Sunday, November 03, 2013

Camera Review: Canon EOS 550D

I love this camera. It feels great in your hand: rock solid with controls just where they should be and the pictures are gems.

You want to switch from auto to manual focus? The switch is on the lens.

You want to change the ISO? There's a button labelled ISO.

You want to set the exposure to 1/1000 of a second but get the camera to do the rest? One flick of the top dial to TV.

You want to set all the settings manually? Select M-mode and play away.

You want to zoom? Its a quick and intuitive twist of the lens

Battery that lasts several days, vast range of lenses to chose from, optical viewfinder, quick focusing, good colour reproduction.... the benefits go on and on.

DSLRs just are the best tools for the photographer.

BUT - there is a reason I didn't take it to Greenland, for there is one unavoidable downside: the weight.

The camera body plus two lenses (above) weighs 1.9 kg, and after lugging that collection around Australia and China I'd had enough. It had to stay behind.

So what did I take to Greenland and why?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agreed, can't beat a DSLR for feel and performance. They're just too bloody big! Therefore I usually end up with relatively poor photographs from my smartphone, but - and here's the crucial point - I have a picture! No camera means no picture. So what's better, a poorish quality photo (nicely framed of course), or no photo at all? Give me DSLR speed, handling and performance, compact camera size and lens protection (minus the slow on/off and lens open/close) and I'll buy it. The 4/3 cameras don't quite get there. Until they do I'll stick with me BlackBerry thanks.

JP said...

Well I guess someone has to stick to the BB ;)

Yes, if only someone could properly shrink the SLR keeping the controls and features the same it would be ideal.

I'm hoping the NEX 6 will be more usable if I study its controls a bit.