The Canon EOS range of digital cameras are used by tens of thousands of people around the world. Early in 2009 Canon released the latest version of their entry level range called the Canon 500D EOS boasting such ground breaking features as high definition video recording and 15.1 megapixel resolution for photographs. This hub is intended to look at what enhancements are likely for the next version of the popular range, the Canon 550D EOS.

Canon released the original Canon 350D camera several years ago and followed this up a few months later with the Canon 400D and again with the Canon 450D released in 2008. Given the rate of release of these cameras by Canon it's likely they will announce the next model in the line towards the middle to end of 2010.

Every new camera in the range has improved on the previous model in terms of image resolution, processing speed, and ISO range so we can expect to see enhancements to these features in any future release.

With the release of the 500D Canon dramatically increased the top ISO range available for shooting in low light conditions. Other improvements were the inevitable increase in image resolution and the major addition of HD video recording.

I would think that the Canon 550D will likely see a further increase in image quality with the example of the recently released Canon 7D leading the way to 18.1 megapixels. The current DIGIC 4 processor could be replaced although I think this is more likely for the Canon 600D given the previous lifespan of the DIGIC 3 processor.

I also think Canon will try to make improvements to the top ISO settings to reduce noise in low light images at these settings.

This leaves the question what can Canon do to persuade people to upgrade when the time comes?

Well the answer could be to improve the HD video recording. This area is still relatively new so there's still a lot of major enhancements that can be made.

Throughout the line Canon has never increased the speed of multiple shots for this particular model preferring to reserve higher shooting speeds for the more expensive models. I believe this is unlikely to change it would lessen the need for photographers to purchase the higher priced models.

We're also unlikely to see changes to the auto focus points as the current system seems well established.