Canon sd-300 or Canon a-520?Need Help Choosing Cam!!

[slikk]

i need some serious help choosing my first digi cam..i have narrowed down my search to two canon cams coz i learned that canon cams are of superior quality.
Here are my requirements for a digi cam: I am not a professional photographer or a pro wanna be . I need the cam for simple use with good picture quality.price range is max 250$
The two choices that i have are

1) Canon Powershot sd-300
its costing me about 226$
sd300 uses lithium batteries which is like 15$. so if i get like 2/3 batteries , i never have to worry about batteries. I am so close to buy this cam but the thing that is keeping me off it the "LCD Problem", People have reported that its LCD is very fragile, some reported it cracked in 3 days. And it cost them 50 $ to replace it.
I am looking for an explanation or confirmation about this LCD Problem , if somebody can let me know what is the real deal with this LCD.

2) Canon Powershot a-520
its costing me about 186$
This camera is semi SLR(if im not mistaken). It is also 4 Mega pixel. uses 2 AA batteries.

Just dont know which one to choose among these two cams. I desparately need help choosing one of them :(

[tim11]

Looks like you are leaning to the A520? If so, what's the fuss?
What do you mean by semi SLR? Do you mean it still offers you control over shutter/aparture; etc? I will choose it for this reason alone, but there are more....
A520 has 4x optical zoom - S300 has 3x optical. A520 use 2AA, no report of LCD crack, and much cheaper.
Unless you are looking for ultra compact, there is no other good reason not to choose the A520. Also, unless there is evident that the S300 takes better photos.

p.s. Last but not least, A520 has much more preset scene modes if you don't really care about manual controls.

[slikk]

I dont really care about manual modes much. I like cams which are fully automatic, plus i like the fact that sd300 uses lithium battery. I dont know if thats a good feature or not. I am inclinded to buy sd300 because of its compactness but just that LCD Problem is stopping me.
SO you are recommending a 520??? The Cnet reviews give it a lower rating (6.1) than sd 300 (around 7 i think or higher)

[tim11]

........ i like the fact that sd300 uses lithium battery. I dont know if thats a good feature or not..... My own camera uses lithium battery and I don't have problem with that.


I am inclinded to buy sd300 because of its compactness but just that LCD Problem is stopping me. That would make any potential buyer nervous. There is a thread in Canon forum re. that problem in SD500, 400. There is on-going debate whether there is real problem or not. But from my point of view, if there is no problem why should anyone complain about it? Even if LCD problem confines to 1% of SD cams sale, you will just never know what side of statistic you will fall into. If you really like the SD300, all you can do is hoping for the best.


I dont really care about manual modes much. I like cams which are fully automatic....... The alternative (A520) has 12 preset scene modes while SD300 has 6.


The Cnet reviews give it a lower rating (6.1) than sd 300 (around 7 i think or higher) That's low... Is that rating for overall value or picture quality? or some other thing? Keep in mind that even professional reviews' opinion can vary.


SO you are recommending a 520??? I don't recommend 520 outright, but helping you doing an armchair analysis about pros & cons between the 2, and as an alternative 520 is not too bad.

Cheers.

[David Metsky]

I have heavily abused my SD300, winter backpacking, backcountry skiing, scrambling up mixed rock routes, and the LCD has held up fine. While I'm not dismissing the reports of LCD problems, it's not because the screen is fragile. If it was, mine would have died long ago.

-dave-

[tim11]

Slikk, sorry if you are still in square one and no nearer to a decision than before. But no one can just recommend you to get 520 instead when you seem set on the SD; that would be arrogant.
520 would be my choice though just because of the manual controls alone. :)
ON THE OTHER HAND:

I have heavily abused my SD300, winter backpacking, backcountry skiing, scrambling up mixed rock routes, and the LCD has held up fine. While I'm not dismissing the reports of LCD problems, it's not because the screen is fragile. If it was, mine would have died long ago.

There you go. There are many who support this view in Canon thread.

I personally doubt LCD crack for no reason. It has to have some causes - either physical stress or material expansion due to extreme weather; etc.
If you really like it, buy it but take extreme care.

[slikk]

what about sd200. does it has the same LCD problem ? and how is the camera itself?

[JTL]

what about sd200. does it has the same LCD problem ? and how is the camera itself?I've used all of the SD line pretty extensively...and I can't really recommend the SD200, unless you can't afford anything else. In my opinion, the two winners in the current SD line are the 300 and the 500. The 200 produces images with "jaggies" and the 400 has some noise...

Also, I carry my SD500 everyday unprotected in my front pockect (since March) with all my other junk (pens, keys, blackberry) and have had zero problems...

Now, I've got a plane to catch!