Canon 550D Kit Review – 18.1 MP SLR Digital Camera :

Canon 550D is a SLR camera of 18 megapixels which provides good quality images. This camera has features which may be better than other cameras of same price but its physical look is not very attractive. Canon 550D is available in the market for Rs.38,795 so people who are passionate for cameras buy this one.

Sensor and Image

Canon 550D is a SLR camera which is of total 18.7 megapixels but effective megapixel is 18. By seeing the megapixel of this camera, you can easily understand that this camera is not at all for people who have never used a camera. Hence this is an entry level standard SLR camera for people whose passing is to capture good quality images. Sensor type of this camera is CMOS, sensor format is APS-C and sensor size is 1.07₺. Other than this, this camera has focal length multiplier, color length filter and self cleaning. But this camera doesn’t have sensor-shift stabilization.

When image of this camera is considered, it can be called a good SLR camera because it allows different resolutions in order to suit the conditions of capturing pictures. Resolutions of this camera are 5184×3456, 3456×2304 and 2592×1728. Format in which images are stored in this camera are JPEG and CR2 RAW whereas videos are stored in .MOV format. Resolutions in which videos are stored are 1920×1080, 1280×720 and 640×480. Hence when overall features of sensor and image are considered, camera should get good rating because most of the features are good and important.

Optics and Focus

Focal length of Canon 550D is 29-88mm and normal focal range is 25cm to infinity. This camera has Canon EF lens mount and Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS kit lens. It provides optical image stabilization and it has 3x zooming capacity which enables the user to capture clear image only up to certain extent. You just can’t expect to capture an object which is located far away because zooming capacity of this camera will not support this.

When focus is taken into consideration, this camera is excellent because it has terrific focus features. This includes manual focus, face detection and auto focus assist light. Other than this auto focus is also available and auto focus type is AF-dedicated CMOS Sensor, 9-point, center cross-type high-precision at f/2.8 and light source detection.

Exposure and Flash

In exposure, ISO settings include Auto, 100 – 6400 in 1/3 or 1EV steps and H=12800 and auto ISO mode is also present. It has several white balance settings like auto, daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten and white fluorescent. It has shutter priority, aperture priority, full manual exposure, self timer and program AE. It also has built-in flash which ensures better image.

Storage and connectivity

When storage and connectivity of Canon 550D is considered, it has a fair overall feature in this category. Usable memory types of this camera are SD/ SDHC and SDXC. Connectivity of this camera is good because it has several options like composite video out, HD video out, USB2.0, remote control and video usable as viewfinder.

Physical features

Dimension of this SLR camera is 130×97×76mm and weight is 736g after including kit lens. LCD screen size of this camera is 3₺. Though the physical features are not much attractive yet people don’t mind buying it for its other features.