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Canon PowerShot SD550 Review
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Review
Date: Mar 27, 2006 |
Category: Point-and-Shoot
HANDLING & FEEL
The Canon PowerShot SD550 is light and
ultra-compact, and beautifully crafted. It can
be easily carried in a jeans pocket or fashion
purse. As most compact digital cameras do now,
the Canon SD550 also uses the Secure Digital (SD)
memory card.
The Canon SD550 is attractive in its metallic
silver (also comes in beige) body with chrome
accents. How can Canon top up the distinctive
design of its Digital ELPH series? It's called
"Perpetual Curve" and gives the Canon
SD550 an elegantly simple but timeless beauty.
A raised "Canon" lettering gives some
friction to help provide somewhat of a secure
grip [use of the wrist strap is highly recommended].
When retracted, the lens is flush with the body.
Startup and shot to shot times are fast at about
1 sec., and there is no practical shutter lag.
Autofocus is fast and precise.
| STYLE |
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Colours: overall silver (or beige)
with chrome accents |
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Looks: sleek, fashionable |
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| FEEL |
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Comfortable to hold and operate |
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Controls & FUNC. menu are intuitive
to use |
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| DIMENSIONS &
WEIGHT |
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Ultra Compact: fits in a jeans pocket
or small fashion purse |
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Dimensions: 89.5× 57.0×27.4
mm /
3.52×2.24×1.08 in. |
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Weight: 170 g / 6 oz. |
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Takes 1 rechargeable Li-ion battery
NB-L3 3.7V 790mAh |
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| SPEED OF OPERATION |
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Startup with lens extending about
2.3 cm (1 in.) and LCD turning on in
about 1 sec. |
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Shot to shot time less than 1 sec. |
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No practical shutter lag |
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Included in the box is a rechargeable Li-ion
battery that can take about 150 shots with LCD
on (CIPA standard) on a fresh charge and a Battery
Charger CB-2LU that will recharge a new battery
in approx. 95 min. The Battery Charger is of the
type that plugs directly into a wall electrical
socket.
There is an optical viewfinder which is quite
small but is a real-image zoom. It is not meant
to replace the LCD but will serve in a pinch when
the LCD might not be usable or when you are running
low on battery. Switch off the LCD monitor to
conserve energy and, according to Canon, the battery
can take about 600 shots with LCD off (on a fresh
battery).
The Terminal compartment is on the left side
of the camera (viewed from the front).
The flash is powerful and physically placed close
to the top edge, so be careful your left fingers
do not get in the way when using flash. You can
set the flash to Off, Slow Synchro, Auto, Auto
Red-Eye Reduction, or On.
Controls
The top of the camera has the Power ON/OFF button
and the shutter release button with the Zoom Lever
around it on the right side. The speaker is at
the far left.
Almost all the functions are accessible through
the Canon standard FUNC. button. The Mode Dial
is not on top, but on the back of the camera and
has Playback, AUTO, Manual, Scene (9 scene modes),
and Movie.
You can record movies with sound (until the memory
card is full -- when using a super high-speed
memory card) at either 640 x 480 or 320x240 pixels
at 30fps or 15fps. You can preset optical zoom
before any movie mode recording, and use digital
zoom during Standard movie recording. Other movie
options are Fast Frame Rate at 60fps, Compact
and My Colors. Sound is recorded for all movie
modes.
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Video Storage Capacity
(min. sec.)
