Hi straydingo, I'm thinking of buying a Canon SLR and have been looking at either a 450,500 or 550.
It does have a lot to do with price but I am wondering what your opinion is of these?
Its for entry level.
Cheers
I'm not particularly knowledgeable in Canons as I have used Pentaxs for the past 20 years. While I have briefly used Canons, it has never been in depth - others will advise better.
Canon is and always has been a great product so generally should have no issues.
Firstly, (and I'll be blunt sorry)
WHY do you think a DSLR suits your needs?
Are you new to SLR/DSLR camera or comfortable using them?
How are you wanting to display your photography - on screen display, poster prints, photo album/books, advertising?
What do you like to shoot? Animals, portraits, landscapes, objects etc, or a mix of everything.
Do you intend to swap lenses or single a single one only?
What is your real budget for camera and lenses?
So subject to the questions above;
Looking at those three models I'm presuming you aren't buying new? 450 was released in 2008, 500 in 2009 and the 550 in 2010, but were all marketed for about two years.
As the models got newer, the features included improved also, or at least got more features.
The megapixels are 12, 15 and 18 for the three models respectively. Megapixels is often misunderstood and is a great marketing tool from the manufacturers - that more is best. Thats not always the case. While more can give a sharper image, depending on what you do with those images, it can have no effect at all. For a 4x6 print, a 6MP will generally have the same appearance as a 20MP. If blowing up to poster size, then the larger MP will be better. If blowing up to billboard size, even 12MP is still ok, because we stand so far back from it, that the pixels still run together and we see a 'sharp' image.
Plus we still need to store the photos we take - the file size of a 12MP image compared to an 18MP is very different.
(I use both a 12MP and a 16MP only)
Other differences between the cameras:
More ISO settings as the models went up
Live view was added to 500+550 (ability to see the image on the screen rather than through the eyepiece viewer)
The screen resolution increased dramatically allowing clearer images for review or in live view.
Manual settings and preset scenes added to 500+550 (I believe??)
Video record plus microphone added to 500+550
MMC format cards dropped after 450
HDMI added to 500+550
Generally everything else remained the same between the three models.
Based on spec level alone and no other considerations, I'd probably take the 500 over the others.
All three were originally considered 'upper entry level' models and cost around the $800-900 mark. Even now, a used 550 can be upto $800 on ebay.
As CD noted above, he picked up a Canon 1100D with single lens for less than $400. Best I could quickly find was around $450 with a 18-55mm IS lenses or $600 twin lens kit. (
cruza driver - where did you get yours?)
Throw the 1100D in the mix for even the prices that I found, and I'd take that without hesitation over the other three. Newer technology, warranty and an IS lens. All other 'features' are on par with the 450, and some as per the 550.
As I said, thats on specs alone.....
The lenses though really makes a good image more than the camera body.....
I've spent 5 times as much on lenses than on the bodies.
As for the questions at the top, I still find my little all-in-one snappy can give pics just as good as a DSLR in many situations. To maximise the DSLR you need to spend time to learn it and understand it and all the theory behind the settings, when to change a lens or not, and what sort. If you don't - it is just an expensive snappy, and we can be disappointed with the results when we are expecting something fantastic. I still often am, especially with my recent acquisition - even though the settings are the described the same, they still produce different images to my other one. I'm yet to really understand it's differences etc.
If you get a DSLR, go down to the beach and up in the bush there, and take lots of photos in different light. Set yourself tasks to shoot. "today is a B day. I will shoot stuff starting with B only" "Today is a Green day" "today is a bird day" etc. Being focused on specific attributes rather than taking pics of anything and everything helps focus on what to look for in those attributes. Review the photos and go out and do it again.....
Read the manual - I know, I know. Males don't
Learn what happens when you are in AV mode, TV mode, or M mode and those dials are turned. Understand the ISO setting, +/- setting. The best thing about digital cameras, take 1000 photos before you really 'use' it.
And get on one of the Canon and/or general photography forums.
Sorry didn't get a pic or even try 
plenty to think about there mate.