Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR Camera (inc 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Kit)

I bought my 550d nearly a year ago, and Im as pleased with it now as I was then. It's still seems a very competitive product, thanks to the core imaging engine and feature set that defined a mid-level dSLR when it was launched 2 years ago. Compared to the 600d there's still a nice difference in the price which make the additional 600d features (which seem to mainly make the camera a better option if you are a big video fan) and flip out screen quite expensive if you dont need them. I "downgraded" from semi-pro Olympus equipment to the 550d and a small set of consumer lenses. My 18-135mm is on the camera 90% of the time, which makes for a very versatile and quite portable snapper capable of clean, rich images with quick enough reactions to capture all sorts of shots. The 55-250mm is a bargain telephoto and the 50mm f1.8 II is very useful too. The camera is great to hold and use, seems well made enough to stand up to sandy, sun-creamed hands, being carried over shoulders or shoved in and out of backpacks etc. Its worth protecting the screen with a good protector as it does seem quite vulnerable, especially compared to cameras that can turn their screen inwards. I just looked at the market and wondered what I could buy to replace/update it. I'm no expert, but for the money the 550d can now be obtained, I couldnt get anywhere near. Perhaps the stiffest competition to a system like a 550d these days comes from the compact systems camera world in that they have comparable image quality, more bells and whistles but are smaller and lighter. There are some wonderful looking products that probably do more and are smaller etc, but they are pricey compared to this! I wouldn't hesitate in recommending a 550d at these prices before they run out. You can get yourself a little nest of lenses for very reasonable money and have an excellent walkabout lens with a fast prime and a decent telephoto for a lot less money than the Olympus OM-D body only. Something like the GX1 with the powerzooms (the 14-42 folds small and turns that camera into a chunky compact) would be attractive as an allrounder to perhaps negate the need for a compact and a dSLR, but the 550d stands up very well as is a bot of a bargain I would say. Great product, has to be one of Canon's best.

The title sums up this review very well. This was my first ever DSLR camera and prior to this purchase I had no idea what an "aperture" was and what the "ISO" was or how metering worked. This camera revolutionized my way in which photography is viewed. BUILD QUALITY: Pretty good, you won't expect magnesium alloy build at this price. It's made of a pretty tough polycarbonate plastic that will be able to take its fair share of knocks. The lens mount is metal and the LCD screen glass, so it's a fair weight, nothing too heavy. PICTURE QUALITY: Very very very good for the price. It's price quality surpasses that of the "Daddy" Canon 7D at all ISO ranges (light sensitivity for beginners). It has 18 megapixels which is more than enough and pictures appear very sharp at low ISOs with a good lens. FEATURES: A good array of features which will interest the beginner. You can easily just shoot in Full Auto and not have to worry about the complex aspects of photography. You can set the ISO from Auto to 6400 with a H option (12 800) also available. The aperture can be changed like all DSLRS to adjust depth of field and to composite for low lighting conditions. The shutter speed can be also changed like all DSLRS from around 20 seconds to 1/4000, to allow you to freeze motion or blur it depending on the effect required. Metering can also be changed to allow spot metering, evaluative or centre metering. This means you can vary exposure depending on your scene. Full 1080p recording is also available in various frame rates, 720p and standard definition can also be recorded. There are also specific modes for Portraits, Landscapes and Night shots so the camera is better prepared to adjust the Aperture or Shutter Speed if you are not sure. PRICE: It's a steal. No wonder it's one of the most wished for items on Amazon and one of the most sold items in electronics on Amazon. At £500 you will NOT FIND A BETTER CAMERA body, add £200-£300 for a decent lens and you have a perfect kit to last you a lifetime (not to forget the little things like SD cards/ camera bag/ filters). OVERALL: Wow, I think canon regret making this camera. I'm sure it's affecting the sale of it's other lower level DSLRs, if I ever do get another camera It'll be the 5D Mark II, nothing inbetween can seriously outcompete this little gem of a camera. This might be the only step on my photography journey. :D

