Release Issued by Canon:

Canon continues PowerShot A-series upgrade with the Feature-packed PowerShot A520

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Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, is pleased to announce the launch of the 4x optical zoom PowerShot A520 – big brother to the recently released PowerShot A510. The super compact 4.0 Megapixel PowerShot is smaller than many 3x zoom cameras and features 20 shooting modes, VGA movies, a powerful zoom flash, extended direct print functions, plus an optional waterproof case and adaptor lenses.

Compact and powerful
13% smaller and 20% lighter than its predecessor – the popular PowerShot A85 – the PowerShot A520’s 4x zoom lens uses Canon’s Glass Moulded Optics (Gmo) lens technology to deliver uncompromising, high clarity image quality at a fraction the size of conventional lenses. Extending reach at the telephoto end, the powerful 35-140mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.6-5.5 zoom lens also features a new rear-focus system for more efficient focus that limits power consumption. A redesigned flash unit, optical viewfinder, and a move from Compact Flash to SD memory card also contribute to a lighter, more elegant and compact body.

Shooting modes
For maximum versatility and ease of use, Canon has given the A520 a total of 20 shooting modes. These include eight 'Special Scene' modes which help produce stunning results in difficult lighting conditions by optimising the camera's white balance, exposure and other settings for specific shooting situations.

Scene modes include 'fireworks', 'foliage', 'beach', 'snow', 'underwater' (for use with the camera’s optional 40m depth case) ‘kids and pets’ and ‘night snapshot’. Movie clips of up to three minutes can be recorded, complete with sound and with the option to cut and edit in-camera. Manual mode allows more experienced or adventurous users to take control of settings such as white balance, exposure compensation and shutter speed.

Enjoyable and convenient
For enjoyment, convenience and ease of sharing images while shooting, a new ‘Hold’ function allows users to extend the display of newly shot images on the large and bright 1.8” LCD indefinitely, and to delete them immediately if necessary without the requirement to switch to replay mode. When the shutter button is pressed again, the camera returns to shooting. Ease of use increases with an improved, simple and more intuitive button layout.

Floating lens barrel
Another advance on the PowerShot A520 is the floating lens barrel retention mechanism, which works in conjunction with the optional Wide and Tele converter lenses. By allowing minute lateral shifts in lens position parallel to the sensor surface, the mechanism ensures that adaptor lenses are precisely aligned along the optical axis for perfectly sharp results.

Zoom flash
In a first for its digital camera line-up, Canon introduces a zoom flash. Linked to the zoom lens, the zoom mechanism narrows the flash’s angle of throw to extend flash range at the telephoto end. A new optional High Power Flash accessory, the HF-DC1, further extends the options for night and indoor shooting. With a guide number of 18 (ISO 100, metres), the slave flash automatically fires in-sync with the camera’s in-built flash, ignoring any pre-flash. It can be adjusted to three power output settings based on the aperture value of the camera. The unit attaches to the camera with a supplied bracket that maintains the ability to mount both camera and flash on a tripod.

Print/Share
The camera features Canon's Print/Share button, which lights up when a successful connection is made between the camera's USB port and any PictBridge compatible printer. Pushing the button when lit initiates a print of the currently displayed image, without the need to navigate through any in-camera menu. The Print/Share feature also simplifies uploads to any Windows PC.

Extended print functions
When linked to printers such as Canon’s SELPHY CP400 Compact Photo Printer, the PowerShot A520 allows for super fast, super convenient 85 second photo prints without the need to first upload to computer. Extended print functions also include a ’Movie Print’ mode, which divides the selected movie clip into equal parts and prints up to 63 equally spaced thumbnail frames onto a single sheet of Postcard Size Paper (100 x 148 mm). This feature is ideal for analysing a golf swing or tennis serve, for example. An ‘ID Photo Print’ function prints a number of durable passport photo size images (of selected height and width) to a single sheet.

