Canon EOS 550

[stan794]

Anyone got the above camera? As a total newbie i was thinking of getting one but wanted a bit of feedback from some users and some advice of lenses to get with it.

 

[Chambers]

I had the 450D and was over the moon with it, Ive only ready better things about the 550D. If I could justify one for the useage of it it would be my choice

 

[garethw]

Hi Stan,
A very good choice... it basically has the same insides as the EOS 7D but is made of plastic so less robust. In a non professional situation that's just fine as it also makes it lighter. It has buttons instead of the dials found on the dearer models (as a professional I prefer the dials..as they are less fiddly in the cold).
Video is really top notch.
Lenswise: if you get the kit lens with the body its ok... but slow and feels very cheap. Good lenses will cost more than the camera so you might want to look at brands like Sigma or Tamron that are excellent and cheaper than Canon. Basically you'll need a wide to standard zoom to start say 18-70 at the widest aperture you can afford. Constant aperture is preferable but these lenses are dear. After that a 70-200 zoom would be a great addition. Don't forget you don't get full frame chips with these cameras so a 200mm zoom will be around 250mm, which is nice for sports or wild life. Again get the widest aperture you can. All my pro lenses are constant f2.8 but if you get lenses around f4 you'll be fine. Once you get to F5.6 the AF has a harder job and the viewfinder gets much darker.
All in all a good choice of body.
Cheers
Gareth

 

[mgdaviso]

I've got two 450D bodies plus a couple of canon and sigma lenses - can't fault them. the 550d should be that much better ;-)

 

[garethw]

I've got two 450D bodies plus a couple of canon and sigma lenses - can't fault them. the 550d should be that much better ;-)

The 550D is a step up in quality due to numbers of pixels...12millions on the 450 and 18 on the 550..... It stil has pretty much the same ergonomics in a polycarbonate body shell.. The main and most significant addition is Full 1080 25p video capabilty... that's just awesome in such a cheap camera. Video is as good as the EOS 1 mk4 I used this year that costs £3500 for the body and equal to the EOS 7D due the the same chip. As I said a very good buy.
cheers
Gareth

 

[stan794]

Thanks guys. Got it today, been playing with it for a while, wow great camera, just have to learn a bit more so i can take it off auto lol.

 

[garethw]

Hi there
My favourite mode on a Canon is "TV"... You can set your shutter and the just adjust your aperture for the right exposure.
Don't forget to check out the awesome video it shoots.. On an HD TV it'll knock your socks off....
Enjoy
Gareth

 

[Gotte]

The only thing I'd add is that if you're using Windows, you'll need an uber computer to edit HD video footage. I'e got a quad core with 4 gig of ram, and with the latest editing software (supposedly) designed to work with the AVCHD and .mov formats, it's only just capable.

 

[garethw]

The only thing I'd add is that if you're using Windows, you'll need an uber computer to edit HD video footage. I'e got a quad core with 4 gig of ram, and with the latest editing software (supposedly) designed to work with the AVCHD and .mov formats, it's only just capable.

the .MOV files are Mpeg4 and are an envelope, a recording format, hightly compressed, not an editing format. It requires a lot computing power to handle...It needs to be converted.. I convert the files to Mpeg2 or XDcam HD or whatever. It is then far more editable on a more modest computer. There are several free or cheap programmes for converting Mpeg4 to a more managable format.I use Megstreamclip..free for both Mac and PC.
cheers
Gareth