Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS

10.10 Megapixels	12.00x zoom	3.0 inch LCD

Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS Overview

Posted: 01/09/2012

The Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS replaces last year's ELPH 500 HS model, and features a understated, boxy new body style that's radically different to the unusual design of its predecessor, which coupled both soft curves and sharply-defined edges in a single, futuristic-looking chassis. It's the definition of a travel camera, even more pocket-friendly than its predecessor, yet sacrificing nothing in terms of telephoto reach--ideal attributes when traveling away from home in unfamiliar territory, where you likely don't want to carry a bulky camera, let alone a system camera with all its lenses and accessories.

Canon is billing the ELPH 520 HS as the world's slimmest 12x zoom camera with a 28mm lens, at least as of the time of this writing. It's said to be 10% slimmer and 20% lighter than the 500 HS, impressive given that it has more than double the zoom range. Sadly, the new 12x optical zoom lens sacrifices some wide-angle coverage for oodles of telephoto, with a 35mm-equivalent range from 28 to 336mm equivalents. Sensor resolution is 10.1 megapixels, a small but sensible step backwards from the 12.1 megapixel resolution of the earlier camera. Sensitivity varies to a maximum of ISO 3,200 equivalent, unchanged from the 500 HS.

Another key difference from the earlier camera is a switch to the latest-generation DIGIC 5 image processor in the Canon 520 HS, versus the DIGIC 4 of the earlier model. The 520 HS also includes the same Intelligent IS image stabilization system which we saw previously in Canon PowerShot models announced last Fall. This now offers six different modes of operation, which take account of different shooting situations such as shooting macro photos, panning to follow action, or shooting with the camera mounted on a tripod, and configures the IS system appropriately. It also provides for a greater range of correction when shooting movies.

Of course, in reducing the size, Canon has had to make some tough choices, and one such is the decision to reduce LCD panel size slightly, switching from a wide-aspect 3.2-inch display to a 4:3 aspect, 3.0-inch panel, although the resolution of approximately 461,000 dots is unchanged. (It wasn't clear at press time if the 520 HS retained the earlier camera's touch panel, although were we betting types we'd say not, given the addition of a number of external controls to the camera's rear face.

The Canon 520 HS now offers not just face detection, but also a face recognition function, dubbed "Face ID". This allows the photographer to register the faces of up to twelve individuals in-camera, with up to five different angles or expressions being stored for each individual. You can then enter their name and birth date, and if recognized in the scene, the camera will automatically tag images appropriately, as well as giving focus and exposure priority to recognized individuals first. Additionally, the camera will consider three different age groups, giving priority to the younger age groups first, as follows: baby (0-1 year), child (1-12 years), and adult (13 and over.)

Related to this change is an increase in the number of scene types detected by the Smart Auto mode to a whopping 58 types. We understand that the new types rely on the facial recognition capability, and allow the camera to do things like automatically recognizing when a baby is sleeping, then disabling camera sounds and flash / AF assist lamps, so as not to wake baby.

A couple of other changes of note include the addition of two new scene modes: smooth skin, and soft focus. (They do pretty much as you'd expect, with the former smoothing skin tones automatically, and the latter gently blurring the entire image frame.) Another change made to achieve the slim body size is a switch to MicroSD card storage, instead of a full-sized SD card as in the earlier model. The battery type has also changed, although we don't yet have specifics.

Of course, the 520 HS wouldn't be a modern digital camera if it didn't offer high-def video capture capability, and Canon doesn't disappoint. As in its predecessor, the Canon PowerShot 520 HS can record at up to Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel; 1080p) resolution, with stereo audio and the ability to use the optical zoom during recording. The 520 HS also offers an upgraded variant of Canon's Movie Digest function, which is used to automatically capture up to four seconds of video from immediately before the moment of capture of each still image, by simply buffering video continuously from the moment the shutter button is half-pressed, and then saving the last few seconds of video once the shutter is tripped. The Movie Digest videos are stored by the camera, and at the end of a day's shooting, are automatically stitched together into a single video showing all of the day's clips in sequence. Compared to the Movie Digest function in earlier cameras, which saved Movie Digests at VGA (640 x 480 pixel) standard-definition resolution, the 520 HS will do so at 720p (1,280 x 720 pixel) high-definition resolution.

The Canon PowerShot ELPH 520 HS ships from March 2011 in the US market, with a choice of black, silver, red, or blue bodies, all priced at around US$300.

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