After a couple of weeks my findings : excellent camera, high quality photo's, benefits (like all camera's) from good glass in front. Good, usable, movie mode, really like the 640 crop which is great for astronomy. Live view with a 3 inch LCD (crystal clear as well) makes it so much easier to focus, especially for those of us from the wrinkly generation and without perfect eyesight (note that the view finder provides about 95% coverage not 100% and is slighly on the dull side compared to a 7D with the same glass in front for instance). And masses of options, not least of which is live view, did I mention that I think that's great. I should say that I only use either manual or A mode on the camera so have no idea what the custom modes are like. They were very good on my 20D so I assume that they will be excellent on the 550D. This camera was bought as a replacement for a 20D, got the 550D as I could not justify the price of either a 7D or a 5D Mk 2 and wasn't going to buy a 50D with 60D just around the comer. Couple of points to note however if, like me you are coming from a 20 30 40 or 50D. One is the lack of an LCD panel on the outside top of the camera takes some getting used to. I miss the convenience of a quick control dial on the camera rear, though there is a main dial top front which is multipurpose. The 550D, though it feels very well made is certainly not in the same league build wise as a 20D. If you are used to firing off lots of shots in burst mode, this camera may not be for you - I very rarely use burst but did the other day and noticed that it's nowhere near as quick to fire or refresh as the 20D. Also the `clunk' made by the camera when you take a picture sounds `cheap' (hope that makes sense). Final point for me, I much prefer the size and brightness of the AF focus points on a 20D. They appear larger and clearer on that camera, more than once with the 550D I've had to re-focus several times just to see exactly where the `live' focus point is. That, of course, may be me, but then this is my review :-) Overall great camera and I love it to bits, not least of all because it's so much lighter than a 20D.... UPDATE : September After several more weeks of use with various lens, I have to say I am very impressed indeed with the quality of the results. I take photo's with both RAW and JPEG switched on at the same time and honestly find that the JPEG's are more than good enough for most purposes. The colours are clear and bright and the level of detail is a delight. High ISO use has also been a revelation, ISO 800 is more than useable and I actually tried a couple of shots outside at night with little illumination at ISO 6400 and both pictures came out well enough to see the subject clearly. Although there was a lot of noise I did not think it excessive, more like that you get from a B&W photo from a newspaper if you enlarge it, so still usable.... I don't have any L lens at the moment so am using a Canon 10-22, a Canon 17-55 and an old Canon 75-300 and I can honestly say that even when enlarged to 200% I have noticed very little, if any, drop off in sharpness, I realise that in part that is down to the lens but I never got the same level of detail with the 20D so the 550D must be doing something right. If you want to see some examples of what the 550D can do, even in the hands of a poor photographer, there are a lot of examples on Flickr.

I had a bridge camera, ideal for what I'd first started out photographing, but getting into a new hobby, I needed something better, and friends recommended the Canon EOS 550D. I read reviews and even professionals gave it good write-ups. My cousin in a professional photographer and thought it would be an ideal camera for me. On receiving it, and the daunting instruction book, I read the basics and went off once the battery had charged. It has a long enough battery life for me to be out for over 4 hours, mainly on the extension of the 70-300mm lens I have also purchased, and I've got some of the best photographs I have ever taken. Close ups of birdlife are exquisite, you can see every fibre on a feather, it takes excellent moving shots, particularly flying geese, ducks, buzzards, and yesterday, with the sun above it, a beautiful gull, the sun through it's wings. Easy to use, easy to adjust the settings, I am really enjoying this. People said I would need a tripod, but for my current requirements, I got a monopod and have only used it once. The camera is easy enough to wield myself. If I were sitting birdwatching, which I will do in the summer, I would need to use support. If you are looking for a great camera, not overly expensive, I would recommend this one. PS, the only way I can download my photos is by inserting the SD card into my computer, cannot get the wire connection to work.

I had tentatively considered buying a DSLR camera and had spent several months wondering which one it might be. Canon seemed the obvious choice, after recommendations from everyone I know with any experience on this subject. I'd pored over the manufacturers specifications and had thought the 450d seemed ideal, but then noticed the 500d looked more capable for comparatively little extra cost. Just as I thought I'd made up my mind, the 550d came onto the market, with newer processor, far higher mega-pixel rate and capable of taking HD quality video AND for very little more than the 500d. The problem was that delivery would be 1-3 months down the line and I really wanted to get hold of it before my holiday, so I ordered it right then (Sunday night). On the Tuesday I received an e-mail saying that delivery would be sooner than expected and then Friday morning it was delivered. I only spent the briefest time studying the instructions before I was off and using it, so the basic functions at least are simple enough (here I'd like to point out that despite the spec stating that battery and charger wouldn't be included, I was pleased to see that they in fact were and following a quick run down to Tesco for a decent quality SD card, I was in business). The pictures I've taken so far have been surprisingly good, which is more a testiment to the wizardry in the processor and the 18-55mm IS lense than my amateur fumblings. In time I hope to learn how to use more of this superb piece of kit's capabilities and progress onto shooting in RAW. I've added a 55-250mm IS lense for those long range shots and results so far have been very pleasing, so if anyone were to ask me if this was an idiot-proof camera, I'd have to say that it is at the very least idiot compatible and I suspect very capable of much higher things; time will tell no doubt! In the meantime, I'm enjoying learning to use the camera. I'd conclude that this is a superb piece of kit and good value for what it is. Am I pleased with it....... I'd say delighted would be a better description.

Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR Camera (inc 18-55 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Kit) I have been using this camera for about a year now, and it is used extensively throughout the photography course that I teach. I found it to be truly amazing and one of the best cameras I have used. Although I have read articles reporting that photographs taken using the supplied EFS 18-55mm lens were not great, I have had no problems and found the images to be fantastic. It is a camera for both the novice beginner and the enthusiastic amateur and comes with a lot of features. Hopefully you will see that a whole new world waits to be photographed. Other equipment that maybe required: Flash memory card (class 10) - 32GB/64GB (for video use) Extra batteries/Battery Grip BG-E8 (the grip adds extra weight and houses 2 batteries) Lens cleaning tool (for cleaning dust/watermarks) UV filters (protects lens from dust and scratches - cheaper than buying a replacement lens) An extension eye piece (for those people like myself who wear glasses) Zoom lens - EFS 55-250mm (for getting closer from a distance) Shutter release cable/IR shutter release remote (either or both - stops camera shakes plus you can put yourself in the picture) Auto focus macro extension tubes (for getting up close to small objects - cheaper than a macro lens and will help hone manual focus skills)

This is an amazing camera, I bought the Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR Camera (inc 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Lens Kit) version. It was very costly (for a guy whos used to paying less than £200 for a point-and-click camera!) but worth every penny. You can see the difference in the quality of the photographs straight away from our old Sony cybershot 12MP. I have never been lucky enough to own a SLR camera before and took the time to read/learn about photography - you will need to do this also if you want to really get the best use out of the camera. Worth every penny. The only downside to this camera is the HD video recording capability. It does record amazing quality video, dont get me wrong but zooming is a real issue. You can zoom by twisting the lens but its not exactly smooth and focus is also lost. So you zoom and then have to click a button to make it focus again (which takes a second of in-out-in-out focusing). If you want to record video then I would recommend a seperate camcorder (probably a Panasonic HD).

I bought this camera for its video capabilities - near enough a 35mm cine size sensor, 48Mbps, interchangeable lenses etc. Stills are perfectly fine and I shoot in RAW, using Photoshop Elements for post processing. Now then, the video. If you are switching from a camcorder you will be in for a technical ride of biblical proportions. Audio - is pretty much useless, AGC cannot be disabled. You will need a good mike and a digital audio recorder (about £300) and then synch it up in edit. I do not expect great audio processing from a consumer DSLR but I am knocking off a star for the AGC business. Focusing - the mirror is locked up during video, so you cannot use the viewfinder. This means focusing with the LCD screen. You are going to need a magnifying loupe like the Zacuto (£300) if you are serious - the cheaper ones either do not magnify or do not have diopter adjustment. Exposure - There is no metering information for filming in manual. Auto is not going to work as it changes ISO and shutter speed dynamically, ruining the shot with high ISO grain or breaking the 180 rule (the shutter speed should be twice the frame rate). Aliasing - the sensor skips lines to keep up the data rate. It then backfills the missing information through extrapolation based on the lines above and below that it did capture. This is called aliasing and means jagged, weird moving lines (moiré) when filming striped clothing, fences, brickwork, roof tiles etc. This will ruin the shot and must be taken into account. It is worse at 720p. Editing - the workflow is not trivial. You will need to know what you are doing with intermediate codecs, transcoding and colour grading to get the best out of it. Kit Lens - it's not great. Cheap, slow and a bit soft. I dumped mine on eBay for £70 and bought some better, faster glass. The Canon 50mm f1.8mm MkII is a bargain. Did I mention the rolling shutter effect? You can Google for that, I don't have the space or time. If you are after a shallow depth of field in daylight then you will also need ND filters to get a lower f-stop. This is because shutter speed and ISO will be locked down and a wide aperture produces less DOF, so you have to cut out a lot of light getting to the sensor. This camera is not for casual, auto video, but it can produce astonishing images with a lot of work. It will test you every step of the way, thinking about aperture, shutter speed, ISO, depth of field, stability, audio.. the lot. To be fair, the focussing, aliasing and rolling shutter issues are common to nearly all these types of DSLRs. I was aware of all of this before I bought it and I am enjoying learning about the technical challenges but please don't get this camera for video if you have no idea what I have just been talking about. If you still buy it for video, then welcome to the new revolution!