and while image quality was usually quite good, it had a limited range of sizes/resolutions he could take pictures. I rarely use my camera (mostly for vacation photos and cute moments with pets). I wanted a cheap Canon camera that would turn on quickly, shoot at higher resolutions (especially 1:1) and have better overall image quality than the IS 1200. I have been using this camera for a few months now. Overall Impression: Very pleased with the improvement in image quality over the 1200 IS. It performs significantly better in low light and the colors appear richer overall. It's very small, about the size of a deck of cards. The housing I used for the 1200 IS fits a little loosely on the ELPH 520. The camera menu navigation buttons on the back of the camera are different than most other Canon cameras and I initially HATE them. There is no external "Delete Image" button, and I couldn't easily find the delete option in the menu. I actually had to get my hands on the manual and look for instructions to find it. This camera takes 4-5 clicks to delete an image instead of 3 because it doesn't have an external delete button. Battery life isn't as good as the 1200 IS. I only use mine in short bursts, but I've noticed that at a similar usage rate, the camera needed to be charged sooner than my IS. - Uses a microSD card for storage. Luckily I already had a USB microSD card reader, but for others it's not as widely used as SD cards. I am generally satisfied with this camera. I think this is a good camera for the money and I definitely prefer its 1200 IS photo quality. But I'm not 100% sure I got the best camera for this price range (particularly because of the pesky button/menu design issues). [UPDATE 8/9/2014] Took this camera and my old vacation. (The battery life on this camera is so bad I didn't think it would last the full 5 days of vacation.) However, the image quality on this camera at maximum zoom is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the IS 1200. .
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