A few weeks ago I reviewed the Canon Powershot A410, and this week I borrowed one of my GF's other Digicams (this one without having the story of regret of "purchasing" it as it was her Father's) a Canon A510.
The Canon A510 is a more upgraded version from the same era as the A410 with better ergonomics and more controls including the ability to do Priority and even Manual shooting modes. It also has a more compact less brick-like form factor and ergonomically is a lot more comfortable to shoot. But before I go too far into this camera let's show some product photos from my phone:
Another difference between the A410 and the A510 is the sensor. While they are both 3.2mp CCD chips the A510 is a 1/2.7" (which is a fairly standard pocket camera sensor size) and the A410 has a Tiny 1/3.2" sensor instead; a sensor about the size of what was used in the very first cellphones with cameras.
As with almost all early pocket cameras the ISO range is very limited, in this case 400. So you are stuck to "Film Like" ISO sensitivities, making the A510 an outdoor only shooter unless you can get up close and personal with its small xenon flash.
As you can see the A510 has the more atypical Canon Mode Dial which includes some creative modes along with the PASM modes. It also has a 4 way control function pad on the back, though my copy has a broken sensor on the right button of this Pad. Therefore I could not operate this camera in Manual Modes (as I could not adjust any settings up) so I left it at Auto ISO in P mode with -1/3 exposure (which I cannot raise back up) and it still shot pretty consistently at these settings.
The A510 is still a clunky camera and is frustrating to use. Like many early 2000's digicams its slow to focus, often misfocuses and has a little bit of a shutter lag but its not the worst I've reviewed. It was an enjoyable enough experience doing Street Photography with this thing, improved over the A410 for sure, and I only wished the right menu button would have worked so I could have set the correct date or played with the Manual and Priority modes.
This camera also had a few accessory lenses which could be mounted on a filter adapter that clipped onto the accessory ring. My GF owns the adapter and two of the lens adapter (the Telephoto and Macro one) but I didn't unfortunately have a chance to use them.
Overall this is a good entry camera for those wanting the early/mid 2000's era "Digicam" look and feel. The Canon CCD is sharp and extremely vibrant. The 3.2mp sensor is just big enough for Social Media posts (they work out to be 2048 x X which is a pretty standard size for Flickr/Facebook/Instagram etc) so long as you don't crop them. As such none of my sample photos from the camera are cropped, and it really challenges you to look at composition as you shoot the photo as you don't have the wiggle room to crop it in POST like you do with more modern Digital cameras.
If you want to slow down and go to the very basics of a Digital Camera and learn about improving your Composition and being insanely patient with taking a photo the Canon A510 could be just right for you. If you want to shoot Nature Photography or your child's Soccer Game you should probably look for something a bit more advanced and less pokey to respond.
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