

Canon Powershot a520[/*]
Canon Powershot a530[/*]
Canon Powershot a540[/*]

What's really important is the battery life and the image quality!

Please help... thank you so much!

robbo · Apr 26, 2006, 11:55 PM

The cameras you are considering are not all that different, so maybe some forum readers are wondering if you really need their advice. That being said, I would say the following:

The A520 is last year's model.

The A530 and A540 are the newer models. I would pick one of them. I would probably pick the A530. I think the A540 has just one more megapixel. I don't think there is that much difference between 5 and 6 megapixel images in cameras as similar as these. I would use the money saved to buy good AA rechargeable batteries, a good battery charger, and a couple of 512 megabyte SD cards.

rey · Apr 27, 2006, 2:49 AM

You can checkout Canon's site for comparison:

http://consumer.usa.canon.com/sys/flash/pct.swf?control=/ir/controller?act=ProductCompareTechSpecAct%26fcatego ryid=113%26comparefcategoryids=113$144$145$146$147 %26categorywebname=4469676974616c2043616d65726173,/ir/controller?act=ProductCompareTableAct%26fcategoryi d=113%26comparefcategoryids=113$144$145$146$147,12 914,12942,11125

I bought the A520 for my niece last year and it works pretty well, and it IS last year's model. For some stupid reason, Canon decided to remove Shutter and Aperture priority on the A530.

yehuda2000 · Apr 27, 2006, 10:06 AM

The A540 has better video quality than the A530.Both have better video than the A520.

vickygella · Apr 27, 2006, 3:19 PM

Thanks for the help, but can you be more specific?
Each one is about $25-40 more than the other (depends where you get it)

Oh, and doesn't Tv mode let you choose shutter speed? Thanks! :-)

yehuda2000 · Apr 27, 2006, 3:26 PM

The PowerShot A530 enables you to record VGA (640 x 480) at 10 fps or QVGA (320 x 240) movies at 20 fps with sound. The A540 Fast Frame Rate Movie Mode allows you to record extremely smooth, full-motion movie clips for up to 1 minute long in QVGA at 60 fps (320 x 240 pixels).

Apr 26, 2006, 10:27 PM	#1
vickygella Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 6	For summer vacation, I'm going away for about 3 months, and I want to take a lot of pictures. I've narrowed my choice down (the original list was about 20 cameras) to 3 canons. I either want the Canon Powershot a520[/] Canon Powershot a530[/] Canon Powershot a540[/*] What's really important is the battery life and the image quality! Please help... thank you so much!

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Apr 26, 2006, 11:55 PM	#2
robbo Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 978	The cameras you are considering are not all that different, so maybe some forum readers are wondering if you really need their advice. That being said, I would say the following: The A520 is last year's model. The A530 and A540 are the newer models. I would pick one of them. I would probably pick the A530. I think the A540 has just one more megapixel. I don't think there is that much difference between 5 and 6 megapixel images in cameras as similar as these. I would use the money saved to buy good AA rechargeable batteries, a good battery charger, and a couple of 512 megabyte SD cards.

Apr 27, 2006, 2:49 AM	#3
rey Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 949	You can checkout Canon's site for comparison: http://consumer.usa.canon.com/sys/flash/pct.swf?control=/ir/controller?act=ProductCompareTechSpecAct%26fcatego ryid=113%26comparefcategoryids=113$144$145$146$147 %26categorywebname=4469676974616c2043616d65726173,/ir/controller?act=ProductCompareTableAct%26fcategoryi d=113%26comparefcategoryids=113$144$145$146$147,12 914,12942,11125 I bought the A520 for my niece last year and it works pretty well, and it IS last year's model. For some stupid reason, Canon decided to remove Shutter and Aperture priority on the A530.

Apr 27, 2006, 10:06 AM	#4
yehuda2000 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 11	The A540 has better video quality than the A530.Both have better video than the A520.

Apr 27, 2006, 3:19 PM	#5
vickygella Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 6	Thanks for the help, but can you be more specific? Each one is about $25-40 more than the other (depends where you get it) Oh, and doesn't Tv mode let you choose shutter speed? Thanks! :-)

Apr 27, 2006, 3:26 PM	#6
yehuda2000 Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 11	The PowerShot A530 enables you to record VGA (640 x 480) at 10 fps or QVGA (320 x 240) movies at 20 fps with sound. The A540 Fast Frame Rate Movie Mode allows you to record extremely smooth, full-motion movie clips for up to 1 minute long in QVGA at 60 fps (320 x 240 pixels).