Canon A550 Review

Overview

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. 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.

Interface. 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.

Power it up. Start-up was quick, ready in 1.3 seconds according to our lab results. There's plenty of lag time between shots, at least the same 1.3 seconds as the startup delay, and a full discharge of the flash takes that lag time out to 10 seconds while the flash recharges. That's quite a bit higher than average. It does take a second for the lens to come out, but it's faster than past models. The zoom was reasonably fast, about right for this kind of camera.

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. Like all Canon digicams, the A550 uses Canon's excellent and fast 9-point AF. The camera looks at the scene and selects from nine areas of the frame to find what it thinks are the most important points. If you don't like its first selection, just half-press the shutter again and it will most often recalculate its selection. It's a great way to shoot, and is the default in the automatic modes.

Grid and mask: Turning on the grid helps you frame your shots, and the mask shows you how your shots will look printed on 4x6 paper.

I like to keep a grid display on the LCD screen to aid in composition and alignment. I use a grid in my 35mm SLR, too. It was easy enough to turn on the A550's grid just playing with the menu; you can even turn on a 3:2 mask to show what a 4x6 inch print will look like.

The optical viewfinder isn't terribly accurate, but it does help to compose in bright sunlight. Two LEDs are right next to the viewfinder, a feature once used in Canon's old SureShot line and the ELPH series as well. The upper LED blinks green during startup, image recording and image transfer but glows solid green when the camera is ready to shoot or connected properly to a computer. When you depress the shutter release partway the same LED blinks to tell you the flash is charging, and glows orange when the flash is charged and ready to fire. If the flash is set to off, the orange LED also serves as a warning that light is too low for a sharp photo. The lower yellow indicator lamp confirms focus in the macro mode setting.

Battery/Card door: Under the battery door, you'll find the battery compartment, the SD card slot, and the backup battery sled.

The A550 is powered by a pair of AA batteries, which is great because you can power up around the world without worry. This outweighs the A550's bulkiness in comparison to some of Canon's Digital ELPH cameras; and there are folks who will buy nothing but AA-powered cameras. I used the LCD continuously instead of the smallish optical viewfinder, but rarely had to change a set of batteries during a full day of shooting. As a fringe benefit, the bulge for the AA batteries gives the A550 a nice little grip.

It took me a few days of shooting with the Canon PowerShot A550 to find the settings that let this point-and-shoot perform like a high-end camera. And the truth is, with 7.1 megapixel resolution, the A550's printed output looks like it could have come from a high-end camera.

ISO 800. High ISO isn't as high as some other similar cameras, but the results are very good. You can get away with printing an 11x14 from the A550, and it looks darn good. You can see some color noise at that size, but contrast and vibrance are very good still. Print at 8x10, and you won't notice that it's an ISO 800 shot unless you get out the loupe (a loupe is a magnifier; if anyone gets out a loupe, remind them what you paid for this fine little shooter). Even the skin tones look good from our indoor shot, once proper white balance is set.

Speaking of white balance, while Auto wasn't perfect with our indoor test target, it was darn close. As is often the case, Manual white balance was better.

Overall, images from the Canon A550 are excellent at all ISO settings, keeping with tradition for the A-series.

Appraisal. The Canon PowerShot A550 is a great basic digital camera whose images will make you feel like a pro. Canon's interface has evolved to a point of excellence, as well, with most of the features you'll find on Canon's more expensive digicams. The A550 is still a little slow, but in most measures it's faster than last year's A520 and A530. We love the 7.1 megapixel sensor, which delivers amazing images for the money; you might think they're amazing for even more money. We'd have to agree with you.

If you have just a little more money, you might consider the A570 IS, which gives you even more high-end features from the ELPH series in about the same form factor. But if you just want to keep it simple, the A550 is an excellent, can't-lose proposition.

