Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital Elph reviewed

PC Mag has bestowed its prestigious Editor's Choice award on Canon's ultracompact, and it seems ultraawesome, 7.1 megapixel PowerShot SD550 Digital Elph. As we've reported before and its name kinda indicates, the $409-at-Amazon SD550 is an update of last year's also-lauded SD500, and PC Mag thinks that this new model has certainly earned those 50 points. While matching its predecessor in resolution, the human color-wheels over at PC Mag agree that the SD550 actually takes a better picture than the SD500, and sports a bigger screen to boot (2.5-inches vs. 2.0). Also impressive were the "excellent" flash, ergonomic design, bootup time, shutter lag (or lack thereof), and 30fps VGA video capture that "was slightly better than that of the SD500." The only quibbles were relatively minor, and involve some obscure photographic wonkiness that we'll leave to the review.

[Anders @ Jan 20th 2006 10:11PM]

My SD400's screen cracked under (mildly) cold weather conditions, on its second day out of the box. A common problem, according to internet griping, and I managed to get a full refund. Is there any indication Canon's done anything to beef up the screens in the past couple iterations of this line?

[Jonathan Webb @ Jan 20th 2006 10:46PM]

I have owned a 2MP and a 4MP digital elph over the last several years. I dropped one from about 5 feet onto a hardwood floor at home. (It broke the screen, but the camera still worked otherwise.) I sent it off for repair. Within a week they replaced the screen and FedEx'd the camera back to me with a receipt (no charge) and a note thanking me for my business. Canon rocks! Customer service like that is unheard of these days.

[Bryan @ Oct 30th 2007 4:36PM]

Where did you send the camera for repair?

[Derek @ Jan 20th 2006 10:47PM]

Amazon's price is actually $408.94. The $330 refers to last year's model (the SD500).

[Tom Saville @ Jan 20th 2006 10:55PM]

Ever since my Olympus 50Z busted about a year ago, I've been eyeing the Digital Elph line. Looks like it's time to upgrade.

[Mark @ Jan 20th 2006 11:06PM]

Costco.com $399.99 with their smokin return policy.

[Jon @ Jan 20th 2006 11:14PM]

Check http://www.bensbargains.net/ they have 550 deals all the time. The SD450 rocks also.

- Jon

[Simon @ Jan 20th 2006 11:31PM]

I have one of these babies, an upgrade from a Canon A10. The SD550 is absolutely awesome. A screen as big as a video iPod. I rarely leave images in 7.1MPix tho, and I find that reducing the resolution increases the screen quality (thanks to Photoshop), but images that I may print out in poster size I leave at full res (not many). Full res (3072x2304) for excellent shots, 1600x1200 for great shots, 1280x960 for most, 800x600 or 640x480 for shots I stuffed :P

Just so people know, the camera goes by other names depending upon your location. Thanks Canon for making it just that little bit harder to make comparisons.

Canon IXUS 750
Canon IXY 700
Canon SD550

I found the IXY 700 is the cheapest, but the waranty is only honoured in Japan. Some nice camera companies in Hong Kong may help you get around that.

[Stephen Mortensen @ Jan 20th 2006 11:43PM]

I've been looking into this camera for a little while now and it definitely looks like a good choice to replace my aging Canon Digital Elph S110

[Mike @ Jan 20th 2006 11:51PM]

I attached my s230 to a kite and flew it up about 200 feet. I had the kite take a nose dive and the camera dropped from about 100 feet straight to the ground. Was worried so bad about my stupidity (it was a dumb thing to do!) but the s230 was unscathed. A bit of mud, but otherwise it was fine. Canon's products are built like a rock.

[James @ Jan 21st 2006 1:23AM]

Maybe I should upgrade my Canon PowerShot S45 soon.

[voodooxradio @ Jan 21st 2006 2:06AM]

guys...have none of you heard of NewEgg? $368.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120173

[Yem @ Jan 21st 2006 5:16AM]

What, no image stabilisation?

