Canon PowerShot ELPH · on sale autumn 2005

The Canon PowerShot SD550 (Digital IXUS 750): the curved steel ELPH with the bigger, coarser screen

Sold in Europe as the Digital IXUS 750 and in Japan as the IXY Digital 700.

In autumn 2005 Canon kept the curved metal body of its SD500, fitted a 2.5-inch screen and called it the new flagship. Four reviewers praised the build and the speed, and disagreed about the screen, the battery and the purple fringing.

Launched

September 2005

Launch price

US$499.99 estimated street price · £419 / €599 recommended retail price⁸²

Sensor

7.1 MP CCD

Lens

37–111 mm, 3×

Card

SD, MultiMediaCard

Battery

NB-3L

Specs and sources

Meet the camera

Canon's museum page says this was the first Canon compact digital camera with a large 2.5-inch monitor: about 115,000 dots, with viewing angles roughly 1.5 times wider than its predecessor's. Behind it sit a 7.1-megapixel CCD, a 3x lens and the DIGIC II processor, in a curved all-metal body (Canon UK's words) offered in silver gray or satin beige.¹² DPReview called the body almost identical to the SD500's, with some rear controls shuffled to make room for the screen,⁴ and its launch note called the camera a fairly minor upgrade that arrived six months after the SD500.³ Our reviews of that SD500, its 4-megapixel sibling the SD400 and the later SD600 cover the cameras around it.

It had three names: PowerShot SD550 Digital ELPH in North America, Digital IXUS 750 in Europe and IXY Digital 700 in Japan.¹ The dates do not line up. Canon U.S.A. issued its press release on 22 August 2005, and PhotographyBLOG posted Canon UK's on 23 August; both said September for availability.⁸² DPReview says the camera was announced in August, Canon's museum lists September 2005 as the marketing month, and CNET printed a release date of 30 August.⁴¹⁹ Prices at launch:

Why this one was interesting

A bigger screen, with a catch

DPReview pointed out that the larger panel was actually coarser than the SD500's, at 115,000 pixels: pixelated, but usable, and wider in viewing angle. It was hard to see in direct light and brightened itself in dim rooms.⁴ PhotographyBLOG found the refresh perfectly acceptable and the resolution a little low;⁷ CNET found it bright and clearly visible indoors and out.⁹ CNET said Canon had to shrink the optical viewfinder to make room, and the coverage figures differ: Imaging Resource measured about 87 percent at wide angle and 82 at telephoto, DPReview put it at about 82, and CNET said you see close to 90 percent.⁹⁵⁴

Quick on the draw

Speed was the other headline, and three of the four outlets timed it, each in its own way:

PhotographyBLOG did not time the camera but called start-up about half a second and said it held two frames a second until the card was full.⁷ On the buffer they disagree: Imaging Resource listed a slow one as a con, with the pace falling after five large fine frames, while DPReview could not fill it with a fast card.⁵⁴ With the flash on, CNET measured 3.4 seconds between frames and DPReview 1.8 to 2.7 seconds in its two flash rows.⁹⁴

Colours you could swap

The My Colors menu let you keep one colour and turn the rest black and white, or replace one colour with another, while shooting stills or movies.⁵ Imaging Resource called the effects fun but unpredictable, with a fringe of the old colour left behind.⁵ PhotographyBLOG, whose reviewer knew of no other maker offering this in the camera, called Color Accent and Color Swap the more exciting options; DPReview called it a nice novelty and not Photoshop; CNET counted My Colors among a few largely superfluous functions.⁷⁴⁹

Steel, and the scratches

PhotographyBLOG called it the best-built digital camera its reviewer had tested, "the Rolls-Royce of compact digital cameras."⁷ Imaging Resource found the metal case very easily scratched under careful use, DPReview called the finish susceptible to marks and a little slippery, and CNET called it prone to the occasional scratch.⁵⁴⁹

How it drew the picture

DPReview measured absolute resolution of 1,600 lines per picture height horizontally and 1,700 vertically (moiré noted), extinction at 1,950 and 2,000, and called it among the best it had seen from a 7-megapixel compact.⁴ Imaging Resource, reading its own chart, saw strong detail to about 1,250 lines with extinction near 1,600, and found chromatic aberration rather high at wide angle and some softening in the lower corners.⁵ Purple fringing is the sharpest disagreement: DPReview called it noticeable in most shots with very bright areas and strong at the edges of wide-angle frames, CNET called it more frequent than usual, and PhotographyBLOG found one frame with a tiny hint.⁴⁹⁷ On colour, Imaging Resource found it slightly oversaturated in reds and blues, with skin a bit pink; CNET said almost too saturated; DPReview said vivid but natural, with occasional clipped highlights.⁵⁹⁴

Photos taken with this camera (the file data names it as a Canon PowerShot SD550 or a Digital IXUS 750), from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture.