Basic Features

• 7.1-megapixel CCD delivering image resolutions as large as 3,072 x 2,304 pixels
• 2.0-inch color LCD monitor
• Real-image optical viewfinder
• 4x 5.8-23.2mm lens (equivalent to 35-140mm zoom on a 35mm camera)
• 4.0x digital zoom
• AiAF 9-zone autofocus and a single zone autofocus mode
• AF Assist light for low-light focusing
• Automatic modes plus a long shutter setting, as well as 10 preset Scene modes
• Exposure compensation +/- 2EV in 1/3 step increments
• Shutter speed range from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds, depending on aperture
• Built-in flash with three operating modes plus red-eye reduction
• SDHC/SD/MMC memory storage
• Power supplied by two AA batteries or optional AC adapter

Special Features

• 30fps 640x480 Movie mode (with sound); up to 60fps at 320x240
• Still frame sound caption recording
• Continuous Shooting on Manual and Scene Modes
• Menu-set variable delay Self-Timer mode
• Creative Effects menu
• Auto White balance plus five preset white balance modes and custom white balance setting capability
• Auto ISO adjustment with five ISO equivalents up to ISO 800 plus a HI ISO setting to boost sensitivity in low light shooting
• Evaluative, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering options when shooting in manual mode
• DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility
• USB cable for connection to a computer (driver software included)

In the Box

The Canon PowerShot A550 box includes the following items:

• Canon PowerShot A550 camera
• Wrist strap WS-800
• Two AA-type alkaline batteries
• USB cable IFC-400PCU
• AV cable AVC-DC300
• 16MB MMC memory card MMC-16
• Software CD
• Instruction manuals, software guide, and registration kit

Recommended Accessories

• Larger capacity SDHC/SD card. (At least 512MB recommended, 1-2GB would be better.)
• Spare set of rechargeable AA batteries and a charger
• AC adapter kit
• Soft case
• High Power Flash HF-DC1

Conclusion

As we've come to expect from Canon's A-series, the PowerShot A550 is a great little digicam. Fairly frill-free, the Canon A550 still takes great shots with its 7-megapixel sensor. It has a satisfying 4x zoom, and is quite easy to use. The A550's no-nonsense mode dial is backed up by a simple Function menu; and though you can dig deeper with the main menu, you'll find fewer settings there than on other Canon models. In my opinion, less is more when it comes to a camera meant for the mass-market. More options will only confuse and invite error. Still, the A550 can make 640x480 movies at 30 frames per second, so it's ready to do anything most consumer buyers will need; and everything it does is above par for the category. The A550's 9-point AiAF autofocus system is excellent for candid shooting, and its high ISO functions are actually useful, turning out images that make excellent 8x10 prints. Its 7-megapixel sensor makes pictures that can be printed at 13x19 inches, quite an achievement at this price point. Though it doesn't have the biggest LCD, it still has an optical viewfinder. Priced at under $200, the Canon PowerShot A550 is a real bargain. The only reason we didn't make it a Dave's Pick is because the Canon A560 offers a bigger LCD and Face Detection autofocus for only $15-20 more (at typical street prices), making the A560 a better choice in our opinion.

Design

Canon PowerShot A550 Design

Measuring 3.6 x 2.5 x 1.7 inches, the Canon PowerShot A550 is a comfortable camera to hold, with controls that are well spaced and easy to use, even if you have larger hands. It is meant to go in a larger pocket or purse, and at 7.76 ounces including batteries and memory card, it won’t weigh you down. The best bet to protect the A550 is to go for a semi-rigid case. Something with room for an extra set of batteries would be wise too, even though the A550 has a long battery life. I recommend using the wrist strap because though it has a larger grip, its smooth, sleek surface left me worrying about dropping the A550.

The Canon A550's relatively fast, f/2.6-5.5, 35-140mm equivalent optical zoom lens juts out about 3/8 inch from the front of the camera when closed. The lens is a retractable design with built-in lens cover. Above the lens from left to right are the three holes for the microphone, the self-timer/AF assist lamp, the optical viewfinder window, and the flash. Along the left side is the grip with a new chrome accent strip.

The right side of the A550 has only a hole for the lanyard loop.

On the left you see the A550's rubber port cover, concealing the DC In, USB, and A/V Out ports.

On top you'll find the power button, mode dial, and shutter button. The shutter button is surrounded by the zoom toggle, an easy arrangement that works better than rear zoom toggles. You can also see the top hole for the lanyard loop on the far right.