[donna folle @ Jan 21st 2006 5:24AM]

I wish they could have added shutter/apeture priority in the SD series. They seem to be awesome cameras. My SD200 is so freakin' quick it's usually ready before I am.

As for the screen problem, any uncovered screen seems like an accident waiting to happen. I purchased a hard and slightly thick screen protector from 'da products and it's safe to stay in my pocket. I am not sure if they made one for the larger 2.5" inch screen though. It sticks out a little due to its thickness but it's actually very reassuring to know it won't get cracked or even scratched.

[Mark Young @ Jan 21st 2006 8:44AM]

I have had the 550 for about 1 1/2 months and it nothing short of awesome! If I could say the only thing is sometimes my finger covers the flash, but that is because it is so much smaller than my other camera I am not used to it. The pic quality is amazing, and you can digital zoom in video mode w/out losing much resolution..and it is as good as any VHS recorder out there.

One of the few products I bought w/out ever looking back...

[Kman @ Jan 21st 2006 8:54AM]

I love Canon's digital line of cameras. Only one complaint -- the battery is not a *smart* battery, which means that you will find out that you're running out of juice about 1 minute before you actually do run out.
Couldn't they have fixed this problem by now???

[Mark @ Jan 21st 2006 9:45AM]

I've had an SD-550 for a few months and it is fantastic. Easy to use, no lags, great screen, great pics, and the video looks as good as a quality Mini-DV camcorder.

[John Stracke @ Jan 21st 2006 10:31AM]

I bought the SD100 a couple of years ago, and I've been very happy with it. When I wanted to get a second camera (one to carry around, one to leave at home so my wife can take pictures of the kids), I looked at the SD550; it was great, but the price gave me pause. I finally settled on the SD500, at about $50 less; the pictures are Good Enough, the 2" screen is still very nice, and (the kicker) a smaller screen means there's more room for the controls. The controls on the right side of the SD550 just felt too cramped to me when I tried it in the store.

One nice touch I hadn't anticipated: the SD500 uses the same battery (and charger) as my old SD100.

[Schmelding @ Jan 21st 2006 10:50AM]

$368.99 at NewEgg.com. They rawk and always have dirt cheap deals. Reputable too -- a c|net 5-star rating.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16830120173

[Phillip Hurst @ Jan 21st 2006 12:33PM]

I have the SD400 and the best/cheapest accessory you can buy is DA Products Protector. You never know they are there and it ensures your screen is not going to break, smudge or crack. http://www.daproducts.com/

[quanta @ Jan 21st 2006 12:34PM]

Happy owner of a SD500...they don't mention, however, that the SD550 has a bigger LCD but it is a lower resolution vs. the SD500.

No IS or manual focus, but this camera will fit in your backpocket; a DSLR won't!

[Joe Keith @ Jan 21st 2006 1:07PM]

This a nice a camera as long as whatever you are taking a picture of istnt moving. There is no ACTION setting for this camera and anything in motion will be very blurred. Even slight motion can cause problems. I would not buy this camera again.

[breezie @ Jan 21st 2006 2:47PM]

SD550 owner here-

According to the members at dpreview, the older sd models (sd 2,3,4,500) all had a serious issue with the lcd breaking. Numerous complaints. With the new sd450 and 550- there is supposively stronger protection on the lcds and very few, if any reports of the same issue. Also the previous models had an audio issue in the video recording which was addressed in the 450 and 550.

For those in the market, THERE IS A SILVER VERSION OF THE SD550, they have it at best buy and some other places... I would not had bought this camera if there was only a champagne color one

[Jack Feliciano @ Jan 21st 2006 3:11PM]

I just uprgraded from a Canon SD30 for a trip my wife an I will be taking in a couple of weeks to Japan, and Hong Kong. I took a few pictures, and I did notice the significant difference in picture quality than my 3.0 Mp camera. The file size is large (appros 1.6 to 1.9 Mp), but that is what you should expect from a high resolution camera. I immediately went out and purchased (2) 1 Gb SD memory cards, because we won't be able to download until we return from vacation, and I want to make sure we have enough memeory. My only issue so far is, I thought I read on a website that the camera is capable of using the SD, and compact flash cards. But learned after purchasing it, it will only use SD. This is no big deal, since my Dell PDA uses the SD card, and I dont have anything else that uses compact flash. To sum it up, this is a vacation we have been planning for quite some time, and probably could of used our SD30. But with the size, resolution, and Canon name, we did not want to take any chances since this vacation is something we want to cherish for years to come.....

