Canon EOS
550D
 vs
Canon EOS
7D

Updated (February, 2011): Compare the Canon EOS 600D vs Canon EOS 7D

Canon EOS 7D

69
Winner

Canon EOS 7D
"Very good low-light performance, low noise levels and good retention of detail"
dpreview.com | talking about the 7D's iso-noise
"Improved button and control layout over 50D/5D Mark II"
dpreview.com | talking about the 7D's button-layout

Reasons to buy the Canon EOS 7D

Weather sealed
 Weather sealed
Shoot in extreme weather
Continuous shooting
 Rapid fire
8 fps
External mic jack
 External mic jack
Record higher quality audio with a microphone
Shutter lag
 Barely any delay taking photos
131 ms shutter lag
Cross type focus points
 Many cross-type focus points
19
Viewfinder coverage
 Great viewfinder coverage
100%
Canon EOS 550D

55
Runner-up

Canon EOS 550D

Reasons to buy the Canon EOS 550D

Screen resolution
 High resolution screen
1,040k dots
External mic jack
 External mic jack
Record higher quality audio with a microphone
Size
 Really small
Prosumer size 129x98x62 mm
Badge
 Built-in focus motor
Autofocuses with more lenses
Thickness
 Thin
2.4"
Weight
 Light-weight
530 g

differences

Advantages of the Canon 550D
Screen resolution Higher resolution screen 1,040k dots vs 920k dots
Help
 More than 10% higher resolution screen
Size Smaller 129x98x62 mm vs 148x111x74 mm
Help
 Around 40% smaller
Thickness Much thinner 2.4" vs 2.9"
Help
 Around 20% thinner
Color depth Better color depth 22.1 bits vs 22 bits
Help
 Distinguishes 0.1 more bits of color
Weight Significantly lighter 530 g vs 860 g
Help
 Around 40% lighter
Lowest price Slightly cheaper $691.01 vs $1,500.00
Help
 The best price we've seen is $809 cheaper (2.2x less)
Canon EOS 550D Learn more about
the Canon 550D

Advantages of the Canon 7D
Weather sealed Weather sealed Yes vs No
Help
 Sealed to shoot in the rain
Shutter lag Significantly less shutter lag 131 ms vs 252 ms
Help
 Around 50% less delay when taking photos
Continuous shooting Shoots significantly faster 8 fps vs 3.7 fps
Help
 More than 2x faster continuous shooting
Cross type focus points Significantly more cross-type focus points 19 vs 1
Help
 Grab focus in difficult situations
Viewfinder size Larger viewfinder 0.62x vs 0.54x
Help
 More than 30% larger viewfinder
Viewfinder coverage Much better viewfinder coverage 100% vs 95%
Help
 Around 10% better viewfinder coverage
Dynamic range More dynamic range 11.7 EV vs 11.5 EV
Help
 0.2 f-stops more dynamic range
Viewfinder Has a pentaprism viewfinder Pentaprism vs Pentamirror
Help
 Pentaprism viewfinders are typically brighter
Focus points More focus points 19 vs 9
Help
 Set focus accurately within the frame
Battery life Longer battery life 800 shots vs 440 shots
Help
 More than 80% more shots per battery charge
Fastest shutter speed Much faster max shutter speed 1/8000s vs 1/4000s
Help
 2x faster max shutter speed
Canon EOS 7D Learn more about
the Canon 7D
vs

recommendations

Relative to the best recent DSLRs, and ignoring price

Canon EOS 550D Canon EOS 550D
55 vs 69
Explain scores
Canon EOS 7D Canon EOS 7D
Green arrow Snapsort recommends the Canon EOS 7D. This recommendation, however, should be taken with a grain of salt since it doesn't always make sense to compare a entry-level DSLR with a pro DSLR.

advice

Need help deciding?

Ask the community!
I am considering either the 550D or the 7D,
For example: Taking photos in low light or great family photos or ability to take great photos underwater

Select aspects that are most important to you: (max 3)

Popular tags:

Are you a camera expert? Share your knowledge!
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by WilfredGachau last week
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by Katrina-Hipolito last month
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i'm a beginner and loves to take a picture of everything especially if the camera has sharp imag...

One person recommends the Canon 550D:

" it has 18 megapixel ,some "experts" say that megapixel doesn't have much role in pictures..but i..."
One person recommends the Nikon D90:

" clearly it's the Nikon D90, it is much better since you can only change ISO level per exposure (..."
0
votes
by Fernandus-Pramiko this month
Canon 600D vs Canon 7D

1. beginner 2. some unique moments, family 3. I don't know about that

One person recommends the Canon 600D:

" For a beginner I do not see a reason to go for a bigger and heavier "more advanced" tool, so out..."

similarities

Compared to recent DSLRs

Common Strengths Common Weaknesses
Lens availability Many lenses available Help
162 lenses
Supports 24p 24p support Help
For that film look
Thickness Thin Help
550D:2.4"
7D:2.9"
Storage slots Fewer storage slots Help
1
Light sensitivity (boost) Poor boost ISO Help
12,800 ISO
Autofocus No video autofocus Help
Manual focus only
HDR Neither has in-camera HDR Help
You could do HDR manually
Screen flips out No flip-out screens Help
Less flexible
Image stabilization No image stabilization Help
Risk of blur
Panorama Neither camera stitches together panoramas Help
You could stitch photos in post
3D Neither camera can take 3D photos Help
No 3d support
Sensor size Very small sensors Help
APS-C 22.3x14.9mm
Light sensitivity Poor maximum light sensitivity Help
6,400 ISO
Color depth Poor color depth Help
550D:22.1 bits
7D:22 bits
Overall image quality Low image quality Help
66.0

dxomark

DXOMark

competitors

Shared Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages
Canon EOS 600D

Canon EOS 600D

Entry-level DSLR

$863 with 18-55mm lens
Screen flips out Has a screen which flips out
Fastest shutter speed Has a slower max shutter speed
Thickness Is thicker
Compare the EOS 600D vs the EOS 550D
Compare the EOS 600D vs the EOS 7D
Canon EOS 60D

