Digital Camera Review: Canon EOS 550D

The Canon EOS 550D is a tempting proposition if you are looking to move on from an entry-level DSLR to bigger things.

IF YOU are an amateur photographer who’s grown tired of the limitations of your entry level DSLR camera, you may consider upgrading to a mid-range DSLR.

The Canon EOS 550D fits that description nicely and it comes with a slew of drool worthy features such as the 18-megapixel resolution that it inherits from the higher-end EOS 7D.

It also boasts improved full 1080p HD video recording, which is now capable of recording smoother 30 frames per second (fps) videos.

Design

From the outset, the 550D looks and feels like its predecessor the EOS 500D. It’s a very lightweight camera even with its supplied 18-55mm kit lens mounted. This makes it great for travel. Certainly, it’s better than lugging a bigger DSLR camera around on your travels.

The 550D feels great in the hand with a nice rubber grip providing ample room to hold the camera firmly. On the downside though, the grip may be too small for users with large hands.

The 3in LCD screen serves well for framing shots in Live View mode as well when recording videos. The screen’s refresh rate is very smooth so it looks almost as good as you would see it on the viewfinder.

Control-wise, the the 550D is similar to the 500D. The button layout remains the same but gone are the small rounded buttons, which are now replaced by larger square buttons that are easier to press.

SIMPLE LAYOUT: On the back of the 550D you'll find a nice large
3in LCD display and well spaced buttons that are within easy reach.

Another subtle change is the placement of a dedicated Live View/Movie record button to the right of the viewfinder for recording videos and engaging the Live View mode.

The 550D still operates on a single rotating dial so it still depends on using a “quick select” button to change camera settings when shooting in manual mode.

As to be expected, the 550D’s mode dial comes with all kinds of modes to choose from. However, the movie record mode is located on the opposite end of the dial from the creative shooting modes. This makes it very inconvenient to quickly switch between shooting still photos to recording videos.

A handful of basic automatic shooting modes like the full Auto mode helps less experienced users. A semi automatic mode called Creative Auto also serves as a beginner-friendly aperture priority mode that basically simplifies things.

Instead of turning the dial to change the f-number, it presents an on-screen slider to adjust the depth-of-field. Also present is another slider to adjust for exposure compensation.

Of course, the 550D comes with the regular creative shooting modes that you’d come to expect. Mainstays like Aperture and Shutter Priority, Program plus Manual shooting modes are all present here.

Performance

In use, the 550D has a quick to startup time of under a second, making it handy for those spontaneous situations when you need the camera to snap to action.

Combining the camera’s quick autofocus and 3.7 shots per second continuous shooting speed, the 550D is just the camera to have around when you’ve need to capture fast moving action scenes.

Aside from automatic and manual autofocus point selection, the 550D also gives you face detection under the Live View mode, which works fine when you need to take pictures of people.

The camera by default uses contrast dectection autofocus in Live View mode to lock in on subjects. However its really slow as it takes three to five seconds to fix a focus.

There’s however a faster focusing mode called Quick mode, which flips the mirror up and uses the camera’s normal autofocus, briefly taking a one to two seconds to focus. Most surprisingly it is almost as quick as using the optical viewfinder so there’s no issue when shooting fast subjects.

The standard 18-55mm kit lens provided in the bundle served us well for day-to-day usage. It is a decent all around lens that gets the job done for situations when you need to go from wide to tele at a moment’s notice. It isn’t the sharpest lens in the drawer but it gets the job done.

Variety: The 550D has lots of different
shooting modes to choose from

There’s noticeable barrel distortion when shooting at the widest angle though it is easily corrected in post editting. Built-in image stabilisation comes in handy when shooting in low light conditions but a good steady hand is still needed.

I have to say I came away pretty pleased with the pictures taken on the 550D. The image quality is simply fantastic — most came off crisp, sharp and full of detail.

The 550D handled high dynamic range scenes reasonably well, keeping a balance in details from getting too underexposed or blown out.

