After having a generally positive experience with the
7.1-Megapixel Canon PowerShot SD500, I bought the Canon PowerShot SD550 with 2.5-inch LCD screen. The pleasant surprise was the fact that I paid less for it than I did for the SD500: $380. I paid $401 for the SD500, but it now can be bought for about $350.
Pictures
The pictures of the
Canon PowerShot SD550 and the sample photos taken with it are available at the address below:
http://www.review-shop.com/Canon_SD550/Canon_SD550_Samples_1.html
You can copy and paste the above address into your browser's address area.
What Is Canon PowerShot SD550?
The Canon PowerShot SD550 is a 7.1-Megapixel super-compact stylish digital camera with a 3x optical zoom (37-111 mm equivalent), a large 2.5-inch LCD screen, zooming optical viewfinder, acclaimed fast Canon DiG!C II (DIGIC 2) Image Processor, 9-area smart AiAF auto focus, powered by a compact rechargeable battery.
The SD550 stores pictures on SD (Secure Digital) or MultiMedia memory cards (32 MB SD card is included) and features fast USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to PC and Mac computers. It also supports direct printing (without computer) with PictBridge compatible printers.
The SD550 is very similar to the SD500, but has a larger LCD screen (2.5 inches vs. 2.0) and has other small differences from the SD500. The camera features a maximum aperture range of f/2.8-4.9 and shutter speed range of 1/2,000-15 sec.
Two Reviews
I will provide two reviews below. The first one (short version) will be targeted to people who don't want to read through multiple pages of text to figure out if the camera has what they want and if it performs well. It is targeted to a casual user rather than somebody who cares about the small details.
The second version will contain the description of the more advanced aspects for those who are interested in them. By separating this information, I hope to avoid boring casual shooters to death with information about things they might not need.
Short Review
Upon receipt of the SD550, I was surprised how similar to the SD500 it was. The SD550 is slightly larger than either of the 5-Megapixel
Canon SD400 or
SD450. The SD550 comes with everything you need to start using it, but the memory card is only 32 MB in size and cannot store many photos at top resolution.
The camera also comes with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack and a compact charger that plugs into an AC outlet. The charger is compact, has foldable prongs and works in any country (voltage-wise, but you might have to get the plug adaptor).
The battery pack is small and looks more like a cell phone battery. The camera itself is very cool. It is miniature, looks nice and has sturdy feel. It is not as shiny as cheaper SD400 and SD450 and I have to admit that I like the way the SD400 and SD450 look better.
The SD550 has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens automatically when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes.
The camera has an on/off button on the top deck as well as a zoom rocker and a large shutter release button. The bottom of the camera has a metal threaded tripod mount and a battery and SD card compartment lid. The lid is improved comparing to the other cameras of the Canon Digital ELPH line. You no longer have to slide the lid out and then swing it open. It is spring-loaded and has a spring-loaded latch.
When you slide the latch, the lid pops open by itself. The back panel of the camera houses a huge bright 2.5-inch LCD monitor, an optical zooming viewfinder, control buttons and a menu control disk with a
FUNC/SET button in the middle (see
http://www.review-shop.com/Canon_SD550/Canon_SD550_Samples_1.html for pictures). It also houses a rotating switch between review, movie and 3 still picture taking modes: auto mode, scene mode and manual mode.
This rotating switch has well-calibrated effort - not too flimsy yet not too stiff. The side has a plastic cover, underneath which you can find a USB jack, A/V jack and a DC power input jack.
Once you power the camera on for the first time, it asks you to enter the current date and time. I suggest that you do that, because it will ask you to do this every time you turn the camera on or switch to a different mode otherwise. The first thing you notice when the camera is on is that the screen is so large, you have to hold the camera further away from you while composing the shot than what you used to if you were using a camera with a smaller LCD screen before. The 2.5-inch LCD feels gigantic and seems to consume most of the space on the back of the camera.
