The Canon PowerShot A550’s low price tag and solid performance will help you forget that it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles the competition has. The Canon A550 is a simple, inexpensive 7-megapixel camera, and that’s all it wants to be. DCRP have done a review and liked the good photo quality, great build quality and low noise levels. Here’s a sampler of what they had to say-

"The Canon PowerShot A550 is a very good entry-level digital camera, and one that I can recommend easily. I’m going to do something a little unusual, though: I’m going to recommend that you pay $30 more for its big brother, the PowerShot A560. Why? For the speed and improved photo quality of the DIGIC III processor, a larger/sharper LCD, longer movie record times, and a tool that ends the annoying redeye problem that has plagued the A-series cameras for some time. Whichever camera you end up choosing, you’ll get a well designed body, good photo quality, and plenty of point-and-shoot features (with a few manual controls thrown in for good measure).."

Canon PowerShot A550 7.1MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

Canon PowerShot A550 Features:
7.1-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 15 x 20-inch prints 4x optical zoom; 2.0-inch LCD display 16:9 Widescreen mode for full-screen viewing on widescreen TVs and computer monitors Three movie modes including 30 fps VGA and 60 fps Fast Frame Rate Stores images on SD, SDHC, or MMC memory cards (16MB MMC card included); powered by 2 AA-size batteries (2 alkaline batteries included)

Specs: Focal Length - 5.8-23.2mm f/2.6-5.5 (35mm film equivalent - 35-140mm) Digital Zoom - 4x ISO Sensitivity - Auto, High ISO Auto, ISO 80/100/200/400/800 equivalent Shooting Modes - Auto, Camera M, Portrait, Landscape, Special Scene (Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, Beach, Fireworks) Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot, Movie Maximum Still Resolutions - 3,072 x 2,304 (Large), 3,072 x 1,728 (Widescreen) Movie resolutions - 640 x 480 / 320 x 240 (30 fps/15 fps) available up to 1GB or 60 minutes, 320 x 240 (1 min. at 60 fps), 160 x 120 (3 min. at 15 fps) Battery output capability - Still Image - approx. 140 shots (AA-size Alkaline Battery, LCD screen On), approx. 500 shots (AA-size Ni-MH Battery); we advise rechargeable NiMH battery Built-in multimode electronic-flash Unit Dimensions (W x H x D) 3.59 x 2.52 x 1.70 in./91.2 x 64.0 x 43.1mm; Weight Approx. 5.64 oz. / 160g (camera body only)

Read the full Canon A550 review