canon EOS 450D vs 550D

hello ^^

I have decided to buy a camera but i cant shoose between the 450D or 550D
I don't really need to be able to film but it is a nice extra.
I have been comparing the 2 but i can't really come up with a conclusion.

and yes im a newbie so sorry for asking this i hope every1 can give their opinion about the 2 cameras.

Greetings.

-The T2i will let you choose 3200 & 6400 as opposed to 1600 ISO on the XSI/450 That alone is a decisive factor.

-Also the LCD is significantly improved on the 550/T2i. That is also a decisive factor.

-Not to mention, cinema quality video is available on the 55O.

Really it's a no brainer. The 550 is the way to go, but really at this point I would go for the 600D. The vari angle screen is a significant feature as well as the remote flash triggering. It will also compile your video clips into a movie automatically without an external external editor. That's a feature that isn't spoken of enough, IMO. At this point, I would stretch a little and get the 600D. The XSI/450 isn't even in the running. I have the 450 and it's a fine camera though ....for the victorian age it was concieved for .

The 500D is also very good value for money these days. It is much closer to the 550D / 600D in performance than it is to the 450D. Dynamic range is improved noticably (though unfortunately the Sony sensor in the Nikon D7000, D5100 and Sony a580 outstrips the Canon sensors in this metric at the moment.)

As for the articulated screen - its nice for video or macro work, but some people just won't use it - we can't really tell you which category you will fall in to.

For anything at ISO 3200 or less, the 500D and its successors are more or less indistinguishable (though the newer cameras do have a somewhat weaker anti-aliasing filter). At ISO 6400 and 12800, the differences are notable but not really that substantial in RAW. The 550D and above (60D, 600D, 7D) are easier to use in auto modes at high ISO but the actual performance isn't THAT different.

As a owner of a xsi/450d and 1dmk2, the 450d was a wonderful camera, in its day. i still have it and use it as its light and small. it wins out win the conditions are right for travel purposes. its day has come and gone i think as you can see there are significant upgrades in the newer versions of the rebels. the 550D has been the first rebel i would upgrade to. i would just as well skip the 600D but thats just me. bang for buck the 550D im sure would not disappoint.

This holds true unless you can aquire the 450D for a steal! and it would have to be significant savings for me to condone it.
Anyway hope this helps.
--

Cheers. Cheers to what we possess within ourselves. Cheers to the possibilities of this day.

f64manray said:

I have the 450 and it's a fine camera though ....for the victorian age it was concieved for .

Click to expand...

Three years ago was the Victorian age!

--

Not one duck, squirrel, seagull, pigeon, flower, or statue photo posted in 4+ years.

I had a canon xsi, it is an OLD CAMERA that is no longer competitive in today's market placed:

• Low Resolution 230K LCD - makes using Live View + Image Preview a chore
• iso1600 limitation - is just ridiculous
• iso1600 is also noisy

If you're cheap like I am ;-), you should really consider buying the Canon 500d (t1i) instead. In fact, canon xsi and canon t1i are selling for the same price in the used market. I was able to sell my canon xsi and bought a mint t1i for just $50 more.

While 500d / T1i seem like a minor upgrade on paper, what I discover in real life is that:

• High Resolution 920K LCD - is a stunning upgrade by itself. Not only is Live View now a pleasure to used, but also that LCD is now sharp enough to reveal slight out of focus images. My low res XSi often hides the focusing flaw until I get home to examine them on my computer

• iso3200/6400 is a critical. I have the best low light zoom canon 17-55 f/2.8 IS , but even [ f/2.8 + Image Stabilization + iso1600 ] combination is not bright enough for dark dinner restaurant photo. While my friends + family are well led with iso1600, the background pitch black ( much like a point/shoot ). I switch to iso3200 and is stunned how much better my images are. Not only is my subject well led, but I can now capture the dim background of a dark restaurant. Having shot with iso3200, I can't go back to iso1600

• Improved Live View - there are numerous small tweaks to Live View on T1i/T2i that is missing from XSi. For example, I can change between jpeg/raw, jpeg size, shooting mode, picture style, flash, and LiveMode/Quickmode without leaving live view . Where as xsi requires me leaving live view, change the above setting, then re-enter live view. A great time saver

• Improved Grip . Canon has also improved their grip with each generation. My canon xsi is an improvement over my older 10mp Xti, now I find that T1i (500d) is also improved over xsi, and T2i (550d) over T1i with softer rubber and tackier grip

