Imaging Resource rating 4.0 out of 5.0 Canon PowerShot A550 Overview by Al Gordon and Shawn Barnett Review Date: 04/17/07 The Canon PowerShot A550, introduced January 18, 2007, falls within the point-and-shoot category. While not as compact or stylish as the PowerShot ELPH cameras, the A550 represents a solid value in photographic quality and performance, offering photographers a number of distinct advantages. Canon's PowerShot A550 is a simple, inexpensive 7-megapixel camera, and that's all it wants to be. While it has some nice features, it doesn't offer any outstanding, unique aspects that put it. Recent Canon PowerShot A550 Digital Camera questions, problems & answers. Free expert DIY tips, support, troubleshooting help & repair advice for all PowerShot Cameras. PowerShot A550 PowerShot. In Canada with respect to the Canon-brand PowerShot Digital Camera (the 'Product') purchased with this limited warranty*, when purchased. The suggested retail price of the Canon PowerShot A550 is $199.99, some $50 less than its predecessor, the A530. Key upgrades over the Canon A550's predecessor start with its higher resolution image sensor: 7.1 megapixels, up from 5 megapixels. The 2-inch LCD screen also edges out its 1.8-inch forerunner. To accommodate the larger file sizes generated by the greater resolution, the A550 is compatible with SDHC memory cards. The A550 is also more energy efficient. With rechargeable AA NiMH batteries, you can take up to 1,400 shots with the LCD off. That's a whopping 400 shots more than the Canon PowerShot A530! The A550’s 4x zoom lens with a 35-140mm 35mm equivalency is a very attractive feature, easily besting the more common 3x zoom. And while many people prefer to simply leave the camera dial permanently on AUTO, this camera’s easy-to-set scene modes can help you shoot better. With its high quality imaging, competent feature set, and under $200 price point, the Canon PowerShot A550 can more easily meet the needs of a very wide audience of photographers. For pros and advanced amateurs, it’s nice to have a pocket-sized alternative to a more bulky digital SLR. The price makes this camera an attractive entry for anyone who has been thinking about going digital. As a gift for teens, the Canon PowerShot A550 costs less than a standard Apple iPod. As I’ll describe below, the camera is not only easy to use, but highly intuitive. Canon PowerShot A550 User Report I find it amazing that camera manufacturers like Canon can improve on image quality and performance while adding features and still sell a camera for less than the model it replaces. The Automobile industry should take note. It's clear that despite the low price, Canon's PowerShot A550 can fulfill most of your wishes without breaking the bank. I prefer to keep things simple. So does the A550. Most people could learn to love the Canon PowerShot A550 without ever moving the dial from its green AUTO position. Just point and shoot, and the A550 will most often give you great results. With a turn to M (manual) more options open up to you. Just press the Function button on the back to access options like EV adjustments, White balance settings, Color modes, Metering modes, and resolution and compression settings. You can also access more of the flash modes in this version of Manual mode, though you can't actually set the shutter speed or aperture. Top controls: Power, mode dial, zoom controls and shutter. A tried-and-true control interface. If you'd like to bias the camera for a certain shooting situation, just turn the dial to one of the icons, like Portrait, Landscape, or Kids&Pets. These modes have been set up to pick settings that will make shooting in these situations easy. Set it to SCN on the dial to access five more Scene modes. About the only shooting mode that seemed to be missing was a stitch-assist mode to help in creating panoramic photographs, a feature that was available on the PowerShot A530. Face Detection, available on the A570 IS, is not available here either. Another notable feature missing is the once-novel, but now trite MyCamera menu, where you could set special sound effects to go with different actions. But a howling wolf for the Self Timer mode? That probably earned more grimaces than smiles, so I won't miss it. Function menu: Allows you to make quick adjustments via the LCD. As much as I like an optical finder, I used the Canon A550's LCD screen exclusively to frame shots. Since most settings are made via the Function menu and Main menu displayed on the LCD, it's easier to switch between adjusting settings and framing, rather than continuously taking the camera from my eye to make a change. The Canon A550 offers an 86,000 pixel, 2.0-inch LCD. While larger than its predecessor, it’s noticeably smaller than many of the 2.5-inch and larger LCD screens on compact point-and-shoot cameras. While that's fairly low resolution, the screen is small enough that it's not noticeable. The screen seemed a bit washed out in bright sunlight but wasn't totally unusable. 9-point AiAF.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
November 2018
Categories |