I am well aware that very few of the user review comments had a negative experience with build quality, however, I did, and I described my problems in detail.
Perhaps it will be helpful to anyone else who runs into these same problems.
Unless someone looks at large numbers of any camera you cannot seriously evaluate quality control. It really is a problem of statistical sampling. So, it is possible, and perhaps even quite likely that the problems I experienced with my sample are very rare and not representative of this camera line. I was not giving the final word on quality control, I raised the possibility, because of my sample, that it was not up to the usual Canon standard.
Furthermore, Phil's official review, is positively glowing about the build quality. My sample appears to be the only one (that anyone has posted) w any problems. As far as the feel of the A510 (and I would guess A520 which is very similar) compared to the older A60, A70, A85, A95 series all of which took 4 AA cells and had a larger grip, this is a matter of personal preference.
I disagree with Phil -I think the older series had a much better feel and build quality.
There is no arguing with personal preference, no matter how outlandish or silly it may appear to another person. You can however judge whether the "reasoning" given for personal preference makes any sense to you or not.
I just compared the A510 with an A95, and I really like the heavier, more hefty feel of the A95. I find it easier to hold with one hand, and the greater weight, I believe makes for steadier shooting under low light levels when using longer exposure times in the absence of flash illumination.
I wrote my original note and now this one, a bit more tempered with the benefit of additional information, to help people with making their camera purchases.
A silly comment like "what do you expect for $200" is almost not worth commenting on. However I will. I do not expect such a camera to not release the SD card. Also having used A60, A70 etc. I expected the feel of the controls to be similar, to be of reasonable quality, and I was disappointed. Other than for these mechanical problems I was quite positive about the camera -assuming you read my comments fully and also looked at my ratings.
Choose wisely,
Dan