The camera is very easy to use, especially in its Auto mode. I have not read the manual (I have not even opened it), but was able to use the camera and all its features in no time, including advanced functions. The camera can be used by any member of the family and by photographers of all levels of expertise from novices to advanced ones (albeit it will not give you much control over the shutter speed or aperture and will not even show them to you).
The camera comes pre-set to Auto mode (red camera icon on the mode dial). You do not have to do anything other than
point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. The camera uses 9-area intelligent autofocus. You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and the camera shows you (on the LCD screen) where it focused by displaying one or more green rectangles. Then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way. If you are so inclined or used to, you can switch to the center-screen focusing mode.
In case you want more control, you can select one of several scene modes by rotating the dial to the red camera icon with
SCN next to it. Then you can use the
FUNC/SET button and the menu control disc to set the scene mode (Portrait, Landscape, Beach, Snow, etc.) and other shooting parameters.
The camera has no real Manual mode where you would be able to select the shutter speed and aperture. But you can select Manual mode, where you get access to selection of several parameters, most notably exposure compensation and ISO. In Manual mode, you can set the ISO (50-400), white balance (several presets and custom), use exposure compensation to make pictures darker or brighter, use picture effects, color replacement effects, etc. These parameters are easy to access by a push of FUNC button and some of them now have short descriptions/subtitles due to the fact that the camera has such a large screen that can accommodate them.
The camera gives you instant access to the macro or landscape mode, ISO setting, flash mode selection as well as drive mode (single frame, timer or burst/continuous shooting) at a push of a button. Your selection appears as a large icon in the middle of the screen and then quickly moves to the edge of the frame while simultaneously getting smaller. Some of the icons have subtitles/descriptions. Very legible and descriptive.
Just as other recent Canon cameras, the SD550 uses the latest version of Canon DiG!C processor - DIGIC II. It is the same processor used in larger Canon digital SLR cameras and it gives this Digital Elph
amazing speed. The camera takes less than a second to power itself on in review mode and only about a second to power on and extend its lens in shooting mode. It almost feels
instantaneous. The camera excels in taking pictures fast as well.
It can take photos at 1-2 per second in burst mode with no flash (I used
Kingston Elite Pro SD memory card for testing). In single-frame mode with no flash, the camera could snap pictures as fast as I could push the shutter release button - about every 1-1.5 second. The flash recycle time is about 7 seconds.
The focusing takes less than a second at both wide angle and telephoto and the shutter lag, when pre-focused, is almost unnoticeable. The camera confirms that it obtained focus in a clear manner, unlike some Kodak cameras I have reviewed recently.
Even in dim light, with or without focus assist light, the camera focuses in under a second. Very impressive! The zooming from wide angle to telephoto (or back) takes less than two seconds and is responsive. I wish the zoom rocker was better designed or located, because you are forced to hold the camera in a slightly unstable manner to be able to zoom.
The SD550 uses a compact Li-Ion rechargeable battery pack that should let you take 100-200 pictures. I took about 60 so far (about half with flash) and the battery warning still has not appeared. If you are going on a long trip, plan on bringing the charger with you or getting an extra battery.
The flash is pretty weak. It is sufficient at up to about 7-10 feet away. It has a recycle time of about 7-10 seconds. The flash is pretty close to the lens so watch out for red-eye in dimly lit environments. I had to use Adobe Photoshop to get rid of red eye in some of my photos.
The camera produces excellent photos with well-exposed, sharp, contrasty and richly-colored images (see the samples). The colors are very pleasing. The sample photo can be seen at:
http://www.review-shop.com/Canon_SD550/Canon_SD550_Sample_1_1.html
(you can copy and paste the above address into your browser's address area).
The camera has good automatic white balance system. The photos taken with the SD550 are sharp from corner to corner with only the very edges of the frame being slightly softer than the center, which is very similar to the results from the SD500. Overall, the lens produces sharp results at all zoom levels and has impressive 3x optical zoom range in a small package.
