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I have just returned from Munich on my first major trip out with my recent "upgrades". I have just switched over from a Micro Four Thirds Setup (I had an SLR previously, moved away to mirrorless and then back again 
). Most of my gear I took on this trip was new so I thought it would be fitting to do a bit of a group review.
I haven't really reviewed any kit in the past, but figured it was about time I gave some feedback after some people here have helped my decision making. Maybe somebody will get something from it.
Kit:
Canon 550D Body
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Accessories:
BlackRapid RS-7
Lowepro Fastpack 250
GGS III LCD Protector
2 x LP-E8 Batteries
2 x 16GB Transcend Class 10 SD Card
1 x 8GB Samsung Class 10 SD Card
1 x 8GB Integral class 10 SD Card
Fingerless Gloves!
Canon 550D Body
The build quality for a holiday like this isn't really paramount but it certainly felt tougher than the Panasonic G2 I have parted with. The tough plastic exterior felt at home on the BlackRapid dangling by my side, much more so than the easily marked G2 rubbery finish. There were no obvious weak points which I'm sure Canon have perfected in their camera bodies over the years. While I have played with some of the more expensive Canon Bodies which have felt more solid, for my purposes it is probably overkill.
The high ISO performance just seemed to blow my G2 out of the water which is exactly what brought me back to an SLR. I needed to rely on the low light for the markets in the evenings and I wasn't disappointed. The extra resolution is a bonus and makes good use of the high resolution and sharpness the 17-55mm can produce.
Ergonomically I was satisfied although the scroll wheel is in a slightly more awkward place than I would like. I rarely made use of live view (a feature I would make more use of had I gone for a vari-angle LCD like on the 600D) which on a non-USM lens is unbearably slow but tolerable on the 17-55. All other controls felt comfortable with extended use, although my relatively big hands would have felt more at home on the 60D. With the 17-55 on the camera it obviously felt front heavy but I was perfectly happy with it, it's a reassuring feeling and I find it easier to control.
Overall the 550D for me is a great compromise. I needed something on a budget so I could afford better glass and the 550D offered me the IQ of the better models (E.g 60D) while missing out on some build quality and features.
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Some of you might remember a thread I created a few weeks ago choosing between the 15-85mm and 17-55mm lenses for the 550D. Against some advice I ended up going for the 17-55mm - although the 15-85mm has the better IS I figured the wider aperture would help in lower light with possible moving subjects (not sports, but still moving).
After some quality issues (another recent thread) I got a copy I was happy with and it has performed very well on the trip. It rarely left my 550D over the 7 days I was there. For a city trip like this, the focal length was easy to work with, I wasn't restricted on the wide end with anything that couldn't be corrected with a few steps back - but perhaps I was lucky
Some people complain about the build quality on this lens but beyond the controversial dust problems and initial back focusing copy I received it does feel very solid. It is leagues ahead of any of the other lenses in my kit. The zoom ring was smooth through most of the range, dropping off slightly at the shortest and longest focal lengths.
As many have said before and will say again, it's stupid that this lens doesn't come with a hood as standard. I bought the official Canon hood which is felt lined and does make a perfect fit with the lens, worth the £20 odd I paid from Amazon. I also paired it with a Hoya HD 77mm protector filter which I had heard were tougher and easier to clean - something I can now vouch for myself.
I don't think I'll be parting with this lens for the duration of my stay with the EFS mount. The observant among you will have noticed I haven't made any comment on the 50mm f/1.8 on this post and that is because it never made its way onto the body. The 17-55 coped with everything I needed up to and including the 50mm focal length and slightly beyond. I never really felt the need to step down to something like 1.8 although I could perhaps see adding the f1/.4 USM at some point (to capture what will be a toddler racing around my sister's house).
Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
On the few occaisions I needed more reach the 55-250mm was mounted on my 550D. The IQ this lens produces for the cost outlay seems great. It is a bit slower than I'd like, especially when using it paired with the 17-55mm but the IS did help for still subjects. My main gripe is the lack of USM focusing. When switching from the 17-55 it felt like time was slowing down as the AF whirred slowly towards a lock.
One of the main things I took away from this trip is that all of my future lenses will be USM, the only reason for missing an photo opportunity should be my lack of skills and not waiting for autofocus.
