Hey everybody!
I’m saving up to buy a new camera.
I was thinking about the canon eos 550d.
Is that a good choice? Are the pictures/videos good quality?
And if you upload them on “imovie”, is the quality still the same?
Do you want it for video, stills or both?
Video wise they’re great if you have a fairly high degree of control over your shots and don’t need to run continuously for a long time. They don’t have xlr audio input either but the image quality/sexiness can’t be beat for the price.
If you’re using it for video you’ll likely want a decent tripod and/or a rig to make it easier to handle/reduce wobble which adds a bit to the price.
Does the quality stay the same if you edit/import it to imovie?
I’ve not used Imovie I’m afraid. Check what file formats, FPS and resolution it can handle and see how they compare to the 550d spec.
Why such a big camera? To talk about what camera is best for you, we need to know what you want from it. SLR cameras are heavy and large, and you should only consider one unless you intend to use multiple lenses. Otherwise there are excellent choices in much smaller packages, including HD video capability.
I have an old Canon 20D, which I am recently loving due to the addition of an excellent (and really heavy!) telephoto lens…
+1
I have a Canon 5D (with all kinds of lenses) and an Olympus Pen (with three lenses). These days the 5D only gets used when the primary activity is taking photos. I carry the Olympus and a small prime lens with me on outings and rides so naturally I take many more photos with the Olympus.
Get a GoPro HD! Tiny and light but shoots high quality HD video and decent stills.
Oooh, the camera I really want. Wanna sell it? 
I was going to buy one last year, but then I realized my two best lenses are of the EF-S variety. They don’t work with the full-sized image sensor! Glad I figured that out in time… So I instead went for the awesome telephoto lens that now weighs down my camera bag. I love it, but it’s really a tank!
A recent sample:
Awesome! Is this picture from your 5D?
I don’t have a 5D, I have a 20D. That image is from a new set from a visit to San Diego and the San Diego Safari Park. They’ll be posted to Smugmug pretty soon…
Someday I hope to have a full-sized image sensor. Meanwhile, Canon has recently come out with the PowerShot G1 X. A little bit bigger than the G12, but with a much bigger image sensor. Interesting, but it has less lens range, and the lens is fixed, etc. But much more portable than the SLR set… I love the flexibility for post-processing RAW files, and the greater low-light sensitivity of big sensors.