I have a Canon Power Shot A520 and have just put in a new memory card 4GB and new batteries. When I turn on camera is says memory card error at the top of the sceen. Why is that?

• remove the memory card clean the contacts if you encounter the same problem try replacing the memory card

pull mem card, pull battery. wait 10 secs reinstall battery, turn on.
if all is well, and just needs mem card, turn off, install card, turn back on.
if you get the memory card error, throw away that mem card, anything else you put it in, might get damaged.

The 4 GB memory card is not compatible with the camera. It's a SDHC card (high capacity) and the A520 only supports SD cards. (The difference between the SD and the SDHC is similar to that of single layer and dual layer optical discs. Not all drives can handle both formats.)

Documentation for the camera is here: http://usa.canon.com/cusa/support/consumer/digital_cameras/powershot_a_series/powershot_a520#BrochuresAndManuals .

I wish that I had better news for you.

Cindy Wells

Is the new card more than 2GB? 4GB "SD" cards are almost always actually SDHC (high capacity) cards. Anything larger than that certainly is (and a few 2GB cards as well). SD and SDHC cards fit the same slots, but they are slightly different electrically. Many cameras won't work with SDHC cards. SDHC is not backwards compatible.

hear you go try out this place http://photo.net/digital-camera-forum/00FAos

There are several possible causes for "memory card locked" or "memory card error". Some include trying to use of a 4GB SDHC card with an older camera made before SDHC format came out (such as the A520). Others include problems with the switch on the side of the card, and the switch internal to the camera. The problem may also arise from simple formatting problems if the card has never been formatted in the camera (note that this will also erase the card). Troubleshooting tips for this problem may be found at this link.

Is it a new 4GB memory card? If so that might be your problem. The card would likely be an SDHC card, and your camera was designed well before the SDHC format came out. Your camera can only use standard SD cards (2GB or less).

But if the card is less than 2GB, it could have become corrupted. In this case you could try formatting the card in the camera to see if this would rejuvenate it. This will also erase the card. See this post if you wish to first recover those pictures.

Finally, if this is occurring with multiple cards, and is also saying "card locked" even though the tiny slide switch is in the unlocked position, then see this post for a possible remedy.

If you no longer have your manual, download it here; it will have all the detail you need:

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&tabact=DownloadDetailTabAct&fcategoryid=320&modelid=11125

So do I? Help plizzzz !

Here are some simple things to try first for a camera that won't power on. Recommend trying the first step listed for the A520:
http://camerarepair.blogspot.com/2007/11/simple-fix-for-dead-cameras-that-wont.html