The EOS 550D is Canon’s top ‘amateur’ digital SLR, taking over from the EOS 500D. It has the same 18-megapixel sensor as the professional EOS 7D and can shoot full HD movies at 30fps, though it’s more restricted in other respects. The 550D offers auto and manual controls when shooting movies and, for the first time in a digital SLR, a digital zoom, though Canon calls this a ‘Movie Crop’ function. It captures 640 x 480 pixels from the centre of the image for an equivalent 7x magnification (or ‘crop’).
Superficially, the EOS 550D’s capabilities might seem to rival those of the EOS 7D, but in practice they’re quite different cameras. The 550D has a smaller, less robust body, it comes with Canon’s basic 18-55mm IS kit lens, and it can only shoot at 3.7fps, versus the EOS 7D’s 8fps. Nevertheless, it does significantly raise the stakes in the amateur digital SLR market.
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