3 cameras to choose from. Which one should I get?

Guysakar wrote:

Hello everyone,

I'm not finding much in the way of direct comparisons between these models.

Elph 520 HS

Elph 330 HS

PowerShot SX260

I wanted the 520 because of the small size relative to the zoom (and price) but then read where PC Mag gave it a bad review, claiming it has a tiny sensor and poor low light performance.

I though that these new back-illuminated CMOS's were studs at low light?

PC Mag then gave the 330 high praise. Which confuses me.

I really like the PowerShot SX260 and its zoom, but the 330 is newer (may have newer features?) and this is for my 70 year old mother who currently uses a Powershot A540 and will likely appreciate bells and whistles over minor differences in picture quality (minor to her, maybe...that's what I'm here to find out).

She rarely ever prints anything out, but her A540 let us down in a large way today. We were taking an important photo in mid light conditions with no flash and everything looked good on the camera itself, but when uploaded to laptop screen, the resolution was horrible.

She wants zoom, small size, good image quality (will likely never use anything but auto) and bells and whistles that she will likely never use. And of course battery life is nice too.

I have read that some of the new Elph's almost never need a flash their low light is so good. Is that true with any of the above?

In short (TL/DR) taking price out of it and the fact that the PowerShot SX260 has been a stud for so long, out of the three (or maybe there's a 4th option), is one head and shoulders above or below? Or should I just get here the most feature rich out of the three?

I very kindly thank you for any and all help.

Guysakar,

Your choices are kind of tough to compare.  All are kind of small p/s models.  But the SX260 has a good bit more zoom, which you mention as a more desirable feature.  First, no p/s in small sizes like these models is going to have extremely good low light sensitivity to take photos, without flash.  you need a faster lens (lower f) and larger image sensor to get the best low light performance.  That being said, however, the new Elph 330 HS has a slightly faster lens, and ISO 6400 capability, which would achieve slightly better low light photos, without flash, when that may be important.

If the longer zoom is important, then the SX260 would of course be the best choice of these three.  And the camera did fine in dpreview's test, so it would certainly be a good choice.

I would say your choice is narrowed to those two models.  The Elph 520 has a slower lens, and lower maximum ISO than the 330, so for the better low light performance, you should prefer the 330.

For a future "enthusiast", the SX260 has aperture and shutter priority, which the Elph models do not.  So, that may be something to consider.  (Elph's are more point/shoot, where the SX260 user can select shutter speed, or aperture, for specific kinds of photography)

Good choices, I think.

Glenn