Here on the back is where you'll find the majority of the A550's controls. The 2.0-inch LCD leaves room for an optical viewfinder on top, with two LED lamps just left of that to report camera status. Right of that you'll find the A550's speaker. Surrounding the Four-way controller are four buttons. The top left button switches between Playback and Record modes. The upper right button serves as the Print/Share button, which lights up blue when connected to a computer with the software loaded, or else when connected to a PictBridge-compatible printer. Below left is the Display button, and to the right is the Menu button. The buttons of the Four-way controller serve as navigational controls in menus and when zoomed in on an image, and nested in the middle is the Function/Set button. This brings up the Function menu, and selects settings in the menu. The four directions also serve to adjust Macro, ISO, Flash, and Drive mode (continuous, single, self-timer).

The A550's bottom panel is reasonably flat, with a sliding door to access the battery compartment and a threaded plastic tripod mount off in the opposite corner. The battery door and tripod mount are far enough away from each other to make quick battery changes while working with most tripods. Inside the battery door are wells for two AA cells, a small slot for the tiny CR1220 battery that maintains the camera's clock settings when the main batteries are out, and the SD/MMC memory card compartment.

Canon PowerShot A550 External Controls

Shutter Button: Resting in the center of the Canon A550's Zoom lever, this button sets focus and exposure when halfway pressed, and fires the shutter when fully pressed.

Zoom Lever (see image above): Surrounding the Shutter button on the Canon A550's top panel, this lever controls the optical and digital zoom while in Record mode. In Playback mode (when not using the playback zoom), the wide setting displays a nine-image index display of all images on the memory card, and accesses a "Jump" function that lets you scroll through index display screens quickly. Alternatively, the magnify position enlarges the currently displayed image as much as 10x, so that you can check on fine details.

Mode Dial: Also on the camera's top panel, this large, notched dial is used to select the camera's shooting modes. Canon divides these functions into Manual, Auto, and Image Zone. The options are as follows:

• Manual: Allows limited control of the camera's functions including exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, My Colors and metering modes.
• Auto: The camera controls everything about the exposure, except for flash and macro modes, image size, and quality settings.
• Image Zone
  • Portrait: Uses a large aperture setting to blur the background while keeping the primary subject in sharp focus.
  • Landscape: Employs a small aperture setting to keep both the background and foreground in focus. (May use a slower shutter speed, so a tripod is recommended.)
  • Night Snapshot: Allows you to take snapshots of people against twilight or night backgrounds by reducing the effects of camera shake even without using a tripod.
  • Kids & Pets: Offers a faster shutter speed for capturing fast moving little ones.
  • Indoor: Prevents camera shake blur and maintains the subject's true color when shooting under tungsten or fluorescent lighting.
  • Scene Modes: Accesses more specific preset shooting modes, including Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach and Fireworks.
  • Movie: Records up to 640x480-pixel 30-fps AVI (motion JPEG) format movies with sound. Maximum movie length is 1GB file size or one hour, whichever comes first. Focus and optical zoom are fixed while shooting movies.

Mode Switch: In the top right corner on the rear panel, this switch selects between Record and Playback modes.

Multi-Controller Rocker Button: The Canon A550's four-way rocker button isn't marked with arrows, but actuates left, right, up, and down, simulating arrow keys to navigate through settings menus. In Record mode, the left button enables macro mode, while the right button selects the flash mode (Auto, On or Off). The top button cycles through the available ISO settings (ISO Auto, Hi, 80, 100, 200, 400 or 800), while the bottom button accesses the Drive modes (Single, Continuous or Self-timer). Available selections vary with mode.

In Playback mode, the left and right buttons scroll through captured images. When an image has been enlarged, all four arrows pan within the view.

Function/Set Button (see image above): In the center of the multi-controller, this button confirms menu selections. It also displays the following Function menu while in Record mode (again, available selections vary with mode):

• Exposure Compensation: Adjusts exposure compensation values from -2 to +2 stops in 1/3 increments.
• White Balance: Controls the color balance of images. Options are Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H or Custom (manual setting).
• My Colors: Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, B/W, Custom Color or Off.
• Light Metering System: Sets the metering mode to Evaluative, Center-Weighted, or Spot.
• Quality: Specifies the amount of compression or frame rate. Still image options are Superfine, Fine, and Normal. Movie options are 30 or 15 frames per second. Fast Frame 320 x 240 movie mode is 60 fps.
• Resolution: Specifies the image resolution. Still image resolutions are 3,072 x 2,304: 2,592 x 1,944; 2,048 x 1,536; 1,600 x 1,200; and 640 x 480 pixels. Wide Screen mode captures 3,072 x 1,728. Movies are 640 x 480, 320 x 240 or 160 x 120.
  