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256MB
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1GB
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640x480
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30fps
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2' 7"
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8' 31"
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15fps
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4' 12"
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16' 55"
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320x240
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30fps
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5' 58"
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24'
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15fps
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11' 40"
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46' 56"
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Fast Frame Rate
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320x240
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60fps
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3' 03"
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12' 17"
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Compact
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160x120 |
15fps
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28' 34"
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114' 45"
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Note that while Standard movie has no clip length
(but a max size of 1GB), the maximum movie clip
length for Fast Frame Rate and for Compact are
1 min. and 3 min., respectively.
| FUNCTIONS ACCESSIBLE
BY CONTROL BUTTONS (clockwise starting from
the Mode Dial) |
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Mode Dial: Playback, AUTO, Manual,
Scene (Portrait, Night Snapshot, Kids&Pets,
Indoor, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks,
Underwater), Movie (Standard, Fast Frame
Rate, Compact, My Colors) |
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Print/Share (with direct printing
to any PictBridge-enabled printer) |
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4 Way Arrows (ISO, Flash, Drive/Erase,
Macro (and Infinity) |
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FUNC./SET |
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MENU |
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DISPLAY (LCD Off, No info, Info) |
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| MACRO, INFINITY |
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Press the LEFT ARROW key to select
MACRO.
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Press the LEFT ARROW key again to
select INFINITY; useful when shooting
thru windows, and when subject is
from 3m (10 ft.) to infinity
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| CONTINUOUS SHOOTING |
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The camera records successive images
as long as the shutter release button
is depressed. Recording ceases when
the shutter button is released or the
memory card is full. I counted 20 shots
in 10 sec. in Large/Fine mode in for
a brightly lit subject. Of course, if
it's quite dark or if the flash is needed,
you will get much slower frame rate. |
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Besides the 2 sec. and 10 sec. selftimer,
there is also a very interesting Custom
Delay selftimer where you can set both
the delay and the number of images (1
- 10) to take after that delay. You
set this in MENU and then can quickly
access your selection by simply pressing
the UP ARROW key. Unfortunately you
cannot toggle between 10 sec. and 2
sec. using the arrow key; you've got
to go back into MENU to do that. |
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The drive mode resets to Single when
the camera is turned off and on again. |
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| EXPOSURE COMPENSATION |
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Exposure compensation is accessed
thru the FUNC. button. |
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Once set, the Exposure Compensation
Indicator conveniently stays displayed
on screen until it is reset to "0" |
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Range: -2 EV to +2 EV (13 steps in
1/3 EV increments) |
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The screen brightness will increase
or decrease to reflect the value you
use |
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Note: the exposure compensation value
selected is retained even when the camera
is turned off (so remember to reset
to "0" after using it or the
next time you turn the camera on, your
shots may be over- or under-exposed.) |
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A Histogram is available but displays
only in Playback mode. |
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| LONG SHUTTER SPEED |
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To access shutter speeds from 1 to
15 sec., you need to first go into Exposure
Compensation [FUNC. - Exp. Comp.]. |
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Then press MENU to switch to Long
Shutter. Use the LEFT and RIGHT ARROW
keys to select one of the following
shutter speeds: 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5,
3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15 sec. |
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Long Shutter is available only in
Manual mode. |
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At the bottom of the camera, the tripod mount
thread is metal. There is a very nice Battery/Card
door and the battery has a latch to keep it from
accidentally falling. You won't be able to change
battery or card when the camera is on a tripod.
LCD & Menus
There is an optical viewfinder as well as an
extra large 2.5 in. LCD monitor with 115,000 pixels
resolution. The LCD has a fast enough refresh
rate for a smooth display in good light, but is
choppy in low light. The LCD monitor's brightness
can be adjusted in MENU/SETUP. The LCD also gains
up well in low-light, though the image on the
LCD can look grainy (which is to be expected).
There is a very effective AF-assist Illuminator
and I've found auto focusing to be quite fast
and precise in low-light situations. You can also
display a framing grid [MENU - Grid Lines = On]
of horizontal and vertical lines.
While the FUNC. button gives access to all shooting
settings, the MENU button gives access to the
Menu, Setup and My Theme settings.
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MENU 1 of 2
- AiAF: On, Off
- Self-timer: 10, 2, Custom
- AF-assist Beam: On, Off
- Digital Zoom: On, Off
- Review: 2-10 sec., Hold, Off
- Grid Lines: On, Off
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MENU 2 of 2
- Date Stamp: Off, Date, Date&Time
- You can only imprint date when using the
Postcard image size (though date and time
are always saved as part of any picture)
- Long Shutter: On, Off (When turned On,
you access it via Exposure Compensation)
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SETUP 1 of 3
- Mute: On, Off
- Volume: Start-up Vol., Operation Vol.,
Selftimer Vol., Shutter Volume, Playback
Vol.