Fast auto-focus
With nine focus points distributed across a wide area of the frame, the camera’s AiAF system is capable of fast focusing, even when the subject is off-centre. Users can also switch to single centre-point AF and manual focusing. An auto-assist beam helps to focus in low light conditions and the camera has a 5cm closest focusing distance. The flash can be synchronised to a slow shutter speed and includes red-eye reduction. A 1.9 frames per second shooting speed can be maintained for up to an 8 shot burst at Large/Fine resolution with LCD monitor off.

Great speed, great results
The PowerShot A520 features Canon’s critically acclaimed, powerful DIGIC processor for superb image quality, responsive camera performance and low battery consumption. Like an in-built photographer's assistant, Canon’s iSAPS system analyses composition factors such as zoom position and luminosity in order to predict the type of photo being taken. This results in faster auto-focusing, more accurate auto-exposure and precise auto white balance. An Intelligent Orientation sensor detects the orientation of the camera as shots are taken, optimising the image quality and automatically rotating the image for playback.

Accessories
As well as the converter and close-up lens, optional accessories include a waterproof case that offers underwater protection up to 40m depth and defence against dust, sand and snow. The case incorporates a flash diffusion plate to help eliminate the ‘snow’ effect caused by foreign particles suspended in the water. A 16MB MMC card is supplied with the camera.

Software and access to CANON iMAGE GATEWAY
Software supplied includes ZoomBrowser EX (Windows) and ImageBrowser (Mac) for viewing, managing and archiving images. Other software includes PhotoStitch and PhotoRecord, plus photo manipulation software ArcSoft PhotoStudio. Drivers include TWAIN (Windows 98/2000) and WIA (Windows Me). Picture Transfer Protocol (PTP) support allows the camera to connect to any Windows XP (SP1 – 2) and Mac OS X (v10.1.5 - 10.3) system without the requirement for a driver installation.

Camera ownership entitles the purchaser to register for 100MB storage space on the CANON iMAGE GATEWAY, an online gallery where images and movies can be stored in albums and shared to selected friends and family. New ‘My Camera’ functions (such as shutter sounds and start up images) can also be downloaded to the camera from CANON iMAGE GATEWAY.

Availability and reader enquiries
The PowerShot A520 will be available from late February for £239 RRP inc VAT/ €349.99 RRP inc VAT.