Print/Share Button: Above right of the multi-controller button, is the Print/Share button. When connected to a printer or Windows computer, this button lights up, indicating that sync or printing is one button away.

Display Button: Below left of the multi-controller and adjacent to the lower right corner of the LCD monitor, this button controls the information and image display modes in Record and Playback modes.

Menu Button: Above left of the multi-controller button, this button calls up the settings menu in Record and Playback modes. It also dismisses the menu screen and backs out of menu selections.

Battery Compartment Latch: Nestled in the center of the battery compartment door on the bottom of the camera, this sliding switch unlocks the door, so that it can slide forward and open.

Operation

Canon PowerShot A550 Operation

The Canon A550's user interface is efficient once you learn it. Those already familiar with Canon cameras will feel right at home. Most camera functions are controlled externally, and a few of the external control buttons serve multiple functions depending on the mode you're in. When you do need to enter the LCD menu system, navigation is straightforward with only two main pages of options. The majority of external controls do require the LCD display to be active, but as I mentioned, I don't use the viewfinder much. The A550's external controls cut down on the amount of time spent searching menu screens, and I particularly like the Function menu which gives quick access to commonly used controls. Combined with the instruction manual, the Canon A550's user interface shouldn't take more than an hour to get comfortable with.

Record Mode LCD Display: In Record mode, the Canon A550's LCD reports various exposure settings, including camera modes, the resolution and quality settings, number of available images, ISO, drive mode, and metering mode. Half-pressing the Shutter button reports the aperture and shutter speed settings, in all modes except Movie. Pressing the Display button cycles through the available display modes, including the image only, image with information, and no display at all.

Playback Mode LCD Display: In Playback mode, the Canon A550's LCD reports the image series number, resolution and quality setting, file name, and the date and time of image capture. Pressing the Display button once pulls up an enhanced information display, pressing twice will show a full information display with a histogram for checking the exposure. A third press cancels the information overlay entirely. The telephoto side of the zoom toggle lets you zoom in on a portion of the image, while the wide-angle side backs you out again, and lets you step out to an index view of captured images, displayed as nine thumbnails at a time. Zooming out one step past the point at which the Canon A550's index display appears adds a "jump" bar to the bottom of the screen, letting you jump forward or back nine images at a time, rather than scrolling from each image to the next individually.

Canon PowerShot A550 Modes and Menus

Record Mode: Marked on the Mode button with the red camera icon, this mode sets up the Canon A550 for capturing still and moving images. The following exposure modes are available:

• Manual (M): Provides only a little more control over options and settings. Unlike some of the higher-end A-series cameras, the A550 does not have a true manual exposure mode.
• Auto: The camera controls everything about the exposure, except for Flash and Macro modes, and image size and quality settings.
• Portrait: Uses a large aperture setting to blur the background and keep the primary subject in sharp focus.
• Landscape: Employs a small aperture setting to keep both the background and foreground in focus.
• Night Snapshot: Allows you to take snapshots of people against night backgrounds by reducing the effects of camera shake even without using a tripod.
• Kids&Pets: Offers a faster shutter speed for capturing fast moving little ones.
• Indoor: Reduces blur from camera shake and maintains a subjects true color when shooting under tungsten or fluorescent light.
• Scene: Accesses the remaining preset Scene modes, including Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach and Fireworks.
• Movie: Records 640 x 480 at 30 or 15 frames per second, 320 x 240 pixels at 60, 30 or 15 fps, and 160 x 120 at 15fps. Maximum movie clip is 1GB file size or one hour, whichever comes first. Fast Frame 320 x 240 60 fps movies limited to one minute. 160 x 120 movies limited to three minutes.

