Canon PowerShot A550 7.1-Megapixel Digital Camera A Bargain At Under $180
Written: Feb 27 '07 (Updated Feb 27 '07)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Price, resolution, uses 2 AA batteries, size, features, image quality, easy to use
Cons: Slow flash recycle, noise at highest ISO settings
The Bottom Line: If you need a compact, inexpensive, easy to use yet capable camera that produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches, has 4x...
dkozin's Full Review: Canon PowerShot A550 Digital Camera
A 7.1-Megapixel Canon camera with 4x optical zoom that uses two AA batteries for less than $180? The Canon PowerShot A550 is exactly that and more: fast in operation (mostly) and is easy to use, it is a successor to the popular A530/A540.
What is Canon PowerShot A550?
The Canon PowerShot A550 is a 7.1-Megapixel compact digital camera with a 4x optical zoom, 2-inch LCD screen, zooming optical viewfinder, acclaimed Canon Digic 2 (DiG!C II) Image Processor, 9-point AiAF auto focus, 1-point auto focus and manual focus, multiple shooting modes including Full Auto, Program and Manual Mode, Scene modes. It stores pictures on SD (Secure Digital) or MultiMedia memory cards (16 MB card included in the package) and features USB 2.0 high-speed connection to PC and Mac computers.
The camera supports direct printing (without computer) with PictBridge compatible printers. The camera is powered by 2 AA batteries (alkaline batteries included, rechargeable NiMH recommended). It features a tripod mount and a convenient mechanical mode switch.
Features
The A550 is quite similar to the last year’s A530 model, but features higher, 7.1-Megapixel resolution. The Canon PowerShot A550 features sharp 4x optical zoom (35-140 mm in 35mm equivalent) with maximum apertures f/2.6-f/5.5 and minimum aperture of f/8.0 at both wide angle and telephoto.
The camera has a low-light focus assist illuminator that helps it focus in low light. The orientation sensor detects if the camera is held horizontally or vertically and saves the pictures appropriately.
The A550 features selectable Evaluative, Center-Weighted and Spot metering modes. The camera has a shutter speed range of 15-1/2,000 sec and selectable ISO of 80-800, in addition to ISO Auto.
The camera also has a Macro mode where it can focus as close as 2 inches (5 cm) at wide angle or 11.8 inches (30 cm) at telephoto.
The camera uses 2 AA batteries. Canon claims that rechargeable NiMH batteries can provide 500 shots on one charge (140 shots with disposable alkaline batteries).
The available movie mode records movies with sound at 640x480 or 320x240 30/15 fps up to 1 GB or 60 minutes, 320x240 60 fps up to 1 minute or 160x120 15 fps (up to 3 minutes).
Getting Started
Upon the camera arrival, I inserted my charged 2300-mAh NiMH batteries and an SD card and was ready to shoot. Just as the other cameras of the A5xx series, the A550 has a nice looking and durable metal/polycarbonate body that is compact and convenient to hold.
The camera has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover that opens when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes. The A550 has an on/off button on the top deck as well as a zoom rocker, large shutter release button and a large rotating mode dial. The mode dial can be set to Auto mode, Program mode, multiple scene modes or Manual mode.
The bottom of the camera has an offset threaded tripod mount and a memory card/battery compartment lid. The rear houses a 2-inch LCD monitor, an optical zooming viewfinder, a review/shoot button (thanks god it is not a mechanical switch anymore) and control buttons. The side has a cover, underneath which you can find a USB 2.0 jack, A/V jack and a DC power jack.
Usage
The A550 can be used in full auto mode (by rotating the mode dial to Auto position), where it is extremely easy to use. In this mode the camera sets all parameters automatically and you only have to point and shoot.
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.
You can go one step further and select an appropriate scene mode (e.g. Portrait, Landscape, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Kids & Pets, etc.) to let camera know what effect you want. For example, in the Portrait mode the camera will try to keep the subject sharp while keeping the background blurry, but will try to keep both foreground and background sharp in the Landscape mode.
In most modes you can use Exposure Compensation to make pictures the camera takes brighter or darker.
The camera takes less than two seconds to power up and can capture images at less than two-second intervals without flash (using Kingston Elite Pro SD memory card) or 5-9 seconds with flash (depending on the subject distance and battery charge). The focusing takes less than a second and the shutter lag, when pre-focused, is almost nonexistent.
The zooming from wide angle to telephoto (or back) takes about two seconds and is smooth and responsive. The burst mode lets you take photos at about 2 per seconds.
