Canon EOS 550D Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

I bought my 550d nearly a year ago, and Im as pleased with it now as I was then. It's still seems a very competitive product, thanks to the core imaging engine and feature set that defined a mid-level dSLR when it was launched 2 years ago. Compared to the 600d there's still a nice difference in the price which make the additional 600d features (which seem to mainly make the camera a better option if you are a big video fan) and flip out screen quite expensive if you dont need them.I "downgraded" from semi-pro Olympus equipment to the 550d and a small set of consumer lenses. My 18-135mm is on the camera 90% of the time, which makes for a very versatile and quite portable snapper capable of clean, rich images with quick enough reactions to capture all sorts of shots. The 55-250mm is a bargain telephoto and the 50mm f1.8 II is very useful too. The camera is great to hold and use, seems well made enough to stand up to sandy, sun-creamed hands, being carried over shoulders or shoved in and out of backpacks etc. Its worth protecting the screen with a good protector as it does seem quite vulnerable, especially compared to cameras that can turn their screen inwards.I just looked at the market and wondered what I could buy to replace/update it. I'm no expert, but for the money the 550d can now be obtained, I couldnt get anywhere near. Perhaps the stiffest competition to a system like a 550d these days comes from the compact systems camera world in that they have comparable image quality, more bells and whistles but are smaller and lighter. There are some wonderful looking products that probably do more and are smaller etc, but they are pricey compared to this!I wouldn't hesitate in recommending a 550d at these prices before they run out. You can get yourself a little nest of lenses for very reasonable money and have an excellent walkabout lens with a fast prime and a decent telephoto for a lot less money than the Olympus OM-D body only. Something like the GX1 with the powerzooms (the 14-42 folds small and turns that camera into a chunky compact) would be attractive as an allrounder to perhaps negate the need for a compact and a dSLR, but the 550d stands up very well as is a bot of a bargain I would say. Great product, has to be one of Canon's best.

I had a bridge camera, ideal for what I'd first started out photographing, but getting into a new hobby, I needed something better, and friends recommended the Canon EOS 550D. I read reviews and even professionals gave it good write-ups. My cousin in a professional photographer and thought it would be an ideal camera for me.On receiving it, and the daunting instruction book, I read the basics and went off once the battery had charged. It has a long enough battery life for me to be out for over 4 hours, mainly on the extension of the 70-300mm lens I have also purchased, and I've got some of the best photographs I have ever taken.Close ups of birdlife are exquisite, you can see every fibre on a feather, it takes excellent moving shots, particularly flying geese, ducks, buzzards, and yesterday, with the sun above it, a beautiful gull, the sun through it's wings.Easy to use, easy to adjust the settings, I am really enjoying this. People said I would need a tripod, but for my current requirements, I got a monopod and have only used it once. The camera is easy enough to wield myself. If I were sitting birdwatching, which I will do in the summer, I would need to use support.If you are looking for a great camera, not overly expensive, I would recommend this one. PS, the only way I can download my photos is by inserting the SD card into my computer, cannot get the wire connection to work.

After a couple of weeks my findings : excellent camera, high quality photo's, benefits (like all camera's) from good glass in front. Good, usable, movie mode, really like the 640 crop which is great for astronomy. Live view with a 3 inch LCD (crystal clear as well) makes it so much easier to focus, especially for those of us from the wrinkly generation and without perfect eyesight (note that the view finder provides about 95% coverage not 100% and is slighly on the dull side compared to a 7D with the same glass in front for instance). And masses of options, not least of which is live view, did I mention that I think that's great. I should say that I only use either manual or A mode on the camera so have no idea what the custom modes are like. They were very good on my 20D so I assume that they will be excellent on the 550D.This camera was bought as a replacement for a 20D, got the 550D as I could not justify the price of either a 7D or a 5D Mk 2 and wasn't going to buy a 50D with 60D just around the comer. Couple of points to note however if, like me you are coming from a 20 30 40 or 50D. One is the lack of an LCD panel on the outside top of the camera takes some getting used to. I miss the convenience of a quick control dial on the camera rear, though there is a main dial top front which is multipurpose.The 550D, though it feels very well made is certainly not in the same league build wise as a 20D. If you are used to firing off lots of shots in burst mode, this camera may not be for you - I very rarely use burst but did the other day and noticed that it's nowhere near as quick to fire or refresh as the 20D. Also the `clunk' made by the camera when you take a picture sounds `cheap' (hope that makes sense). Final point for me, I much prefer the size and brightness of the AF focus points on a 20D. They appear larger and clearer on that camera, more than once with the 550D I've had to re-focus several times just to see exactly where the `live' focus point is. That, of course, may be me, but then this is my review :-)Overall great camera and I love it to bits, not least of all because it's so much lighter than a 20D....UPDATE : SeptemberAfter several more weeks of use with various lens, I have to say I am very impressed indeed with the quality of the results. I take photo's with both RAW and JPEG switched on at the same time and honestly find that the JPEG's are more than good enough for most purposes. The colours are clear and bright and the level of detail is a delight. High ISO use has also been a revelation, ISO 800 is more than useable and I actually tried a couple of shots outside at night with little illumination at ISO 6400 and both pictures came out well enough to see the subject clearly. Although there was a lot of noise I did not think it excessive, more like that you get from a B&W photo from a newspaper if you enlarge it, so still usable.... I don't have any L lens at the moment so am using a Canon 10-22, a Canon 17-55 and an old Canon 75-300 and I can honestly say that even when enlarged to 200% I have noticed very little, if any, drop off in sharpness, I realise that in part that is down to the lens but I never got the same level of detail with the 20D so the 550D must be doing something right.If you want to see some examples of what the 550D can do, even in the hands of a poor photographer, there are a lot of examples on Flickr.