Record Menu: Pressing the Canon A550's Menu button in Record mode pulls up the following options (not all options are available in all modes):

• AiAF: Turns the AiAF system on or off. If on, the camera judges focus based on the subject's proximity to nine focus areas arrayed in the center of the image. If off, the camera bases focus on the very center of the frame.
• Digital Zoom: Sets standard digital zoom, no zoom, or a zoom that starts at 1.5x or 1.9x, even when you're at wide angle.
• Slow Synchro: The flash timing is adjusted to slower speeds, reducing the chance that only the background will appear dark when a night scene shot is taken.
• Red-Eye Reduction: Turns the Red-Eye Reduction pre-flash on or off, which works with all flash modes.
• Self-timer: Sets self-timer to 10- or 2-second mode, or sets Custom mode, where you can set up to a 30 second delay, and between 1 and 10 shots per cycle.
• AF Assist Beam: Turns the AF Assist light on or off. If on, the light automatically illuminates in dark shooting conditions.
  
• Review: Turns the instant image review function on or off, with available image display times from two to 10 seconds in one second steps, or Hold to keep the image on until you press the shutter button or turn the camera off.
• Display Overlay: Toggles among a display of grid lines, a 3:2 aspect ratio mask (for framing 4x6 images), or both.
• Date Stamp: Only available in Postcard mode (set via the Function menu), allows printing of Date or Date and Time on photo.

Playback Mode: This mode lets you review captured images and movies on the memory card, as well as erase them, protect them, or tag them for printing and transfer. The traditional green Playback symbol denotes this mode on the Mode switch. Pressing the Canon A550's Menu button displays the following options:

• Auto Play: Automatically plays all captured images in a slide show.
• Sound Memo: Records a short sound clip to accompany a captured image.
• Protect: Marks the current image for write-protection, or removes write-protection. Protected images cannot be deleted or manipulated, except through card formatting, which erases all files.
• Rotate: Rotates the current image 90 or 270 degrees clockwise.
• Erase All: Erases all files on the memory card, except protected ones.
• Transfer Order: Marks images to be transferred to a computer later.

Print Menu: This menu is available in the Canon A550's Playback mode, simply by pressing the Menu button and selecting the Print tab. The bottom line of the display shows how many images are selected for printing and the print method that is active.

• Print: Sends images tagged for printing to the printer.
• Select Images & Quantity: Allows you select images for printing and set the number of prints for each image selected.
• Select All Images: Selects all images on the memory card for printing.
• Clear All Selections: Clears all print selections.
  
• Print Settings: Brings up a menu of these options:
  • Print Type: You can specify whether to print one image per page, an index of the images, or both.
  • Date: Set printing of the date and time on or off.
  • File No.: Set printing of the file number on or off.
  • Clear DPOF data: Set the option to clear the DPOF tag on or off.

Setup Menu: This menu is available in all exposure modes, simply by pressing the Canon A550's Menu button and selecting the Setup tab.

• Mute: Turns the camera's start-up, operation, self-timer, shutter and playback sounds on and off.
• Volume: Displays the volume settings for the camera's start-up, operation, self-timer, shutter, and playback sounds.
• Startup image: Turns startup image display on or off.
• Power Saving: Accesses the camera's Auto Power Down and Display Off settings. Power Down can be enabled or disabled, and Display Off can be set to 10 / 20 / 30 seconds, or 1 / 2 / 3 minutes.
• Date/Time: Sets the camera's internal calendar and clock.
• Format: Formats the SD/MMC card, erasing all files (even those marked for write-protection).
  
• File Numbering: Specifies whether to reset file numbering with each new SDHC/SD/MMC card or continue numbering in sequence, regardless of memory card.
• Create Folder: Specifies whether to capture new images in a new folder or to create a new folder for new images after a certain time.
• Auto Rotate: Specifies whether images appear vertically in the LCD monitor when the camera is held vertically.
• Lens Retract: Selects how long camera waits to retract lens after switching from Record to Playback mode (immediately or after one minute).
• Language: Sets the camera's menu language to one of 25 choices. English is the default setting.
  
• Video System: Sets the camera's video-out signal as NTSC or PAL.
• Print Method: Specify either Auto or PictBridge as the print method.
• Reset All: Restores factory default settings.

Optics

Canon PowerShot A550 Optics

Lens

Zoom
Very good performance with the 4x optical zoom lens. Digital zoom also performs fairly well.

The Canon PowerShot A550's optical zoom covers the equivalent of a 35-140mm range, which is slightly greater than most average digital cameras. Results were quite good at wide angle, with minimal blurring in the corners and low coma distortion in the tree branches against the sky. The camera's 4x digital zoom also performs pretty well, with tolerable losses in resolution and quality from the digital enlargement. Still, digital zoom is never a good substitute for true optical zoom.