Thanks,
Jack

[David Coppit @ Jan 21st 2006 8:37PM]

I have one of the earlier models. Portability and picture quality in bright situations is very good. The downsides are poor performance low-light situations, which is exacerbated by crappy flash. It's damn near impossible to take a photo of kids and pets without massive redeye.

[Andy @ Jan 22nd 2006 1:09AM]

#12, IS for still pics requires optical or mechanical IS. It is different from video IS in which you can use digital pixel shifting. So, no IS in such small cameras. It may have IS only for video, as some of these compacts do now.

[Andy @ Jan 22nd 2006 1:21AM]

#12, IS for still pics requires optical or mechanical IS. It is different from video IS in which you can use digital pixel shifting. So, no IS in such small cameras. It may have IS only for video, as some of these compacts do now.

[bobm @ Jan 23rd 2006 1:52AM]

Another long time Canon S/SD series camera user.

Each model just keeps getting better (for me at least).

The neatest thing with this one is that I can now zoom while doing movies. (digital zoom only but since the movie is 640x480 there is a lot of real estate to play with).

I got the underwater case for Xmas and that's a must for all of my pocket cams, taking pictures of my son underwater is a hoot.

The larger display is great and the startup time is really nice.

Downsides: I wish that someone would bring out a pocket camera that did indoors without flash, the scene mode helps a bit but this is probably the biggest problem with all of the ultracameras I've tried.

no regrets here..

[John @ Jan 23rd 2006 11:04AM]

The SD550 comes in 2 colors, champagne and silver(grey). Most online retailers do not indicate the color of the unit they sell. I personally prefer the grey.

[Rick @ Jan 23rd 2006 1:23PM]

I have the SD500 and I love it. Of course it doesn't have IS or AE or stuff like that -- it's a pocket-sized point and shooter. It's great for taking out to bars, parties, etc. If I want to take great photographs, I bring my 20D.

[Jon Madrigal @ Jan 24th 2006 2:29AM]

I've had the 550 for about a month now... it's absolutely fantastic. I'm looking to upgrade to the Canon Rebel XT soon though... so I won't be enjoying this one for long.

This is easily the best consumer non-SLR camera on the market. VERY well made.

The only thing I would want is the shutter/aperture priority. But I can figure all that out on my own.

If you want to see some pics I've snapped with it, go to my flickr photostream, nearly all of my recent pics are from the 550. The resolution is incredible, I've printed a 20X30" poster and it looked beautiful.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dr_love/

[Zak @ Mar 3rd 2006 9:57PM]

Is the IXY Digital 700 (comparable to SD550) supported by Canon USA if any problem occurs?

I bought one my SD550 from an online retailer (prestige camera) and they sent me an IXY Digital 700 much to my shock! It seems to be the same camera but i'm just concerned whether a Canon repair faciltiy in the U.S. can repair if I need to.

Thanks in advance

[mike bierman @ Jul 13th 2006 12:44PM]

my memry card is stuck. how do i get it loose?

[Jason Johnson @ Aug 11th 2006 3:48PM]

I had a digital elf powershot s200 that had only 2.0 mpix but had amazing sound when recording videos. I see that its suppose to be better sound w/ the 550 but I cant even listen to the sound when I do videos with mine. I makes me so damn mad, all I get is this constant, and I mean CONSTANT swish,swish,swish,swish real slow and underwater like sound over my videos. What a piece of crap mic. for all the other cool things this camera does. Did they even spend $1 on the damn mic. I doubt it very much...

[Dennis @ Apr 13th 2007 11:48PM]

I having trouble downloading photos from the SD550 in Vista works fine in XP. I get a message "Corel Photo downloader 'error downloading photo'". Anybody know the problem?