Reader enquiries
UK - www.canon.co.uk
Eire – www.canon.ie

Specifications

DIGITAL CAMERA		PowerShot A520 specification
IMAGE SENSOR	Type	1/2.5" CCD
	Effective Pixels	Approx.4.0M
	Colour Filter Type	Primary Colour
IMAGE PROCESSOR	Type	DIGIC with iSAPS technology
LENS	Focal Length	5.8 – 23.2 mm (35mm film equivalent: 35 – 140mm)
	Zoom	Optical 4x, digital approx. 3.6x, combined approx. 14x
	Maximum f/number	f/2.6 – f/5.5
	Construction	7 elements in 5 groups (2 aspherical elements)
FOCUSING	Type	TTL
	AF System/ Points	9-point AiAF, 1-point AF (Fixed centre)
	AF Lock	On/Off Selectable
	AF Assist Beam	Yes
	Manual Focus	Yes
	Closest Focusing Distance	5cm
EXPOSURE CONTROL	Metering modes	Evaluative, Centre-weighted average, Spot (centre)
	AE Lock	Locked when shutter button is pressed half way
	Exposure Compensation	+/- 2 EV in 1/3 stop increments
	ISO Speed Equivalent	AUTO, 50, 100, 200, 400
SHUTTER	Speed	"15 – 1/2,000 sec (Slow Shutter speeds of 1.3 sec. and more, available in Manual and Shutter Priority AE modes only. Shutter speeds of 1.3 sec. and more operate with noise reduction. Certain combinations of shutter speed and aperture may not be available.)"
WHITE BALANCE	Type	TTL
WHITE BALANCE	Settings	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
VIEWFINDER	Viewfinder	Real-image zoom optical viewfinder
LCD MONITOR	Monitor	1.8” P-Si TFT, approx. 115,000 pixels
LCD MONITOR	Coverage	100%
FLASH	Modes	Auto, Manual Flash On / Off
	Slow Sync Speed	Yes
	Red-eye Reduction	Yes
	Built-in Flash Range	45cm-3.5m (W) / 2.2m (T) (at ISO AUTO equivalent)
	External Flash	Canon's High Power Flash
SHOOTING	Modes	"Auto, Program AE, Shutter priority AE, Aperture priority AE, Manual, Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Fast Shutter, Slow Shutter, Stitch Assist, Movie Special scene mode (Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Underwater, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot)."
	Photo Effects	Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening, Sepia, Black & White
	Drive modes	Single, Continuous, Self-Timer
	Continuous Shooting	Approx. 1.9 fps(1) (speed maintained for up to 8 images)(2)
RECORDING PIXELS / COMPRESSION	Image Size	(L)2272 x 1704, (M1)1600 x 1200, (M2)1024 x 768, (S)640 x 480, Postcard Date Imprint
	Compression	Superfine, Fine, Normal
	Movies	"(L)640 x 480, 10fps (M)320 x 240, (S)160 x 120, 15fps"
	Movie Length	"Up to 30 sec. (640x480) (2) Up to 3 mins. (320x240, 160x120) (2)"
FILE FORMAT	Still Image Format	JPEG (Exif 2.2 [Exif Print] compliant) / Design rule for Camera File system, Digital Print Order Format [DPOF] Version 1.1 compliant
	Movies	AVI [Motion JPEG + WAVE (monaural)]
	Sound Files	WAVE (monaural)
DIRECT PRINT	Canon Printers	Canon SELPHY Compact Photo Printers and PIXMA Printers supporting PictBridge (ID Photo Print, Movie Print supported on SELPHY CP printers only)
DIRECT PRINT	PictBridge	Yes
OTHER FEATURES	My Camera	Start-up image and camera sounds customisation
	Sound Memo	Up to 60 sec per image
	Intelligent Orientation Sensor	Yes
	Histogram	Yes
	Playback zoom	Approx. 2x – 10x
	Self Timer	Approx. 2 or 10 sec. or Custom
	Menu Languages	English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish
INTERFACE	Computer	USB (Mini-B, PTP)
INTERFACE	Other	A/V output (PAL/NTSC)
MEMORY CARD	Type	"Secure Digital (SD) Card or MutiMediaCard, 16MB MultiMediaCard supplied"
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM	PC	Windows 98SE / Me / 2000 SP4 / XP / XP SP1-2
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEM	Macintosh	OS X v10.1.5 - 10.3
SOFTWARE	Browsing & Printing	ZoomBrowser EX (PhotoRecord) / ImageBrowser
	Other	PhotoStitch, RemoteCapture
	Drivers	TWAIN (Windows 98 / 2000), WIA (Windows Me)
	Image Manipulation	ArcSoft PhotoStudio
POWER SOURCE	Batteries	2x Size-AA Alkaline or NiMH Batteries (Alkalines supplied)
	Battery life	"Approx. 80 shots (3) Approx. 300 shots (with optional Canon NB-2AH batteries) (3) Approx. 180 min. playback (with supplied batteries) Approx. 300 min. playback (with Canon NB-2AH batteries)"
	A/C Power Supply	Optional, AC Adapter Kit ACK800
ACCESSORIES	Case	Soft Case DCC-80
	Waterproof / Weatherproof Case	Waterproof Case (40m) WP-DC60, Waterproof Case Weights WW-DC1
	Lenses	"Tele-converter 1.75x TC-DC52A, Wide Converter 0.7x WC-DC52, Close-up Lens 250D (52mm), Conversion Lens Adapter LA-DC52F"
	Flash	High Power Flash HF-DC1
	Power Supply & Battery Chargers	Battery Charger Kit CBK4-200, Ni-MH Batteries NB4-200, AC Adapter Kit ACK800
PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS	Operating Environment	0 – 40 °C, 10 – 90% humidity
	Dimensions (WxHxD)	90.7 x 64.0 x 38.4mm (excluding protrusions)
	Weight (body only)	Approx. 180g

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