Superb Imaging Performance
• 18 megapixels APS-C sized CMOS sensor for high resolution images of superb quality and details
• DIGIC 4 Imaging Processor’s 14-bit A/D conversion gives rapid processing speeds while maintaining fine detail and accurate colour reproduction
• Auto Lighting Optimizer function with 4 settings (Standard, low, strong and disable) - Analyzes the brightness of the photographic subject, and automatically corrects the dark parts to make them brighter.
• Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction setting to automatically even the brightness across the image
• Full HD Video capture at 1920 x 1080 resolution with flexible frame rates (30p, 25p &24p) for up to 4GB per clip with HDMI output (CEC compliant) for HD viewing of stills and video
• External microphone terminal provided for recording sound via an external microphone
• SD quality (640 x 480) movie recording equivalent of about 7x magnification of regular movie shooting
Quick response for stress-free shooting
• 3.7fps continuous shooting speed, up to a maximum burst of 34 shots.
• Fast 0.1sec. startup time (CIPA specification standard)
• Shooting from the LCD monitor allows easy verification of focus, composition and exposure.
• Silent shooting mode for quiet environments
• Enhanced live view focusing methods, including Quick mode, Live mode and Face detection mode.
EOS Integrated Cleaning System
• Comprehensive measures to minimize the effects of dust particles on images
• Includes Self Cleaning Sensor Unit and Dust Delete Function
Ease of Operability
• Wide, 3.0-inch (3:2) Clear View LCD (1, 040,000 dots) with multiple coatings for improved viewing and smudge-resistant protection.
• HDMI-CEC (High Definition Multimedia Interface – Consumer Electronics Control) compatible output for displaying full high-resolution images on a High Definition TV
Fast & Sharp Focus
• Precision 9-point auto-focus (AF) system provides high degree of focusing accuracy
• Flexible setting of ISO speed to adjust camera’s sensitivity to light for best exposure (ISO 100 – 36400, ISO expandable to 12800)
• Advanced metering system: 63 zone dual-layer metering sensor
• +/- 5 steps exposure compensation
• 4 metering modes: Evaluative, Partial, Centre-weighted average and Spot.
• 8 White Balance settings to fine-tune white balance as desired: - Auto, Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light, Flash, Custom.
Shooting Modes
• Mode dial for easy access to a wide range of shooting modes for different shooting conditions: 1) Full Auto
2) Creative Auto
3) Program AE
4) Shutter-priority AE (Tv)
5) Aperture-priority AE (Av)
6) Manual
7) A-DEP
8) Flash off
9) Portrait
10) Landscape
11) Close-up
12) Sports
13) Night Portrait
14) Movie
Picture Style
• Just like selecting the film type on a conventional camera, users can get the optimum image by selecting the correct setting.
• 6 image composition modes available with sharpness, contrasts, colour tone, saturation can be adjustable: 1) Standard - vivid and sharp images (general shooting)
2) Portrait - beautiful skin tones and clear image quality
3) Landscape - vivid blues and greens, enhanced sharpness.
4) Neutral - natural colour reproduction, low sharpness and moderate expression.
5) Faithful - extremely accurate colour reproduction in daylight.
6) Monochrome - black and white or sepia images
7) Picture Style Editor lets you create your own Picture Style files for use with the EOS 550D
Type Digital, single-lens reflex, AF / AE camera
Recording medium SD, SDHC and SDXC card
Compatible lenses Canon EF lenses (including EF-S lenses)
Lens Mount Canon EF mount
Image Sensor
Type CMOS sensor
Effective Pixels Approx. 18.00 megapixels
Image Sensor Size 22.3 x 14.9mm
Aspect ratio 3:2
Dust deletion feature Auto, Manual, Dust Delete Data appending
Recording System
Recording format Design rule for Camera File System 2.0
Image type JPEG, RAW (14-bit Canon original)
RAW + JPEG simultaneous recording possible
MOV
Recording pixels Large: Approx. 17.90 megapixels (5184 x 3456)
Medium: Approx. 8.00 megapixels (3456 x 2304)
Small: Approx. 4.50 megapixels (2592 x 1728)
RAW: Approx. 17.90 megapixels (5184 x 3456)
File numbering Consecutive numbering, auto reset and manual reset
Imaging Processor
Picture Style Standard, Portrait, Landscape, Neutral, Faithful, Monochrome, User Def. 1-3
White Balance Auto (AWB), daylight, shade, cloudy, tungsten, light, white fluorescent light, flash, custom (custom WB)
Noise Reduction Applicable to long exposures and high ISO speed shots
Automatic Image Brightness Correction Auto Lighting Optimizer with Face Detection
Highlight Tone Priority Provided
Lens Peripheral Illumination Correction Provided
Colour Space sRGB, Adobe RGB
Appending copyright information Copyright information entered with the camera is appended to the image EXIF information
Viewfinder
Type Eye-level pentamirror
Coverage Vertical / Horizontal approx. 95%
Magnification Approx. 0.87x (-1m -1 with 50mm lens at infinity)
Eyepoint Approx. 19mm (From eyepiece lens center at -1m -1)
Built-in dioptric adjustment -3.0 - +1.0m -1dpt
Focusing screen Fixed
Mirror Quick-return type
Depth-of-field preview Enabled with depth-of-field preview button
Autofocus
Type TTL secondary image-registration, phase detection
AF Points 9
AF Working Range EV -0.5 - 18 (at 23°C / 73°F, ISO 100)
Focusing Modes Autofocus, One-Shot AF, AI Servo AF, AI Focus AF, Manual focusing
AF-assist beam Intermittent firing of built-in flash
Effective range: Approx. 4.0m / 13.1ft. at center, approx. 3.5m / 11.5ft. at periphery (with an EOS-dedicated Speedlite attached, the Speedlite’s AF-assist beam is emitted instead)
Predictive AF performance Tracking of an object moving towards the camera at 50km/h possible up to a minimum distance of approx. 10m
* When used with EF300mm F2.8L IS USM
Exposure Control
Metering Modes TTL full aperture metering with 63-zone SPC
(1) Evaluative metering (linkable to all AF points)
(2) Partial metering (approx. 9% of viewfinder at center)
(3) Spot metering (center, approx. 4% viewfinder)
(4) Center-weighted average metering
Metering range EV 1 - 20 (at 23°C / 73°F with EF50mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 100)
Exposure control Program AE, shutter-priority AE, aperture-priority AE, depth-of-field AE, full auto (Program AE non-shiftable), Programmed Image Control Modes (Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, Flash OFF), manual exposure (including bulb), E-TTL II autoflash program AE (evaluative & average metering)
ISO Speed (Recommended exposure index) ISO 100 - 6400 (whole-stop increments), ISO expansion 12800.