Noise and the dark

All four found low noise at the bottom of the range and differed on how early it became a problem. PhotographyBLOG called ISO 200 very clean and ISO 400 visible but perfectly usable; Imaging Resource called ISO 400 noise significant on screen yet found an 8 by 10 inch print acceptable; CNET saw noise grow at 200 and 400; DPReview listed low noise from ISO 50 to 200 and found nothing particularly unpleasant at the higher settings, though in its ISO 400 comparison with the Nikon Coolpix 7900 the Canon's noise reduction left a slightly softer result.⁷⁵⁹⁴ For after dark, the Long Shutter mode allows exposures to 15 seconds, which Imaging Resource found enough for its dimmest tripod-mounted tests; PhotographyBLOG shot a 15-second night frame at f/2.8 and ISO 50 and called the result very good.⁵⁷

The four photos below carry shutter times and apertures read from each file's own data, with the flash recorded as off. The files do not record an ISO setting, so we give none, and we cannot tell whether a tripod was used.

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The little wins

The SD550, front view. · Photograph by Greg O'Beirne · CC BY 2.5 · Commons

A direct ISO key

DPReview called direct access to ISO perhaps the most useful new feature, and PhotographyBLOG describes it as the up direction of the control pad.⁴⁷

A playback that turned with you

DPReview noted that the orientation sensor now worked in playback, and praised the TV-style slideshow transitions.⁴

Slow motion at 60 frames a second

Canon lists 320 × 240 at 60 frames per second for one minute, and CNET called the fast frame-rate mode novel, useful for studying a golf or baseball swing.¹⁹

Where it let you down

All four named the same wall: no real exposure control. Imaging Resource said manual mode offers white balance and exposure compensation but never lets you set or see aperture or shutter speed; CNET, DPReview and PhotographyBLOG each made the same complaint.⁵⁹⁴⁷ Autofocus drew a split verdict: DPReview listed the AiAF focus system as unreliable and advised turning it off, while Imaging Resource said it had been impressed with AiAF on many ELPH models.⁴⁵

The battery is where the numbers conflict: Canon and Imaging Resource give 150 shots with the screen on, DPReview called that slightly lower than the SD500's and said the viewfinder can stretch it to around 550, and CNET's own test ran to nearly 1,300 shots.¹⁵⁴⁹

The flash got mixed marks: DPReview found it a little stronger than other models in the line, while Imaging Resource found uneven coverage at wide angle and needed +1.0 EV in its indoor flash test.⁴⁵ Imaging Resource also disliked a tripod socket so close to the battery door that you must remove the camera to change card or battery, and PhotographyBLOG complained that the manual came only as a PDF on a CD.⁵⁷

What the reviewers said in 2005

The timeline

• 22 August 2005Canon U.S.A. issues its press release, which Imaging Resource reproduces the same day.⁸
• 23 August 2005PhotographyBLOG posts Canon UK's launch of the IXUS 750 and its prices.²
• 30 August 2005CNET prints this as the release date.⁹
• September 2005The month Canon's museum, Canon UK and Canon U.S.A. give for marketing or availability.¹²⁸
• 30 September to 21 November 2005The four reviews in the table above appear, CNET first and PhotographyBLOG last.⁹⁴⁵⁷

Should you buy one now?

Buy one if you want a small metal 2005 camera that starts and focuses quickly, has a big screen and a real optical viewfinder, and you can live with a coarse screen, weak battery life with the screen on and no manual exposure. Canon's launch prices were an estimated $499.99 in the US and £419 in the UK;⁸² what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. Before you bid, check these:

• The name. It was the Digital IXUS 750 in Europe and the IXY Digital 700 in Japan, so search all three.¹
• The battery. It uses an NB-3L, rated about 150 shots with the screen on;¹ a fresh one is on Amazon ↗.
• The card. Canon lists SD and MultiMediaCard and names no maximum capacity, and the box card was only 32 MB, so you will want your own. See our memory card guide.¹⁵
• The finish. Three reviewers reported scratches on the metal body, so look at the photos for wear.⁵⁴⁹
• The screen. A coarse 115,000-dot panel is normal for this model, so judge it for scratches, not sharpness.¹⁴ See the glossary if a term is new.

If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.

See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗NB-3L battery ↗

Sources

1. Canon Camera Museum: IXY DIGITAL 700 / PowerShot SD550 DIGITAL ELPH / DIGITAL IXUS 750 (names, September 2005, launch text, specifications)
2. PhotographyBLOG news, Canon IXUS 750 and IXUS 55 announced (posted 23 August 2005; carries the Canon UK press release and UK/euro prices)
3. DPReview, Canon PowerShot SD550 review introduction by Simon Joinson (12 October 2005)
4. DPReview, Canon PowerShot SD550 Digital ELPH (Digital IXUS 750) concise review by Simon Joinson (12 October 2005), pages 2 to 11
5. Imaging Resource, Canon PowerShot SD550 review (review date 26 October 2005), single-page archive version
6. Imaging Resource news, “Review posted for Canon PowerShot SD550” by Dave Etchells (28 October 2005)
7. PhotographyBLOG, Canon Digital Ixus 750 review (review date 21 November 2005), pages 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8
8. Imaging Resource news, “Canon: Two new Digital ELPH cameras” by Mike Tomkins (22 August 2005; reproduces Canon U.S.A.'s press release of 22 August 2005, which gives an estimated street price of $499.99 and September availability)
9. CNET, Canon PowerShot SD550 editors' review by Lori Grunin and Robert Dubbin (reviewed 30 September 2005; read on a Wayback Machine capture of 31 December 2006)

Camera photos by Greg O'Beirne (CC BY 2.5); sample photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links.