Canon PowerShot A550 Digital Camera Review

Model Design / Appearance (6.5)
The Canon PowerShot A550 doesn’t try to push any traditional design boundaries with its chunky and contoured matte silver colored body. It has a substantial hand grip and protruding lens – both features are more functional than attractive. The A550 looks very similar to its A-series predecessors with the chunky design, button layout, enlarged mode dial, and standard looks, though it lacks the rotating LCD screen. The A550 is constructed of a light plastic material that gives it a cheap feel. On the store shelf, eyes will probably scan right over it to something flashier from Canon’s SD-series. But when funds are low, eyes will likely scan the price tags and perhaps land on the A550.

Size / Portability (5.5)
The Canon A550 is slightly shorter than its predecessor, the A530, but it is otherwise the same. It measures 3.59 inches across the back, 2.52 inches tall, and 1.7 inches on the right side where the thick hand grip is. When the camera is turned on, the lens sticks out, adding another 1.5 inches to the front. This chunky design is good for handling, but it's bad for portability since it is much too thick for a pocket. It isn’t even close to SLR-size though, so it could be put into a purse or coat pocket without much trouble. It would probably be best to purchase a small carrying case to protect the finish and display screen while transporting. The A550 weighs 5.64 ounces, so dangling it from your wrist for a long period of time may not be too comfortable.

Handling Ability (7.0)
Portability may not be the Canon PowerShot A550’s strong point but handling may be. The hand grip provides a comfortable rest for the right hand, and the left hand can even grip without getting in the way of the lens. There is a thick ridge around the foundation of the lens that keeps fingers from pushing any farther. There isn’t much of a thumb grip on the back, but users can easily balance the digital camera with the right hand while pushing the buttons on the back.

Control Button / Dial Positioning / Size (7.0)
The size and placement of the controls also ease handling . The buttons are large and spaced apart enough to prevent double activation. The mode dial is about the size of a nickel and seems quite large. It protrudes from the back of the camera body and has ridges that add texture, making it easier to grip and rotate. The mode dial on the unit we reviewed was very stiff. It took a good tug with the thumbnail to get it to go anywhere.

The A550’s mode dial has been modified from its predecessor, the A530. The older model had program and panorama stitch positions on the mode dial. The new A550 replaces those with the Kids & Pets and Indoor/Party scene modes. Both cameras have the same layout with the shutter release button placed at the tip of the hand grip. The button is surrounded by a thick zoom ring, which has a sharp nub to turn it that is not very comfortable. Overall, the buttons are decent, but the mode dial is too stiff and the multiselector requires too much force to scroll around.

Menu (7.0)
The outer design of the Canon PowerShot A550 hasn’t undergone any major renovations and neither has the interior. The menu system is split so that the frequently used features can be accessed by pushing the central Func./Set button.

Recording Mode (can only be changed in SCN position on dial)	Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks
Exposure Compensation	-2, -1.7, -1.3, -1, -0.7, -0.3, 0, +0.3, +0.7, +1, +1.3, +1.7, +2
White Balance	Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Custom
My Colors	Off, Vivid, Neutral, Sepia, Black & White, Custom Color (Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation all with +/- 2 ranges in full steps)
Metering	Evaluative, Center-Weighted Average, Spot
Compression	SuperFine, Fine, Normal
Image Size	Large, Medium 1, Medium 2, Medium 3, Small, Postcard, Widescreen

This menu has a nice live preview, but the remainder of the menu system is trapped in a claustrophobic gray background. It has the look of other Canon menus. There are colored tabs at the top and lists of options in white and black text. Most Canons have two recording tabs, a setup tab, and a tab with options to customize the camera. The A550 has only two tabs though: one for recording and one for setup. The recording menu is as follows.

AiAF	On, Off
Digital Zoom	1.5x, 1.9x, Standard, Off
Slow Synchro	On, Off
Red-Eye	On, Off
Self-Timer	2 sec, 10 sec, Custom (0-30 sec delay for 1-10 shots)
AF Assist Beam	On, Off
Review	Off, 2-10 sec, Hold
Display Overlay	Grid Lines, 3:2 Guide, Both, Off
Date Stamp	Off, Date & Time, Date

Some of the Canon menus repeat the options from the Func./Set menu, but this camera does not. There are certain places to find certain features, so white balance will always and only be in the Func./Set menu for instance. The Setup menu follows.

Mute	On, Off
Volume	Startup, Operation, Self-Timer, Shutter, Playback (all with 1-5 levels)
Start-up Image	On, Off
Power Saving	Auto Power Down (On, Off), Display Off (10 sec-3 min)
Date/Time	(set date and time)
Format	Low Level Format (On, Off), OK, Cancel
File Numbering	Continuous, Auto Reset
Create Folder	Create New Folder (On, Off), Auto Create (Off, Daily, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monthly), Time (1-23 hrs)
Auto Rotate	On, Off
Lens Retract	0 sec, 1 min
Language	English, German, French, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Greek, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Thai, Arabic, Romanian, Ukrainian
Video System	NTSC, PAL
Print Method	Auto, PictBridge
Reset All	OK, Cancel

These menus are quite basic when compared to other PowerShot digital cameras that have more features and manual controls. A550 users won’t wander through these menus too much though. Overall, the menus are intuitive and simple to navigate around. The menus’ only drawback is the stiff multi-selector that requires a little more force to rotate than it should.

Ease of Use (7.0)
The Canon A550 promises to be easier to use – not like its predecessor was difficult to figure out. Improvements include a mode dial with more useful scene modes, a sharper edge for a more secure left hand grip, and a trimmed menu system that cuts duplicate locations for settings. The easy just got easier.