Useful Tips

Canon EOS 550D camera review

Canon EOS 550D camera review

Introduction

Canon EOS 550D is a new mid-range camera released by Canon based on the popular EOS 500D camera, it has a new 18 megapixel CMOS sensor, the maximum ISO value is increased to 6400, and video recording is improved. Add to that the high resolution of the screen and the improved dimensions of the case.

Design and use

The 18-megapixel sensor gives a wider ISO range, 6400 is now available in the standard range, and provides much more resource for low-light shooting. Equivalent ISO12800 can be used with the Sensitivity Expansion function. New to the camera is the Auto ISO function, with which you can specify the maximum value for ISO sensitivity. This is a very important addition as it allows the user to avoid choosing very high ISO values.

In the camera, the screen resolution has been increased from 920,000 pixels to 1,040,000. The screen of this camera is bright and contrasting. At the same time, it is sharp enough to check the focusing quality. Despite a slight increase in screen resolution, the new screen is easier to use during the day. It helps a lot when it comes to using video shooting.

The metering system has also undergone modernization. The camera has a new dual iFCL sensor using 63-zones for metering. The company uses the same sensor in the 7D camera. Its work is based on the use of distance to the subject, its color and brightness to select the correct exposure. Not just the brightness readings used by Canon's previous metering systems. This is not a new concept, Nikon has been using 3D color matrix metering in many of their cameras since 1996.

Even the shooting function has been improved in this camera. The frame rate has been increased to 30fps when using 1080p resolution. Of course, you can choose a slower frame rate of 25 or 24 frames per second for smaller footage. However, this camera also offers a high shooting speed of up to 60 frames per second, which can be used at 720p resolution. An interesting creative effect can be achieved by using a faster video shooting speed. Slow motion is produced when the video is played at normal speed. It also became possible to set exposure values ​​manually. Plus there is a connector for connecting an external microphone. All of these innovations may be of interest to people who want to record videos.

It should be borne in mind that the SD card must be at least sixth grade in order for the camera to have time to record HD video. If you use a slower card, the camera will try to save frames to the clipboard, and then rewrite them to the card. When played back with Canon software, the video at 30fps looks very clear and smooth. True, there were problems with the playback of the same frames in Windows Media Player and Quick time. But it is possible that both programs need an update to work properly with this video.

When developing the camera, the Canon design team was guided by the principle "If the camera does not break, it will not need to be repaired." Users of older Canon DSLRs will feel quite comfortable with the EOS 550D. The body has undergone several changes from its predecessor. One such change is a new Live View / Record button located to the right of the viewfinder.This new button activates Live View while shooting, and allows you to enable video recording with a single tap. New is also the direct print button, which is used to directly access the direct print menu. The Optimal Interface improves the operational control of the camera by allowing you to quickly adjust settings using the icons on the LCD screen. Some of the buttons on the back have been slightly enlarged, making them more comfortable for people with larger hands, although they are still small to be used with gloves. For a camera weighing only 530g, this model is quite solid. Fiberglass-reinforced polycarbonate is used in most exterior structures and does not flex when deformed like some cameras made of plastic. The pleasant grip of the camera is enhanced by a soft rubber material that provides a good grip when shooting. As in previous models, the grip is rather small, so people with hand sizes above average will have to get used to the small grip.

Exposure metering

The IFCL system works well for most typical survey situations. However, when shooting in aperture-priority (Av), shutter-priority AE (Tv), or manual modes, metering will not work well in situations where there is a lot of contrast. You will have to use exposure compensation to improve. For example, if the sky is much brighter in the background than in the foreground, or if the subject is dark, light, or highly illuminated. True, the same errors appear in all multi-zone metering systems of any manufacturer. The camera also has center-weighted, partial and spot metering. It is worth noting that the exposure compensation range has been increased from +/- 2 EV to +/- 5 EV, allowing you to shoot in more extreme lighting conditions. The manufacturer has added Canon's Auto Lighting feature to the camera, which helps increase detail in dark areas of an image without causing loss in lighter areas. You can set four levels of function.

