The entry to mid-range DSLR market is a crowded place. You can now get a digital SLR for as less as Rs 20k, lesser than many of the glitzy compact cameras around. And as any photography enthusiast will tell you, with an SLR, the quality of photographs you can take increases exponentially, just because of the high quality optics, larger CMOS sensor and advanced image processing engines.
The EOS 550D sits squarely between the absolute entry-level (read Rs 20k range of the Canon EOS 1000D and Nikon D3000) and the ?lower-end? professional Canon EOS 7D which retails for Rs 120k with kit lens. Both have similar specifications, with similarly sized and specced CMOS sensors and identical megapixel counts. They both have Canon?s DIGIC IV processor (although the EOS 7D has two of them), both of them have high resolution, 3-inch LCDs and both of them are capable of shooting full HD video.
Visually, the EOS 550D looks identical to the EOS 450D and 500D, save for the placement of a few buttons. The LCD is a departure from the conventional; it?s a 3-inch widescreen LCD with an anti-glare coating and a resolution that?s three times higher than most other DSLRs. This means that you can now rely on the LCD to review your photographs and even compose them with Live View.
You have 9 selectable auto focus points to choose from and focus lock is achieved in a split second under most conditions. The only time you?ll find the camera hunting to lock focus is in low light in one of the manual modes (where the AF assist light does not come on).
Since we have both the EOS 550D (Rs 49k with 18-55 mm kit lens) and the EOS 7D (Rs 122k with 18-135 mm kit lens), we could compare the HD video results from both cameras. The video quality from the 550D is identical to the 7D, which says a lot. You can really utilise the shallow depth of field and different frame rates to achieve an almost professional look. You don?t have the option to autofocus during shooting a video though. One important addition is the stereo microphone input. Since the camera body has a single microphone, videos will only have mono sound unless you connect a stereo mic using the standard 3.5 mm connector.
A couple of small problems to report. A single video clip size is limited to 4GB. When the file size reaches 4GB, the video will stop even if you have a larger capacity memory card. This is actually not a limitation of the camera, but of the FAT 32 file format system (by which mandate any single file cannot be larger than 4GB). However, this is not a major issue since 4GB will get you 12 minutes of full HD video at a stretch. The mini HDMI output on the side of the camera outputs both HD video and audio.
This is the preferred connection to a flat panel TV, but the cable is not included in the box. Finally, the 550D looks just too similar to even the Rs 20k EOS 1000D. Maybe a few design highlights would have helped.
Overall, although the EOS 550D is ?just an upgrade? to the EOS 500D, the incremental upgrades have been applied where they matter the most. This is now a really solid performer which can keep up with even the most demanding enthusiast.
? CyberMedia http://www.LD2.in Mail: talkLD@cybermedia.co.in