• Canon T1i (500d) has 170 Continuous JPEG buffer - canon t1i is rather unique in that its jpeg buffer is very deep and allow for a very long continuous action shoot without slow down. Where as my XSi buffer fill up around 40-50 shots and slow down to less than 1 fps when buffer is fulled. 170 frame / 3.4 fps = 50s of continuous burst . Impressive

Canon T2i (550d) is rather expensive still. You get

• 18mp resolution
• full manual control over hd video
• external microphone support
• new 3:2 lcd over 4:3

Unless HD VIDEO is your priority, I would by-pass the T2i until the price comes down. Right now, it makes the most sense to go:

• 600d (t3i) - for articulate lcd + wireless flash or
• 500d (t1i) - for cost/performance/high-res lcd continuous buffer

The new canon 1100d/T3 is a dark horse. Its too expensive right now at full retail $599 so Canon 500d/T1i is the better buy. But if 1100d/t3 take a price drop in the next 5 months, I would keep a closed eyes on it. In UK, you can get this camera in RED / BROWN / GREY as well. Red is a very catchy color I might pick one up in the future when the price fallen.

Midwest said:

f64manray said:

I have the 450 and it's a fine camera though ....for the victorian age it was concieved for .

Click to expand...

Three years ago was the Victorian age!

Click to expand...

In digital camera years, yes.

For those recommending T1i over the T2i, the T1i has an absolutely goofy frame rate of 18fps in 1080P mode. That's just really wierd, and I'm pretty sure it was Canon's attempt to cripple the T1i in relation to the rest of the line up at the time consisting of 5DII and 7D. 18fps 1080P makes the T1i a rebel without a cause. Apparently after the T1i, Canon decided to make every DSLR as capable as possible giving even the T3i/600D full manual control over the audio level. The T1i is one Rebel I wouldn't even consider, especially in light of the vastly superior T2i in video mode.

Sorry, I meant the T1i has 20fps not 18fps in 1080 mode. For some reason I was thinking about the 18 fps rate that cinema started with. My point still stands . 20 fps is pointless.

As a photographic tool, the 450D still shines. I use it even more than my 5D, because it's light and compact and delivers crisp images due to its "thin" AA filter. A very balanced little "take anywhere" DSLR. I don't care about the "low" LCD resolution. It's certainly good enough.

I've had an XSi (450D) since they first delivered them and had a T2i (550D) for six months but sold it to use the money for a T3i (articulating screen) or later version. If you don't care about video and want to save some money, the 450D isn't far behind the 550D at all.

• Shooting RAW, I found the 450D to be only about 1/2 f-stop behind the 550D in high ISO ability. I can get way higher effective ISO than 1600 with the 450D by "pushing" it in the RAW conversion and the results are close to (but not quite as good as) the 550D.

• The 550D will resolve a bit more fine detail than the 450D when viewed at 100% on a computer monitor, but you won't see the difference except with very large prints (at least larger then 12" x 18")) and finely-detailed subjects.

akihito said:

hello ^^

I have decided to buy a camera but i cant shoose between the 450D or 550D
I don't really need to be able to film but it is a nice extra.

Click to expand...

I should add that I don't care about high ISO since I shoot at base ISO whenever possible for maximum IQ, very rarely above ISO 800, and always in RAW - with any camera. Except for family snapshots which I use the auto modes for (also so I can instantly sort by file format between what's for the family album and what's for stock images or customers).

DR is much more important to me than high ISO.

I own both cameras and would recommend
the 550 (T2i) over the 450 for the following reasons:

1.) Higher resolution sensor (18Mp vs 12Mp),
2.) Higher ISO then the 450 for shots in dimmer light,
3.) Higher resolution, larger sized preview LCD,
4.) HD (all 1080 modes) movie acquisition, and
5.) Better focusing with my 24-105 L IS lens (YMMV)

I think if I were to do it "over again" right now, I would get
the the 60D for the articulating LCD screen and the better
FPS capture rate.

James Foster
Los Angeles, CA
http://www.modelpicts.org

I had the same choice a few months ago and bought the 450D finally. It comes down to whether you think the differences are worth the extra money to you. In my case I decided they weren't. Canon recently had refurbished 450Ds for $350 bucks--that's a good deal. See what the best deal you can get on each camera is and then weigh if the difference in money means enough to you to choose one or the other. Have to say I love my 450D, no regrets at all.