Selecting a scene preset mode can greatly affect exposure. For example, in Landscape mode, images have not only increased contrast and saturation values, but also darkened in some parts of the image. Therefore, the Auto Lighting function will help to preserve as much detail as possible in the dark and bright areas of the image.

without using Auto Lighting

using Auto Lighting

Focusing

The diamond-shaped area of ​​nine focus points can be selected manually or automatically by the camera. With automatic selection, the camera is not mistaken in most cases, but for more important situations, such as shooting with a maximum aperture, manual selection of focus areas is the best option. Canon has built a reputation for making good focusing systems. So in this case, the autofocus system works at the highest level. 1-point-tracking AF quickly identifies and adjusts accurately to your subject, especially when using the center point. Therefore, all images are sharp.

Continuous tracking AF shows similar results, although, of course, it cannot keep up with very fast moving objects. But it works well for a camera of this level. In LiveView mode, two focusing systems are available - contrast and fast. The first one has been significantly improved compared to previous Canon models, it takes about a second to adjust to a static subject in good lighting. But in poor lighting conditions, the system can take up to five seconds to tune. The second, the so-called fast mode, is, of course, faster and more reliable, its disadvantage is the lack of an image on the screen while focusing the camera, which is not very good, especially if the subject is in motion.

Sharpness.

Canon used to be criticized for not getting very sharp pictures on some cameras. I would like to note that the new camera is capable of taking pictures with excellent detail and level of sharpness. This can be clearly seen in the picture of an old watch taken with the EF 18-55 IS lens.

This picture was taken in JPEG format. Every detail of the watch turned out to be very clearly visible, without any additional processing. Therefore, most pictures can be printed directly from the camera. When using RAW format and post-processing with Canon DPP software, the image is slightly sharper, but the difference between shots is not so big and is only visible at 100% magnification on the screen.

Noise.

With each increase in the number of megapixels in the matrix, we are afraid of an increase in noise at high sensitivity values. However, the 18-megapixel sensor in this camera handles noise well enough up to ISO800. At ISO1600, the color saturation decreases slightly in areas where noise reduction has been used. The image resolution obtained at this value also suffers from image anti-aliasing. The pixels that are processed by the noise reduction function are mostly monochrome, although there are not that many of them even at ISO3200. Images captured using ISO6400 start to look a little fuzzy and color saturation decreases. However, the results will still produce acceptable prints with an average photo size. And finally, the ISO12800 value. To be honest, this is a fantastic light sensitivity value, however, compared to older cameras, the images will look more than acceptable, for example, for viewing on the Internet. But the loss of resolution, blurring of the image due to noise and loss of contrast will prevent you from using images for more serious tasks.

Color rendering.

At the default settings, the EOS 550D tends to make reds, pinks and yellows more saturated, but subtle tones such as skin tones tend to be reproduced fairly accurately. If you prefer even richer or softer colors, the camera has six preset sets and three user-definable sets.

White balance

Using auto for white balance works reasonably well during the daytime and surprisingly well with some tungsten sources. When shooting in a room lit by a warm halogen lamp, the camera compensates for the light, resulting in a softer image. The manual selection of the incandescent lamp gave a much more pleasant warm tone. Therefore, using a custom white balance setting is the only way to provide more accurate colors in an image.

Battery.

Despite the small size of the camera, the LP-E8 battery pack has enough power. More than 350 shots can be taken during the day, and even after recording half an hour of high-definition video, the battery indicator still shows the charge.

A few sample shots taken with the Canon EOS 550D

Conclusion.

As mentioned earlier, the Canon EOS 550D is considered the little brother of the 7D, but it has several additional features that can make shooting more enjoyable, such as improved Auto ISO, higher screen resolutions and better placement of controls. In addition, the camera shows excellent performance and will find many fans among people who love to take photos and are interested in high quality video recording.

pros

  • Changed Auto ISO function
  • High resolution LCD screen
  • Quick control
  • Large buttons
  • Extending Exposure Compensation Range

Minuses

  • Small buffer for RAW images
  • Autofocus when using LiveView mode
$config[zx-auto] not found$config[zx-overlay] not found