- LCD Brightness
- Power Saving: Auto Power Down: On, Off;
Display Off: 10 sec., 20 sec., 30 sec.,
1 min., 2 min., 3 min.
- Time Zone
- Date/Time
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SETUP 2 of 3
- Clock Display: 0-10 sec., 20 sec., 30
sec., 1-3 min.
- Format: Low Level Format possible
- File Numbering: Continuous, Auto Reset
- Create Folder
- Auto Rotate: On, Off
- Language...: 22 languages to choose from
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SETUP 3 of 3
- Video System: NTSC, PAL
- Reset ALL...
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LANGUAGE
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MY THEMES
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ISO
- Press the UP ARROW key to cycle thru
available ISO settings
- 50, 100, 200, 400, blank=Auto
- Note that when in movie mode, pressing
UP ARROW keyallows you to set exposure compensation
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FLASH
- Press the RIGHT ARROW key to cycle thru
available Flash settings
- Auto, Auto Red-Eye Reduction, On, Off,
Slow Synchro
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DRIVE MODE
- Press the DOWN ARROW key to cycle thru
available Drive settings
- Single, Continuous, Selftimer (value of
self-timer is set in MENU)
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MACRO/INFINITY
- Press the LEFT ARROW key to cycle thru
Macro OFF, Macro ON, Infinity
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SHOOTING MODE
- Manual, Digital Macro, My Colors, Stitch
Assist (Left -> Right), Stitch Assist
(Right -> Left)
- The Stitch Assist (Panorama) mode displays
a portion of previous shot but it is not
semi-transparent
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EXPOSURE COMPENSATION
- +/-2 EV, 1/3 EV increments
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LONG SHUTTER
- While in Exposure Compensation, press
MENU to being up Long Shutter screen where
you can select a shutter speed from 1 to
15 sec. (1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.2, 4, 5,
6, 8, 10, 13, 15 sec.)
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WHITE BALANCE
- AWB, Day Light, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent,
Fluorescent H, Custom
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IMAGE EFFECT
- Off, Vivid, Neutral, Low Sharpening,
Sepia, B/W
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LIGHT METERING
- Evaluative, Center Weighted Avg., Spot
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IMAGE QUALITY
- Superfine (322 *)
- Fine (515 *)
- Normal (1068 *)
*: approx. # of images at Large size on
a 1GB SD memory card
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IMAGE SIZE
- Large (3072x2304)
- Medium 1 (2592x1944)
- Medium 2 (2048x1536)
- Medium 3 (1600x1200)
- Small (640x480)
- Postcard (1600x1200)
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MANUAL
Clockwise:
- M=Manual, ISO 50, Single Shot, Macro ON,
Flash ON, space for 321 images, Image Size
Large, Image Quality Superfine, Evaluative
metering mode, Custome WB
- Notice the subtle framing grid lines
- Note: shutter speed and aperture are not
displayed...
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CAMERA SHAKE WARNING
- ... unless the Camera Shake Warning displays
- The shutter speed then displays alongside
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MOVIE
- Standard, Fast Frame Rate, Compact, My
Colors
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HISTOGRAM
- Histogram is displayed only in Playback
mode
- There is no delay going from one image
to another
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Note: Some of the screens have been
"blackened" to permit a clearer view of
the settings.
The Canon PowerShot SD550 is elegant in
design, tough in construction, and with an unmistakable
feeling of quality build. Controls are logically
placed and intuitive in use. Ultracompact and
light, it's a perfect take-anywhere digital camera
for the point-and-shoot photographer in your family,
and more advanced photographers will also find
enough exposure controls to satisfy them. Optional
accessories include a Waterproof Case WP-DC80
and High Power Flash HF-DC1.
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