The Canon 550D which is also known as the EOS Rebel T2i in North America and the EOS Kiss X4 in Japan is an entry level DSLR camera. The digital camera itself is packed full of features that you would expect to find on a much higher priced professional model such as the Canon 7D.
Although the features on the Canon 550D are mainly associated and inline with DSLR cameras of a much higher professional standard, the price of the 550D is less than half the price of the afore mentioned 7D. This allows aspiring digital photographers the opportunity to own a DSLR camera that will give you a lot of “bang for your buck”.
Before we get into taking a closer look at the Canon 550D it is worth clearing up the differences between the European 550d, North American EOS Rebel T2i and the Japanese EOS Kiss X4. Well the only real note worthy difference is just that, the names. Canon has decided that it is a good marketing strategy to offer this digital SLR camera with 3 unrelated names in the chosen territories. No idea why. The only other difference seems to be the language menus. The EOS Kiss X4 only has English and Japanese, whilst the other two offer a few more European options.
The camera itself was released for sale February 24, 2010 and since then seems to have steadily gained respect and praise from a host of photography outlets and digital photography experts. SLR digital photography has seen a vast increase in popularity over the last few years and the release of this latest feature rich and cost efficient camera has only been a further catalyst to this.