Accessories
The Lowepro Fastpack 250 was a good size for the journey. It fitted as hand luggage on the flight over with no problem and I have enough room in the bottom section for all of the kit listed with some space to spare. However, I would start to be concerned If I added a 70-200mm L and a flash gun. The bag has come back in the same condition it left it, it is rugged and despite the lack of dedicated waterproof cover it survived some relentless rain without letting a drop of water into any pockets. The build quality is great and the material looks like sit will last long past whenever I outgrow it. It was comfortable to wear but I never found any use for the strap at the waist level. Maybe some people with a smaller frame would find spreading that camera load over their body a useful feature but it wasn't heavy enough for me to warrant it. I would have found it more useful if those straps could be tucked away.
I would not do any extended hand held photography without my BlackRapid strap now. I used it for a while with my G2 as well and it hasn't faltered. Letting >£1000 of camera dangle from it's tripod mount point was a little unnerving at first but I have complete faith in it now. I never find the mount coming loose and its nice and easy to unhook the camera to put away when the rain comes. I happily left the BlackRapid on under my rucksack through all the weather and just clipped the camera on/off when needed. I would recommend securing the strap's plastic clip with some cable ties - in 99% of conditions I'm sure it's rugged enough but it would only take a chav to think it would be funny to unclip in a crowd and you've got a very poorly camera.
The batteries and SD cards performed well. Both the batteries were original Canon so no surprises there. There was no obvious difference between the speeds of the SD cards but the Samsung card felt the most durable.
I got the GCS III screen protector with my 550D and while it did a good job of protecting the screen, I won't be using it again. I wear glasses all of the time so I am already at a slight distance disadvantage from the viewfinder. With the way this thing clips on it makes the problem worse and I found I was having trouble framing scenes.
The temperature in Munich was reasonably mild considering the time of year. There was a tiny bit of snow but nothing that settled. The most useful thing related to my photography accessories was fingerless gloves. After two hours without a stop indoors my fingers and hands were starting to lock up and go numb, so the gloves were an absolute must for me.
As a thank you for reading, here are a few snaps.
Marienplatz by trickpic, on Flickr
Santa Claus by trickpic, on Flickr
Hilton Munich City - Room View by trickpic, on Flickr
Dachau - The Bunker by trickpic, on Flickr
I will post the album for comments elsewhere over the next day or so, but feel free to skip ahead and browse it via flickr. Opinions on the photos or review are welcomed!
Cheers.
). Most of my gear I took on this trip was new so I thought it would be fitting to do a bit of a group review.I haven't really reviewed any kit in the past, but figured it was about time I gave some feedback after some people here have helped my decision making. Maybe somebody will get something from it.
Kit:
Canon 550D Body
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon 50mm f/1.8
Accessories:
BlackRapid RS-7
Lowepro Fastpack 250
GGS III LCD Protector
2 x LP-E8 Batteries
2 x 16GB Transcend Class 10 SD Card
1 x 8GB Samsung Class 10 SD Card
1 x 8GB Integral class 10 SD Card
Fingerless Gloves!
Canon 550D Body
The build quality for a holiday like this isn't really paramount but it certainly felt tougher than the Panasonic G2 I have parted with. The tough plastic exterior felt at home on the BlackRapid dangling by my side, much more so than the easily marked G2 rubbery finish. There were no obvious weak points which I'm sure Canon have perfected in their camera bodies over the years. While I have played with some of the more expensive Canon Bodies which have felt more solid, for my purposes it is probably overkill.
The high ISO performance just seemed to blow my G2 out of the water which is exactly what brought me back to an SLR. I needed to rely on the low light for the markets in the evenings and I wasn't disappointed. The extra resolution is a bonus and makes good use of the high resolution and sharpness the 17-55mm can produce.
Ergonomically I was satisfied although the scroll wheel is in a slightly more awkward place than I would like. I rarely made use of live view (a feature I would make more use of had I gone for a vari-angle LCD like on the 600D) which on a non-USM lens is unbearably slow but tolerable on the 17-55. All other controls felt comfortable with extended use, although my relatively big hands would have felt more at home on the 60D. With the 17-55 on the camera it obviously felt front heavy but I was perfectly happy with it, it's a reassuring feeling and I find it easier to control.
Overall the 550D for me is a great compromise. I needed something on a budget so I could afford better glass and the 550D offered me the IQ of the better models (E.g 60D) while missing out on some build quality and features.
Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
Some of you might remember a thread I created a few weeks ago choosing between the 15-85mm and 17-55mm lenses for the 550D. Against some advice I ended up going for the 17-55mm - although the 15-85mm has the better IS I figured the wider aperture would help in lower light with possible moving subjects (not sports, but still moving).