* In Basic Zone modes, Auto ISO sets the ISO automatically within 100 - 3200
* The minimum ISO speed when (highlight tone priority) is enabled will be ISO 200
* In Creative Zones, ISO Auto’s upper limit (ISO 400 - 6400) can be set
Exposure compensation +/-5 stops in 1/3-stop or ½ stop increments, +/- 2 stops for Manual and AEB correction
AE lock Auto: Applied in One-Shot AF mode with evaluative metering when focus is achieved
Manual: By AE lock button
Shutter
Type Electronically-controlled, focal-plane shutter
Shutter Speeds 1/4000sec. to 30secs., bulb (Total shutter speed range. Available range varies by shooting mode.)
X-sync at 1/200sec.
Drive System
Drive modes Single, continuous, Self-time 10secs. Delay / Remote control, self-timer 2secs. delay, Self-timer 10secs. delay + continuous shooting (2 to 10 shots)
Continuous shooting speed Max. approx. 3.7 shots/sec.
Max. burst JPEG Large / Fine: Approx. 34 shots
RAW: Approx. 6 shots
Built in Flash
Type Auto pop-up, retractable, built-in flash in the pentamirror
Guide No. 13 / 43 (at ISO 100 meters / feet)
Recycle time Approx. 3secs.
Flash coverage 17mm focal length (equivalent to 27mm in 135 format)
Flash metering system E-TTL II autoflash (evaluative, average), FE lock
Live View Functions
Shooting modes Still photo shooting and movie shooting
Focusing Quick mode (Phase-difference detection) Live mode, Live face detection mode (Contrast detection) Manual focusing (5x / 10x magnification possible)
Metering modes Evaluating metering with the image sensor (still photos) / AF point-link evaluative metering Live face detection mode (movies) / Center-weighted average metering Live / quick mode (movies)
Metering range EV 0 - 20 (at 23°C / 73°F with EF50mm f/1.4 lens, ISO 100)
Movie MOV (Video: H.264, Audio: Linear PCM)
Recording size: 1920 x 1080: 24fps / 25fps / 30fps (Full HD), 1280 x 720:50fps / 60fps and 640 x 480:50fps / 60fps (SD / movie crop)
Max file size: 4GB per clip
Movie recording exposure control Program AE and Manual exposure available.
Exposure compensation of up to +/- 3 stops available.
Movie editing Cutting out first or last scene (1sec. Increments) and Movie crop possible
LCD Monitor
Type TFT colour liquid-crystal monitor
Monitor Size and Dots Wide 3in. (3:2) with approx. 1, 040,000 dots
Coverage Approx. 100%
Brightness adjustment Manual (7 levels)
Interface languages 25
Image Playback
Image Display Formats Single, Single + Info (Image-recording quality, shooting information, histogram) 4-image index, 9-image index, image rotate possible
Zoom Magnification Approx. 1.5x - 10x
Image Browsing Methods Single image, jump by 10 or 100 images, jump by screen, by shooting date, by movie, by stills
Highlight Alert Overexposed highlights blink
Movie Playback Enabled (LCD monitor, video / audio OUT, HDMI OUT – CEC compatible) Built-in speaker
Direct Printing
Compatible printers PictBridge-compatible printers
Printable images JPEG and RAW images
Print Ordering DPOF Version 1.1 compatible
Interface
Digital Terminal For personal computer communication and direct printing (Hi-Speed USB) , audio (stereo) / video output (NTSC / PAL)
HDMI Mini OUT Terminal Type C (auto switching of resolution)
External microphone IN terminal 3.5mm dia. Stereo mini jack
Remote Control Terminal Compatible with remote control via RS-60E3
Wireless Remote Control With Remote Controller RC-1 / RC-5 / RC-6
Eye-fi card Compatible
Power Source
Battery Battery Pack LP-E8 (Qty.1)
* AC power can be supplied via AC Adapter Kit ACK-E8
* With Battery Grip BG-E8 attached, 6 size-AA / LR6 batteries or 2 LP-E8 battery packs can be used
Battery Life (Based on CIPA testing standards) With viewfinder shooting: At 23°C / 73°F, approx. 550 shots.
At 0°C / 32°F, approx. 470 shots.
With Live View shooting: At 23°C / 73°F, approx. 200 shots.
At 0°C / 32°F, approx. 170 shots.
Dimensions and Weight
Dimensions (W x H x D) 128.8 x 97.5 x 75.3mm / 5.1 x 3.8 x 3.0in.
Weight Approx. 475g / 16.8oz. (body only)
Operating Environment
Working temperature range 0°C - 40°C / 32°F - 104°F
Working humidity 85% or less