The camera has virtually no image noise at ISO 50 or ISO 100. The noise appears at ISO 200 and gets worse at ISO 400. Still, if you are printing 6x4 or 5x7 pictures, the noise should not be visible at all and will only be slightly visible at ISO 400 with larger prints. Even wall-mountable 10x8-inch prints are feasible at ISO 400. With 7.1-megapixel shots it produces, you can print your photos at up to 13x19 inches with good detail (ISO 50-200).
Recommendation:I highly recommend the Canon SD550 if you want a miniature, cool and capable camera with a large 2.5-inch LCD screen and impressive 7.1-megapixel resolution. The SD550 produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches, is fast in operation and easy to use. If you do not need the large screen, you can save about $30-40 by getting the
Canon SD500 model, which has similar performance and features.
Full Review
More on Features and Controls
The SD550 has a bright low-light focus assist illuminator that helps it focus in low light. It features selectable Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot metering modes. The SD550 has a shutter speed range of 15-1/2,000 sec and selectable ISO of 50-400 as well as Auto ISO.
The aperture range is f/2.8-5.6 at wide angle, f/4.9-10 at telephoto. It seems that the aperture is a two-step type with no fine control over aperture. The camera doesn't let you control the aperture or the shutter speed directly, and does not even show them on the screen. The photos have only one of two aperture values at any given focal length. For example, I only get f/2.8 or f/5.6 at wide angle.
Although it works OK for most situations, it would be nice to have indication of these parameters to be able to estimate if the picture will come out blurry or not. It is rather useful to know the shutter speed when shooting handheld or while shooting fast-moving objects. And it is good to know the aperture while shooting at telephoto to figure out if the background will be blurry or not.
You can use the exposure compensation in the manual mode and it comes in handy in the sunset hours or in the morning as the camera overexposes the picture trying to preserve the shadow detail. Sometimes, you can see the click when the camera switches from one aperture value to another when you adjust the exposure compensation, but you do not know for sure what the value is.
There are several scene modes as well, which help the camera tweak the focusing and exposure settings according to the type of scene.
The available movie mode records movies with sound (the camera has a microphone and a speaker) at 640x480, 320x240 or 160x120 with movie clip lengths of up to 3 minutes. At 320x240 you can select 60 fps frame rate and at 640x480 you can select 15 or 30 fps with 30 fps providing very fluid recording.
More on Image Quality
The camera produces nice photos that have a pleasing "Canon" color with slight oversaturation of reds and nice blue skies - the kind of color consumers like. The complete absence of noise at ISO 50 was a pleasant surprise as was very minimal amount of noise in the shadows at ISO 100. Even at ISO 400 the noise is so fine-grained that it (combined with 7.1MP resolution) is invisible at 5x7 inches and barely visible at 10x8 inches.
The chromatic aberration (purple fringing) is present at wide angle shots in the areas of high contrast, but not too much of it.
Color and Picture Effects
You can adjust color saturation by selecting Vivid or Neutral color in addition to the standard setting. In Vivid mode, the saturation is increased and I find that it provides too much saturation. I don't use this mode. In the Neutral mode, the saturation is decreased. I find it useful mainly in the low light conditions to reduce noise and make images more true-to-life.
Also available Black and White, Sepia and Low Sharpening effects. The former two are nothing to write home about - just regular modes that are quite useful if you want to give your photos an old look. The Low Sharpening effect reduces in-camera sharpening and lets you sharpen your photos later, in software (e.g. Photoshop). This gives you more control over sharpening.
Additionally, there are modes called Vivid Green, Vivid Red and Vivid Blue. They do exactly that - make the stated color vivid. You can also replace some colors with others - a feature I don't care for.