Even more impressive is the 550D’s ISO performance, which allowed us to take pictures very well under low light conditions. The 550D has a very diverse ISO range running from 100 all the way up to 6400.

An ISO test I did showed that the camera was very competent in shooting from ISO 100 to ISO 400 as it showed little signs of noise or degradation interms of sharpness. At ISO 800 there’s visible loss in detail and softness in an image though the camera does output impressively well-lit pictures at ISO 3200. Pictures were only too grainy and unusable at ISO 6400.

Overall, the 550D takes decent quality photos even at ISO 3200 that I didn’t need a fast prime lens to take pictures under poor lighting conditions.

Granted there’s still a high degree of noise reduction in the photos. The bottom line is the 550D is an amazing performer in low light situations and the overall results are stunning for a mid-range DSLR camera.

The battery performance is also pretty decent as it can last through a whole day of heavy shooting.

Smooth videos

Canon has impressed users in the past with the 7D’s video recording capabilities. The 550D inherits much of the same features from its higher-end cousin as it offers the option to record videos in full 1080p high definition or at a lower 720p resolution.

Switching to the video mode engages Live View mode automatically where you can begin to record videos as well as shoot photos. The autofocus during video recording is still slow so you’re better off using manual focus to quickly focus on something. This also lets you get creative with out-of-focus into focus shots.

The 550D benefits from a few marked improvements that enhance its overall video quality. 1080p videos now run smoother at up to 30fps over the previous 24fps on the 500D. In the same way, 720p videos have received a big boost with a doubling of the frame rate to 60fps as compared to 30fps on the previous model.

Whichever resolution you choose, there’s no denying that the 550D takes some great-looking videos. The higher resolution 1080p videos definitely pack more detail but I personally prefer to shoot in 720p because it takes up less storage space and looks much better when it comes to motion.

Under good sunny conditions, videos show lots of detail and the silky smooth captures of moving subjects look amazing during playback. Judging from the quality of the videos, I have to say that the 550D shoots some of the best videos that I’ve seen recorded on a DSLR.

Even in dark conditions the camera holds up very well with subjects still very visible under low light. The trade-off, however, is there’s more grain and noise present due to the higher ISO level.

Conclusion

Overall, the Canon EOS 550D is a great camera that’s chock full of features. Its lightweight and compact design make it a great camera for travel.

The increase to 18-megapixels gives an added advantage to 550D as it can capture highly detailed pictures. Image quality overall is great and shows accurate, rich colours in photos.

There are other notable enhancements on the 550D too — it’s got a faster continuous shooting for capturing sporting events and above-average ISO performance for better pictures in low light situations.

The single most impressive improvement in the 550D, however, is its superb HD video recording capabilities. This really makes the camera an all-in-one package for holidays when you need a camera that both shoots great looking photos and terrific videos.

Still the video recording mode could’ve been much improved if there was a dedicated video record button instead of cycling to an entirely different mode to start recording.

All in all, the 550D has a lot going for it and it is a great camera to consider for both pros as a secondary camera or beginners who want to upgrade from their entry-level DSLR camera.

Pros: Good image quality; great looking videos; terrific ISO performance.

Cons: Slow video autofocus speeds; no quick way to begin video recording.

Canon EOS 550DDigital SLR
LENS: 18-55mm f/3.5-f/5.6 IS
SENSOR: 18-megapixels (5,184 x 3,456-pixels)
ISO RANGE: 100 - 6400
EXPOSURE MODES: Auto, Program, Shutter priority, Aperture priority, Manual, Creative Auto, Auto Depth of Field, Scene Modes
VIDEO CAPTURE: 1080p (up to 30fps), 720p (up to 60fps), VGA (up to 60fps) in .MOV format
VIEWFINDER: 3in LCD
BATTERY: Battery pack LP-E8
STORAGE: SD, SDHC, SDXC card
INTERFACE: USB 2.0
OTHER FEATURES: Built-in flash
DIMENSIONS (W x H x D): 128.8 x 97.5 x 75.3mm
WEIGHT: 475g