After some quality issues (another recent thread) I got a copy I was happy with and it has performed very well on the trip. It rarely left my 550D over the 7 days I was there. For a city trip like this, the focal length was easy to work with, I wasn't restricted on the wide end with anything that couldn't be corrected with a few steps back - but perhaps I was lucky
Some people complain about the build quality on this lens but beyond the controversial dust problems and initial back focusing copy I received it does feel very solid. It is leagues ahead of any of the other lenses in my kit. The zoom ring was smooth through most of the range, dropping off slightly at the shortest and longest focal lengths.
As many have said before and will say again, it's stupid that this lens doesn't come with a hood as standard. I bought the official Canon hood which is felt lined and does make a perfect fit with the lens, worth the £20 odd I paid from Amazon. I also paired it with a Hoya HD 77mm protector filter which I had heard were tougher and easier to clean - something I can now vouch for myself.
I don't think I'll be parting with this lens for the duration of my stay with the EFS mount. The observant among you will have noticed I haven't made any comment on the 50mm f/1.8 on this post and that is because it never made its way onto the body. The 17-55 coped with everything I needed up to and including the 50mm focal length and slightly beyond. I never really felt the need to step down to something like 1.8 although I could perhaps see adding the f1/.4 USM at some point (to capture what will be a toddler racing around my sister's house).
Canon 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
On the few occaisions I needed more reach the 55-250mm was mounted on my 550D. The IQ this lens produces for the cost outlay seems great. It is a bit slower than I'd like, especially when using it paired with the 17-55mm but the IS did help for still subjects. My main gripe is the lack of USM focusing. When switching from the 17-55 it felt like time was slowing down as the AF whirred slowly towards a lock.
One of the main things I took away from this trip is that all of my future lenses will be USM, the only reason for missing an photo opportunity should be my lack of skills and not waiting for autofocus.
Accessories
The Lowepro Fastpack 250 was a good size for the journey. It fitted as hand luggage on the flight over with no problem and I have enough room in the bottom section for all of the kit listed with some space to spare. However, I would start to be concerned If I added a 70-200mm L and a flash gun. The bag has come back in the same condition it left it, it is rugged and despite the lack of dedicated waterproof cover it survived some relentless rain without letting a drop of water into any pockets. The build quality is great and the material looks like sit will last long past whenever I outgrow it. It was comfortable to wear but I never found any use for the strap at the waist level. Maybe some people with a smaller frame would find spreading that camera load over their body a useful feature but it wasn't heavy enough for me to warrant it. I would have found it more useful if those straps could be tucked away.
I would not do any extended hand held photography without my BlackRapid strap now. I used it for a while with my G2 as well and it hasn't faltered. Letting >£1000 of camera dangle from it's tripod mount point was a little unnerving at first but I have complete faith in it now. I never find the mount coming loose and its nice and easy to unhook the camera to put away when the rain comes. I happily left the BlackRapid on under my rucksack through all the weather and just clipped the camera on/off when needed. I would recommend securing the strap's plastic clip with some cable ties - in 99% of conditions I'm sure it's rugged enough but it would only take a chav to think it would be funny to unclip in a crowd and you've got a very poorly camera.
The batteries and SD cards performed well. Both the batteries were original Canon so no surprises there. There was no obvious difference between the speeds of the SD cards but the Samsung card felt the most durable.
I got the GCS III screen protector with my 550D and while it did a good job of protecting the screen, I won't be using it again. I wear glasses all of the time so I am already at a slight distance disadvantage from the viewfinder. With the way this thing clips on it makes the problem worse and I found I was having trouble framing scenes.
The temperature in Munich was reasonably mild considering the time of year. There was a tiny bit of snow but nothing that settled. The most useful thing related to my photography accessories was fingerless gloves. After two hours without a stop indoors my fingers and hands were starting to lock up and go numb, so the gloves were an absolute must for me.
As a thank you for reading, here are a few snaps.
Marienplatz by trickpic, on Flickr
Santa Claus by trickpic, on Flickr
Hilton Munich City - Room View by trickpic, on Flickr
Dachau - The Bunker by trickpic, on Flickr
I will post the album for comments elsewhere over the next day or so, but feel free to skip ahead and browse it via flickr. Opinions on the photos or review are welcomed!
Cheers.