Canon EOS 60D

Pro DSLR

$848 - $1,304 body only

$1,177 - $1,342 with 18-135mm lens
Screen flips out Has a screen which flips out
Thickness Is thicker
Weight Is slightly heavier
Compare the EOS 60D vs the EOS 550D
Compare the EOS 60D vs the EOS 7D
Nikon D5100

Nikon D5100

Entry-level DSLR

$500 - $597 body only

$600 - $697 with 18-55mm lens
Overall image quality Has significantly better image quality
Color depth Has significantly more color depth
Fastest shutter speed Has a slower max shutter speed
Thickness Is thicker
Compare the D5100 vs the EOS 550D
Compare the D5100 vs the EOS 7D
Nikon D7000

Nikon D7000

Entry-level DSLR

$1,000 - $1,197 body only

$1,100 with 55-200mm lens
Overall image quality Has significantly better image quality
Color depth Has significantly more color depth
Thickness Is thicker
Weight Is slightly heavier
Compare the D7000 vs the EOS 550D
Compare the D7000 vs the EOS 7D
Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Pro DSLR

$2,198 body only

$2,898 - $2,999 with 24-105mm lens
Low light performance Is slightly less noisy at high ISO
Overall image quality Has significantly better image quality
Built-in flash Doesn't have a built-in flash
Thickness Is thicker
Compare the EOS 5D Mark II vs the EOS 550D
Compare the EOS 5D Mark II vs the EOS 7D
Nikon D90

Nikon D90

Entry-level DSLR

$830 - $897 body only

$1,199 - $1,200 with 18-105mm lens
Overall image quality Has slightly better image quality
Color depth Has slightly more color depth
Fastest shutter speed Has a slower max shutter speed
Thickness Is thicker
Compare the D90 vs the EOS 550D
Compare the D90 vs the EOS 7D
Canon EOS 500D

Canon EOS 500D

Entry-level DSLR

$539 with 18-55mm lens
Fastest shutter speed Has a slower max shutter speed
External mic jack Lacks and external mic jack
Compare the EOS 500D vs the EOS 550D
Compare the EOS 500D vs the EOS 7D

Canon EOS 550D Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages
Nikon D3100

Nikon D3100

Entry-level DSLR

$500 - $547 with 18-55mm lens
Color depth Better color depth
Autofocus Video autofocus
Screen resolution Much lower resolution screen
External mic jack Lacks an external mic jack
Compare the D3100 vs the EOS 550D
Canon EOS 1100D

Canon EOS 1100D

Entry-level DSLR

$489 - $559 body only

$587 - $643 with 18-55mm lens
Battery life Longer battery life
Weight Slightly lighter
Screen resolution Much lower resolution screen
Screen size Much smaller screen
Compare the EOS 1100D vs the EOS 550D

Canon EOS 7D Competitors

Advantages

Disadvantages
Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Pro DSLR

$3,499 - $3,500 body only

$4,299 - $4,300 with 24-105mm lens
Low light performance Significantly lower noise at high ISO
Overall image quality Significantly better image quality
Lens availability Fewer lenses available
Continuous shooting Shoots slower
Compare the EOS 5D Mark III vs the EOS 7D
Sony SLT-A77

Sony SLT A77

Pro DSLR

$1,398 body only

$1,998 with 16-50mm lens
Overall image quality Significantly better image quality
Color depth Better color depth
Viewfinder Has a digital viewfinder
Lens availability Significantly fewer lenses available
Compare the SLT A77 vs the EOS 7D

appearance

Canon EOS 550D Canon EOS 7D
Canon EOS 550D Canon EOS 7D
Canon EOS 550D Canon EOS 7D

discussion

Showing 6 comments

Ihelpidevices (10:56 AM, December 18, 2011)
hahaha true!
 
Ellie (8:55 AM, June 22, 2011)
uhm i have the 550D and my friend has the 7D i'm sure that 7D is better for professionals but you said that a camera isn't better is it's lighter............which is totally wrong because you don't want to carry around some heavy shit when your going to come country so it's pretty unhandy ........and it's not the same as saying that an ipod is better then a computer because you can't do shit with an ipod -_-
 
therethere (2:39 PM, April 19, 2011)
this is very textbook comparison..
 
Avatar for Snapsort Snapsort (9:19 PM, February 21, 2011)
Hi Jacob, the 7D definitely has a lot of things going for it, we may have missed a few in this comparison. However, I believe it has the same sensor as the 550D, giving it basically the same image quality. Also, we're pretty sure the 7D does NOT have image stabilization.

I get your point on size and weight, lighter and smaller is not always better.
 
Avatar for Jacob Weinbren Jacob Weinbren (10:49 AM, February 21, 2011)
One question-Isn't the 7D famous for it's high quality color, quality and image stabilization-all of which you disagreed on the voting. You should do a bit more research on the 7D. I think it's a GREAT camera for it's price. Please can you change this vote! One more thing- even if a camera is smaller and lighter-it doesn't make it better. It's like saying that a iPod is better than a laptop.
 
Avatar for rosdi rosdi (7:22 AM, January 23, 2011)
Does it make sense 550D is rated better than 7D? 550D bags most of the point from 'popularity' but considering both is from the same manufacturer I don't think popularity has any weight here, same lenses, same support, etc..