Had my first test with 550D at one of the famous street in KL, Malaysia - Bintang Walk
Shot with EF50mm f1.8, 720p 50fps, ISO800-1600, Standard picture style, manual setting, edited and slowmo in FCP.
Just like the 7D, there are 2 settings for video in 550D, which is either fully auto, or fully manual. It also comes with the same frame size and frame rate with the 7D, which you can shoot from full HD 1080p, 720p, to SD 640x480. In addition, 550D came out with a new cropped frame for 640x480 which is just cropped pixel that made it like a zoom. Picture quality wise, I would say it is excellent, I can't really tell the different between 550D and 7D.
Things that I don't like about it compared to 7D, is the video mode have to switch from the dial on top, and it is located too far from the creative picture mode (AV, TV, M...), means that if I wanted to take picture with the AV mode (which I oftenly do), and instantly I want to switch to video, I have to rotate about a circle to reach the video mode.
Compared to 7D, the 550D's respond time is abit slow. There is a obvious delay when I record - stop - magnify - and record again. Sometimes I have to press a few times to do the magnifying focus. I think this due to the single processor in 550D, while the 7D has dual processor.
However, the good thing is I found it's more easier to focus compared to 7D, maybe because the LCD is slightly bigger, and the screen looks sharper.
550D is definitely a camera which "You get more from what you pay!". It's handy, light and easy to bring around, and is still hard to believe that with this size of camera, you get to produce such superb quality video!