The camera can take about 500 pictures on one charge of high-capacity NiMH batteries, which is a significant improvement on the previous models. I was easily able to take more than 120 photos using my 2300 mAh batteries and the low battery warning has not appeared yet. Obviously, using disposable alkaline batteries is bad for the environment and from the financial standpoint, but if you run out of juice, you can use easily-obtainable anywhere alkaline AA batteries. The camera should take about 140 photos using them (according to Canon).
The flash has an effective red-eye reduction mode and is sufficient at up to 10-12 feet away. It has a recycle time of about 5-9 seconds (depending on the subject distance and battery charge). If you need faster flash recycling, you might need to upgrade to a 4-AA battery model like Canon A630 or A640. Flash recycling time is the Achilles’ hill of the 2-AA battery cameras.
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a 2-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 fluid but its resolution is only 85,000 pixels - sufficient but not great.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB 2.0 high-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), which I did. Since I have not tried the USB transfer of this camera, I cannot comment on the real speed.
Build Quality and Ergonomics
The camera features good build quality. It is also 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.
Digic 2
The camera is fast in operation and is a pleasure to use, due to the use of Canon’s Digic 2. It is the same imaging processor used in other cameras by Canon, including its expensive digital SLR cameras. The Digic II is noticeably faster than the original Digic.
Focusing
You can 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 switch to the 1-point focusing. The Macro mode is available at a push of a button.
Image Quality Settings
Just as other Canon cameras, this one lets you select between SuperFine, Fine and Normal compression levels (regardless of resolution). In the Normal compression mode, some fine detail may be lost. I would use SuperFine mode for high-resolution pictures intended for printing or post processing. But for web/email or conserving space on the memory card, other modes are viable options.
The camera lets you select between full 7.1 MP resolution, widescreen version of thereof, Medium 1 mode (5MP), Medium 2 mode (3MP), Medium 3 (2MP) and Small mode (640x480).
White Balance
The camera's automatic white balance usually works well, especially outdoors. Incandescent light warrants the use of manual white balance or incandescent white balance setting.
Picture Quality
I usually take photos that contain all primary colors at different focal lengths, apertures and compression ratios. Some photos are taken outdoors, some indoors with and without flash.
Oftentimes, I take a bunch of photos from my balcony. Those photos features all colors: blue sky, green foliage, red curbs, yellow fire hydrant and cars of different colors.
Taking photos at different focal lengths and apertures reveals the camera's optical quality: corner sharpness, chromatic aberrations, overall sharpness.
Taking photos at different ISO settings shows how well a given camera can keep noise levels low in dim light. I mostly evaluate the image quality using my computer monitor, but I also print some photos at different sizes using either my printer or online services like Shutterfly, Snapfish and Sam's Club's online photo center.
The camera produces excellent photos that are well-exposed, sharp, contrasty and richly-colored. The colors are very pleasing. The skin colors are true to life and pleasing. Unlike some other cameras (including Canon SD Digital Elph series) that have noticeably softer edges of the frame, the photos taken with the A550 are sharp at the edges of the frame as well as at the center.
The lens of this camera is very good, despite its compact dimensions and the 4x optical zoom. It exhibits slight barrel distortion at wide angle (straight lines bow out at the edges of the frame) that is virtually unnoticeable and can only be detected if you take pictures of buildings and really pay attention.
The camera features virtually no chromatic aberration (purple fringing) in the areas of high contrast. The image noise is absent at ISO 80, appears (slightly) at the ISO 100 in the shadows, gets more pronounced at ISO 200, gets worse at ISO 400 and gets pretty bad at ISO 800. Still, if you are printing 6x4 or 5x7 pictures, the noise should not be visible up to (and including) ISO 200 and barely visible at ISO 400-800.
With camera’s 7.1-megapixel resolution, you can print your photos at up to 11x14 inches or even 13x19 with good detail (ISO up to 200). Heavy cropping with smaller print sizes will work too. I usually do not use ISO 400-800 unless I have to.
Macro
The camera can take good macro pictures. It can capture (with no flash) a minimum area of about 2x1.5-inch and features a sharp image with only slight blurring in corners of the frame. A very good macro performance, considering the size and price of the camera.
You need light to illuminate the shooting area and/or a tripod, however: the flash when engaged at such a close distance can overexpose the upper left portion of the image.
Bottom Line
If you need a compact, inexpensive, easy to use yet capable camera that produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 13x19 inches, has 4x optical zoom and uses two AA batteries, I highly recommend the Canon PowerShot A550. But if you want fast flash recycle times, more manual control or articulated LCD, the 4-AA battery-equipped Canon PowerShot A630 may be a better choice.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 179 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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