550D T2i Unboxing

[chris]

Dude keeps calling it 2Ti. Interesting first look.



Comparison to 7D

[Bill Pryor]

If you go to B&H and search for 550D, it goes to the T2i. Same thing, apparently.

[chris]

It is the same camera. Not sure what's up with the names.

[Bill Pryor]

Maybe it was going to be a 50D but with video, so 550D sounded good, but then somebody liked the Rebel branding better, and that guy had more corporate clout. I've often wondered what kind of mass stupidity goes into the names video equipment manufacturers come up with. JVC's are among the worst.

[Joe Kras]

This is really cool. If it's really the same (as far as the video capability goes-with the exception of the smaller battery), then I may just have to buy me one of these beauties.

[Bill Pryor]

The main differences are that it has one instead of two processors and it's plastic, smaller and lighter weight. There's not quite as much control over the image as with the 7D. However, in terms of comparing basic image quality side by side, most people would never notice the difference. If you're not using it for professional day-to-day shooting, it's going to be perfectly good. I would consider one as a second camera if I needed a second camera. I think a good analogy here is that this is a VX2000, while the 7D is a PD150. A bit of an antiquated analogy, but valid, I think. If video and still photography is mostly a hobby, it's a hell of a lot easier to buy something for $800 than it is for $1700. Of course, then you have to start buying lenses, etc. However, Canon makes a couple of pretty decent cheap zoom lenses. There's the 28-135 and also the 18-135 for a bit more. Both are too slow to use under low light without increasing your ISO, but if this camera does as well at higher ISOs as the 7D, then that's not a problem for non-professional use. What I shoot at 100 ISO you would probably be shooting at around 640, which is still very good on the 7D. I haven't seen any comparisons yet about the higher ISOs. I can speculate that it won't be quite as good but should still be very acceptable.

[Joe Kras]

My other consideration is that I may need a new camera for a small project in the late summer/fall. I was hoping that Canon would be releasing a "true" hybrid, with XLR audio inputs, a viewfinder, etc., but it looks like that won't be happening soon. If I bought something like this, I wouldn't feel so bad later about upgrading.

[Bill Pryor]

This one would be perfectly good enough. And, the nice thing is that any lenses and other stuff you buy would move to the upgrade if you did that later. Rumors have been circulating for some time about something new late this year, and the one with the most legs seems to be a 1DsMKIV (as opposed to the current 1DMKIV). If the new one is based on the current 1D chip, it's a 1.3 crop instead of the 7D's 1.6. So if you think you might be interested in spending around $5K, you should be sure to buy "full frame" lenses, not APS-C lenses for the 1.6 crop. Maybe buy one APS-C wide angle zoom, like the Tamron 17-50 or Tokina 17-50, which wouldn't be too expensive and you could sell easily with the old camera if you go that route.

Again, just a rumor. One set of rumors does say the body will be more elongated to contain anti-aliasing filter as well as XLRs. Again, just rumors. However, I think it's a safe bet they will have a new model of something in the fully pro line by the fall. And I'd place my bet on the 1D configuration. I'd prefer the APS-C chip size, but the 1.3 crop is not as bad, in terms of DOF control, as the "full frame" size of the 5D. The bigger chip will provide better quality, probably, but will be less user-friendly for having enough depth of field to shoot without a focus puller. Hopefully it'll be better resolution as well. I think it makes sense to go the 1D route because that provides a nice upgrade path for both the 7D and 5D users. I don't see the 5DMKII as an upgrade to the 7D because the 7D is more solid and rugged and has some goodies the 5D doesn't, like slomo, the videeo button on back, etc. It's like a second generation 5D but with an APS-C chip. I'm a big chip proponent, but there are other factors as well in any camera. If this rumor becomes fact, I can see how I and others would lust after a 1D type device, whereas I have no lust for the 5D.

In terms of focus pulling, most people say you never want to shoot video any more open than an f4-5.6 with the 5DMKII because of the difficulty in pulling focus, and even at that range it's difficult and you need a good puller. With the 7D you can shoot at f4-5.6, guesstimate your hyperfocal distance, and be OK for most types of action. This is just my opinion based on the kind of things I shoot, but for me the 7D chip size is big enough to give me the quality I need but not so big I have to invest in a remote follow focus system and always have another person with me for a shoot. If you're doing more serious filmmaking with bigger crews, you'd want the biggest chips you could get. It seems the 1D rumor seeks to hit a middle ground in that regard.

[chris]

The chip is a little different, but the early reviews suggest the video quality compares favorably to the 7D. The chip size between the 5D and 7D doesn't seem to make much difference in the image quality, just the framing and distance to subject.

Not sure I'd jump on it until the reviews of the production models are in. It's more than the video quality. Heat management, battery life, reliability, file sizes and formats. Let other people find those issues for you so you know what the limitations are in advance.

I knew about the 7D heat issues before I bought mine and decided I could work around it. So far mine has not overheated once. It's nice to be aware of it, though. The CF card issue was a learning experience, not related to the camera. Now I have a spare 4 Gig taped to my camera strap in case of another card failure.