Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon PowerShot A550 Digital Camera - Silver (7.0MP, 4x Optical Zoom) 2.0" LCD

Got this as an upgrade from my Nikon Coolpix 5600, and an upgrade it really is. In comparison, the photos are much more crisp and clear, and the camera itself is so much more responsive. Hit the power button and you're ready to take a photo in less than 2 seconds. Not only that, but compared to the Nikon, the pickup is much more sensitive; enough so that blurred shots are the exception rather than the norm as it was on the coolpix. Colour is great, and the fancy "AiAf" shows you clearly on the (admittedly small) screen where it's concentrating on for focus. The other shocker for me is battery life. I've taken a couple of hundred shots since I bought it, and still haven't had to change the batteries. It just keeps going and going.

The only real downsides for me are that the plastic enclosure feels a little tacky (though don't get me wrong, it's plenty solid), the screen's a bit on the small side, and (as with seemingly all cameras), the menus could do with more help/advice/documentation. Overall though, for a handy, budget camera that you can carry around without really worrying about it getting damaged, it's fantastic. Obviously it's no DSLR - you only get a limited set of manual controls - but its size and price mean that it'll get used more often than a camera you have to carry in a kit bag.

This camera is compact, light but feels good quality build.
It has easy to use manual functions and a good ISO range of 80-800.
I have taken shots in a variety of lighting conditions and it performs very well.
The depth of field is excellent, which you would expect with compact lenses, but compared to other cameras i have the Canon is sharper and retains excellent contrast and colouring in your backgrounds when shooting in good outdoor light.
Shots taken indoors without flash, on Auto ISO setting,were excellent. It fits nicely in the hand and all the controls are accessible when you get used to them without taking your eye off the subject. On a 2GB SD Card, on full resolution, the camera will take 647 shots, which should be ample for most people.
The 2" LCD screen is also very good and is viewable in all but the brightest light. The 4x Optical zoom is a good feature, but forget about the digital zoom, as it reduces the quality of the shots significantly (as with most cameras) and is a waste of time.
The video capture function has 3 settings, fast capture for sports and action (60fps), standard for normal conditions (30fps) and compact, for sending as an e-mail file or viewing on a small screen (15 fps).
The sports mode is good, but disables the zoom function. Standard mode is best and still allows you to zoom in and out from your subject. The compact mode is around the quality you would expect from the average mobile phone and is a little pixelated when your subject starts moving.
Sound is recorded in mono but is good quality and the camera picks up sound well, even when used outside.
The movie capture in standard mode is the best compromise and provides good quality (similar to the old 8mm camcorders) which is viewable on full screen when played back on your PC screen at good quality, and acceptable quality on a normal TV when played back using the lead provided (just be sure to change the settings to PAL not NTSC if playing througha standard UK TV).
I understand there are a number of teleconverter and telewide converter lenses for this camera which will increase the zoom or give a wider angle of view respectively. The ones i have looked at though, made by Canon are expensive at £100+. I expect that they will be of superior quality though, but if you are to spend that sort of money it would be better to look further up the powershot range for something to take serious hobby shots without having to lump an SLR or large bridge camera about.
At between £100-£150 to buy, i think this camera is a bargain, and is ideal for either the keen amateur / pro user as a convenient, great quality pocketable compact, or for the novice user who just wants to point and press and achieve good results. Highly recommended.

Having dabbled in around with chemical based photography for many years, I finally took the plunge and bought my first digital camera, and I am not disappointed with the Canon PowerShot A550. This 7.1 mega pixel pocket camera from Canon is a real gem.

The 2 inch screen is very adequate for all casual point and shoot applications, and as with all LCD screens, if the outside ambient light level does make things difficult: then just revert to the classic eye viewfinder. The camera controls are very well laid out, and within 10 minutes or so you will be ready to shoot your first picture. Everything is very intuitive.

The autofocus works fine, and the focus zones can be adjusted for best results. However, I have found no reason to tinker with this. The "Auto" function delivers great results, and takes the fiddling out of the process, letting you concentrate on the real business of taking photos.

