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April 30, 2005
[ REVIEW—CANON A520 ]
DPExpert hasn't had time [PANT!! PUFF!!] to look at the Canon A520 [pictured] yet, but we saw one in Ted's Camera Store the other day at $A500, and there's a review of it in Digital Camera Review which describes it as a "a super choice for advanced amateur photographers".
The review mentions that the A520 replaces the A85, which is correct, but the sequence of numbers raises the difficulty that the consumer faces in trying to keep up with model changes.
You might have thought, for instance, that the A85 would have replaced the A80, which CW discovered last year was much loved even by professional users for its quality and utility, which included the ability to attach different lenses. In fact, however, the A85 replaced the A70.
The replacement for the 4-megapixel A80 was the 5-megapixel A95, and that probably won't be updated until about October this year.
So what's the difference between the A520 and the A95? Well, the A520 doesn't have the vari-screen - the fold-out, swivelling LCD screen which can be awfully handy for shooting in a lot of situations. And like the A85 (and the A80 for that matter), it's only a 4-megapixel model. This is the interesting point: the A95 costs just $49 more than the A520. For that you get better resolution and that handy screen. Judging from the review of the A520, you also get better optics, although the new flash capabilities look interesting.
That's the sort of thing that you unfortunately don't get from a lot of reviews - a sense of comparative value.
Posted by cw at April 30, 2005 10:09 AM
