What is the crop factor of the Canon 550D?

The Canon EOS 550D is equipped with an APS-C sensor, whose diagonal measures 26.8mm. The sensor has a crop factor (or format factor, or focal length multiplier) of 1.6.

The crop factor is defined as the ratio of the 35mm full-frame film diagonal to the diagonal of a digital sensor. This number indicates how a lens behaves in relation to the size of the image sensor.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

With a crop factor of 1.6, the sensor in the Canon 550D is smaller than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Canon 550D will offer a narrower angle of view and provide deeper depth of field than a lens of similar focal length and aperture on a film camera. The equivalent focal length is obtained by multiplying the actual focal length of the lens with the crop factor. For example, a 31mm lens on the Canon 550D will provide the same angle of view and depth of field as a 50mm normal lens on a film camera (31mm * 1.6 = 50mm).

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Canon 550D to those of several similar cameras. The reported DXO values are indicators of the sensor's imaging quality (higher is better), covering color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape), and high-ISO noise (DXO Sports). Larger sensor cameras tend to outperform cameras of the same generation that are equipped with a smaller imager. On the other hand, larger sensors are more expensive and require bigger and heavier lenses than smaller light receptors.

Sensor Characteristics

		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Canon 550D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	22.1	11.5	784	66
2.		Canon 500D	APS-C	15.1	4752	3168	1080/20p	21.7	11.5	663	63
3.		Canon 600D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	22.1	11.5	793	65
4.		Canon 650D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	21.7	11.2	722	62
5.		Canon 700D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	21.7	11.2	681	61
6.		Canon 750D	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/30p	22.7	12.0	919	71
7.		Canon 760D	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/30p	22.6	12.0	915	70
8.		Canon 1100D	APS-C	12.2	4272	2848	720/30p	21.9	11.0	755	62
9.		Canon 1200D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	21.9	11.3	724	63
10.		Canon 4000D	APS-C	17.9	5184	3456	1080/30p	21.9	11.4	695	63
11.		Nikon D5100	APS-C	16.1	4928	3264	1080/30p	23.5	13.6	1183	80

In the United States, the 550D was initially launched in February 2010 at a price of $699.

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Camera to camera comparisons

In case you would like to check on the differences and similarities with other camera models, just use the search menu below. An an alternative, you can also directly jump to any one of the listed comparisons that were previously generated by the CAM-parator tool.

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