Leaving the best till last, and that is that this camera is powered by two AA batteries, no fancy custom battery packs that need recharging. Any store almost anywhere in the world will gladly sell you a pair of AA's, which will, with this camera easily provide 150-200 shots before they need replacing. You can of course opt for AA rechargeables; if these die on you, then buy your replacement AA's in the field.

In short, this camera will not disappoint.

Have just bought this from Argos as my first venture into digital cameras,after years with a manual 35mm Pentax SLR and latterly with a Canon 35mm compact zoom. I agree with the previous reviewer that on first inspection the camera appears somewhat "plasticky" and looks rather fragile, especially the function wheel on the top, but this is really only a cosmetic effect as the camera body actually feels pretty solid. The menu functions on the screen are reasonably understandable if one has a previous basic knowledge of photography, but could be baffling to a complete novice and could do with a bit more expansion. The paper instruction booklet supplied is very cursory, and it is rather annoying to have to boot up one's PC every time one wants to find out about a particular function from the CD manual.The CD manual could also be a little better written! The screen is very clear and big enough to be seen easily but is not intrusive, and can be switched off to save power if required, and framing achieved through the traditional viewfinder. The whole camera is very light,is nicely shaped with a right-handed L-shaped grip and is small enough to be slipped into a pocket, which is great if, like me, you travel the world a lot, want decent pictures, but don't want to stick out as a "tourist"! It's easily operated with one hand and quick enough to react for those "grab-shots" without one being noticed. The zoom lens is 4x optical (approx 135mm equivalent) which is a bit more reach than most of this class, along with a digital zoom going up to 16x in all, and is very impressive, producing some very sharp pictures. Having been used to using an SLR, I am impressed at the results of such a tiny lens! However, an image stabilising function would be helpful with the full digital zoom. The macro facility is especially impressive, and unlike 35mm compacts, does away with the annoying parallax and focusing problem by using the screen. There is a movie mode with fast and slow framing speeds along with a very clear microphone, although care must be taken not to block this with the gripping finger tips. Colour saturation and contrast can be manipulated manually, or one can use any of the easy pre-programmed settings. The 7.1 Megapixel size also means that photos can be enlarged to a decent size without breaking up. Transfer to a PC is exceptionally easy-after installing the software on a PC, just plug the camera into the USB port and press a button! The Canon software provided is very easy to use and performs all the usual functions well.Battery power is provided by two AA size, which means that there is less of a problem if you suddenly find yourself out of power and nowhere near a specialist shop for the more difficult to find battery sizes of many cameras.
All in all, this is a terrific camera for the price. It is simple to operate, produces good quality sharp pictures in all light conditions and is small and light. If you want something that's a bit better than a point and shoot, produces good quality pictures but don't want to go up to a DSLR, you would do well with this one!

I've had this camera for well over 6 months now and it hasn't let me down. It is not as slim and sexy as other modern compacts (in fact it's bigger than my faithful 2 1/2 year old Nikon Coolpix 3200 that I bought it to replace), mainly because of the AA battery compartment. However I think the advantage of AA batteries outweighs the "sexiness factor" and its curves do make it comfortable to hold.

It is fast from power-up to first shot, photographs are very crisp and sharp and it takes movies well. I can't say I find the menu particularly intuitive but I'm getting there! Most "happy snappers" like me will keep it on auto and be more than pleased with the outcome. I had trouble connecting it to my old PC (via the USB cable) running Win2k but now I just stick the memory card in the slot of my new comp running Vista (Home Premium) with no problems.

4/5 - it's not perfect but it is well built, it performs well and for less then a ton, you'd struggle to do better :o)

Note - I've uploaded some pictures but they lose a lot of quality in the process. They are much better when viewed first hand on my 22" monitor

Update - it's 15 months old now and has taken thousands of photos and movies indoors and outdoors and the camera looks and works as good as new. I am still very impressed with it. (FYI, I use a 2.0Gb SanDisk SD RAM card and Duracell 1500 NiMH rechargeable batteries - both work great in this camera)