Macro
A small macro area with excellent detail and high resolution. Flash exposure was not usable up close.

The Canon A550's macro setting performed quite well, capturing a very small minimum area of 1.98 x 1.48 inches (50 x 38 millimeters). Detail and resolution were both excellent, though there's a moderate amount of softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) The flash blew out most of the exposure, with a strong shadow in the lower right corner of the frame from the lens. Plan on using external lighting for the best results with the A550's macro setting.

Distortion
Moderate barrel distortion, though very low pincushion.

Barrel distortion at 35mm is 0.7%

Pincushion at 140mm is less than 0.1%

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto). The Canon PowerShot A550's 0.7% barrel distortion at wide angle is just a little less than average among the cameras we've tested, although still quite noticeable in its images. At the telephoto end, the A550's pincushion distortion was quite low at less than 0.1%, and had little effect.

Chromatic aberration
Moderate, only slightly noticeable effect on images at edges.

Chromatic aberration is moderately high at wide angle, showing about 6-7 pixels of bright coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) The effect is much stronger on the right side of the frame, though the aberration is increased by some blurring in the corner here. At telephoto, aberration is much lower, though again stronger on the right side of the frame. Overall, the effect is only slightly noticeable in most of our test shots.

Corner Sharpness
Strong blurring in the right corners of the frame at wide angle, though less blurring at telephoto.

The Canon PowerShot A550 produced very soft corners in the right side of the frame at full wide angle, with minimal blurring on the left. At full telephoto, there's only slight blurring in the corners of the frame, with very little effect on resulting images.

Viewfinder

Coverage
Excellent accuracy from the LCD monitor, though the optical viewfinder proved a bit tight.

The Canon PowerShot A550's optical viewfinder was a bit tight, showing approximately 83% frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 81% at telephoto. However, the camera's LCD monitor showed right about 100% accuracy at both zoom settings.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon PowerShot A550 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Canon PowerShot A550 Exposure

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Overall very good color, with good hue accuracy. Some slight oversaturation in reds and blues, but still quite good results.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located towards the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center.

Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life. The Canon PowerShot A550 does oversaturate the strong red tones, and some blues a little, but the results are still quite pleasing.

Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc. Here, the A550 did render skin tones slightly on the warm side in most cases, but many consumers find slightly warm skin tones more pleasing than cooler ones.

The other important part of color rendition is hue accuracy. Hue is "what color" the color is. Here, the A550 again performed well, though it pushed cyan tones toward blue (a common occurrence among Canon digital cameras), and some reds toward orange. Still, very good results.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Good color with the Manual white balance setting, though a hint warm. Average positive exposure compensation required.

Color balance indoors under incandescent lighting was pretty warm with the Auto white balance setting, though the Manual and Incandescent options produced much more accurate results. Because the Incandescent setting had a hint of a cool, magenta cast, I chose the slightly warmer (and more natural-looking) Manual setting. The Canon A550 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +1.0 EV. Despite the slight warm cast, overall color with the Manual white balance setting is excellent, without strong purple tints in the blue flowers. (Many digital cameras reproduce these flowers with a dark, purplish tint, so the A550 performed very well here.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.

Outdoors, daylight
Good color and exposure, though slightly high contrast with the default setting.

Outdoors, the Canon PowerShot A550 performed pretty well, with only slight overexposure in the outdoor wide shot. The camera required less than the average amount of positive exposure compensation on the portrait. Default contrast is on the high side, though the camera's contrast adjustment did a pretty good job of taming the exposure without strongly affecting the color. The A550 captured good color outdoors, without too strong of a warm cast. Overall, pretty good results here.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
High resolution, 1,400 ~ 1,600 lines of strong detail.

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,600 lines per picture height horizontally, though really only to about 1,400 lines vertically. Extinction didn't really occur horizontally, though lines began to merge around 1,900-2,000 vertically. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Sharp images overall, though slight edge-enhancement on high-contrast subjects. Moderate noise suppression limits detail in the shadows.

The Canon PowerShot A550 captures sharp images with good detail definition, though some edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the crop above left. (Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.)

Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears. The crop above right shows this, as the darker areas of Marti's hair show limited detail.