Image Quality Settings
The camera lets you select between Super Fine, Fine and Normal compression levels (regardless of resolution). You can detect occasional JPEG artifacts in the mode of highest compression (Normal) and some fine detail may be lost. But the two lower-compression modes (Fine and Superfine) are rather good. The Fine compression file size at full resolution is about 2.3 MB and the SuperFine file size is about 3-3.2 MB. You can only fit 10 of these on a supplied memory card, so get ready to get a larger SD card.
Focusing
You let camera focus using its AiAF 9-area focusing system and the camera will show you green rectangles over the areas where it focused so that you can confirm the focus areas. You can also select one-point focusing (center). There is no manual focusing feature. The left arrow button switches the camera to Macro mode (and also to infinity in manual mode).
Camera Sounds
The camera is rather quiet in operation and you can customize the sounds it makes from its speaker.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
The SD550 has solid feel and very good build quality. It is bit small to be held comfortably, and the zoom control position requires you to hold the camera in a slightly unstable manner. But
for its size, it is convenient to hold and its compact size lets you put it in a jacket pocket or a purse easily. The major controls are within easy reach and the tactile response is good. The battery compartment door is better than the ones on other Digital ELPHs.
The camera exhibits none of the flimsiness that I saw in some other recent Canon cameras:
Canon A610 and
A620.
Tripod Mount
The camera has a metal tripod mount. It is useful if you want to take macro pictures or pictures with long exposures (e.g. nighttime). The camera has a timer (2-second or 10-second), which you should use to avoid blurry images when the camera is on the tripod. The camera has noise reduction that is activated with longer exposures and takes a picture with the shutter closed and then subtracts it from the original picture, thereby eliminating hot pixels.
Menu System
I have not read the manual, yet was able to use the camera in all modes of operation. The menus are very easy to use. The camera is extremely fast and responsive. The large bright LCD screen shows pictograms of selected modes (e.g. Macro, Flash mode, etc.) appear large and legible on the screen and then move to the side of the screen. A very cool and useful feature, especially for people with less than perfect vision.
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a huge 2.5-inch non-articulated (fixed) LCD screen and an optical zooming viewfinder. The LCD coverage as about 100% - you can see exactly what will be recorded. The viewfinder, however, cover only about 80% of what will be recorded. The LCD is bright, fluid, has good visibility in sunlight or darkness and good resolution.
But the resolution of the 2.5-inch screen of the SD550 (115,000 pixels) is
not higher than the resolution of the 2-inch screen of the SD500. Keep that in mind when weighing the advantages of the larger screen.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB 2.0 Hi-Speed connection to transfer pictures to a computer. You can also remove the SD memory card and use a memory card reader (if you have one). I used my memory card reader. I do not use the software that was provided with the camera since I have Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Histogram
The camera can display a histogram in the review mode to show you if you have overexposed the highlights or underexposed the shadows. I useful feature when you don't trust the LCD.
Bottom Line
I highly recommend the Canon SD550 if you want a miniature, cool and capable camera with a large 2.5-inch LCD screen and impressive 7.1-megapixel resolution. The SD550 produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches, is fast in operation and easy to use. If you do not need the large screen, you can save about $30-40 by getting the Canon SD500 model, which has similar performance and features.
My Reviews of Other Similar Digital Cameras
Canon:
Canon PowerShot SD200 3.2-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD300 4-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD400 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD450 5-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD500 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD550 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Canon PowerShot SD600 6-Megapixel Digital Camera Review
Panasonic:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ1 4-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ2 5-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ3 5-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Panasonic Lumix DMC-LZ5 6-Megapixel Digital Camera with 6x Optical Stabilized Zoom Review
Olympus:
Olympus Stylus 500 Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 600 Digital Camera Review
Olympus Stylus 800 Digital Camera Review
Sony:
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P200 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-S60 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T1 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T33 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T5 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-T7 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W5 Digital Camera Review
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W7 Digital Camera Review
Fuji:
Fuji FinePix E510 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E550 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix E900 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix F10 Digital Camera Review
Fuji FinePix F450 Digital Camera Review
Kodak:
Kodak EasyShare V550 Digital Camera Review
