Canon 550D has a
18.0MP APS-C (22.3 x 14.9 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic 4 processor. On the other hand, Canon 5D has a
13.0MP Full frame (36 x 24 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features Digic II processor.
Canon 550D's sensor provides 5MP more than Canon 5D's sensor, which gives a significant advantage in real life. You can print your images larger or crop more freely.
On the other hand, please keep in mind that Max sensor resolution is not the only determinant of resolving power. Factors such as the optical elements, low pass filter, pixel size and sensor technology also affects the final resolution of the captured image.
Below you can see the 550D and 5D sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Canon 5D has a 2.6x Larger sensor area than Canon 550D. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.
DxOMark Sensor Scores
DxOMark is a benchmark that scientifically assesses image quality of camera sensors. It scores camera sensors for color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape) and low-light sensitivity (DXO Sports), and also gives them an overall score. Canon 550D and Canon 5D sensors have been tested by DxO and the results show that 5D has a better overall score of 71, 5 points higher compared to 550D's score of 66.
Model |
Overall |
Color Depth |
Dynamic Range |
Low-light ISO |
Canon 550D |
66 |
22.0 bits |
11.6 Evs |
807 ISO |
Canon 5D |
71 |
22.9 bits |
11.1 Evs |
1368 ISO |