ISO & Noise Performance
Low to moderate noise at the normal sensitivity settings, though a big jump in noise with strong blurring at the higher settings.

Noise levels are low to moderate at the Canon A550's lower sensitivity settings, with much higher noise at ISO 400 and 800 (as you'd expect). Noise pixels are bright at both settings, which throws off the color balance a bit, and the grain pattern eliminates some of the finer details. Still, it's not bad, retaining a surprising amount of detail.

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution with strong overall detail, but slightly high contrast and limited shadow detail. Excellent low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness.

Sunlight:
Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

The Canon PowerShot A550 produced fairly high contrast with deep shadows under the harsh lighting of the test above. However, the camera's contrast adjustment handled this problem fairly well, without strongly affecting color balance or tonal gradations. Detail is limited in the shadow areas, with some noise suppression visible. Though some areas look a little dark at +0.7 EV, I preferred it to the image at +1.0 EV, which had too many blown highlights for my preference. (In "real life" though, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.)

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux
ISO 80	1.3 sec f2.6	2.5 sec f2.6	5 sec f2.6	10 sec f2.6	15 sec f2.6
ISO 100	1 sec f2.6	2 sec f2.6	4 sec f2.6	8 sec f2.6	15 sec f2.6
ISO 200	1/2 sec f2.6	1 sec f2.6	2 sec f2.6	4 sec f2.6	8 sec f2.6
ISO 400	1/4 sec f2.6	1/2 sec f2.6	1 sec f2.6	2 sec f2.6	4 sec f2.6
ISO 800	1/8 sec f2.6	1/4 sec f2.6	1/2 sec f2.6	1 sec f2.6	2 sec f2.6

Low light:
The Canon PowerShot A550 captured bright images down to the 1/16 foot-candle light level (about 1/16 as bright as average city street lighting at night). At ISO 80, the image at this lowest light level is a bit dim, but really still usable. The camera's autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to just below the 1/4 foot-candle light level without the AF assist light, so you'll need to make sure it's enabled for darker conditions. Do keep in mind though, that the very long shutter times necessary here absolutely demand the use of a tripod or other camera support to get sharp photos. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) For such applications, you may have better luck with a digital SLR camera, but even there, you'll likely need to set the focus manually. For information and reviews on digital SLRs, refer to our SLR review index page.

Flash

Coverage and Range
Slightly dim exposures at the default exposure setting; the camera required less-than-average exposure compensation for flash exposures. Typical range.

Flash coverage was uneven at wide angle; and though it was more even at telephoto, the intensity decreased. Indoors, under incandescent background lighting, the Canon A550's flash underexposed our subject a little at its default setting, requiring a +0.7 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get bright results. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode required the same amount of positive compensation, though overall coverage is more even. In both exposures, the background incandescent lighting resulted in a noticeable orange cast.

Flash Range: Wide Angle
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f2.7 ISO 100

Flash Range: Telephoto
6 ft	7 ft	8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft
1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100
12 ft	13 ft	14 ft	15 ft	16 ft
1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100	1/64 sec f5.7 ISO 100

At wide angle, shots at ISO 100 are bright out to a distance of about 11 feet, decreasing in brightness from that point on. At full telephoto and ISO 100, even the 6-foot shot is a little dim, and the images darken from there. A typical result for compact models.

Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
Wide Angle	Telephoto
11.0 feet Auto ISO 200	7.2 feet Auto ISO 200

Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims. In the shots above, the A550 seems to perform exactly as Canon says it will, producing good exposures at the rated distances with its ISO set to Auto.

Output Quality

Print Quality
Good print quality, great color, good 13x19 inch prints. ISO 400 images are soft but usable at 11x14, ISO 800 shots are still good at 8x10.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon i9900 studio printer, and on the Canon iP5200 here in the office. (See the Canon i9900 review for details on that model.)

The Canon PowerShot A550 had enough resolution to make good looking 13x19 inch prints. ISO 400 images still look good at 11x14, which is quite a surprise. And ISO 800 images still look good at 11x14 when shot in daylight balanced lighting, but indoor incandescent shots are better kept to 8x10. An impressive performance from a sub-$200 camera.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon PowerShot A550 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Canon PowerShot A550 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Performance

Canon PowerShot A550 Performance