A question being asked is - which camera is better the Canon 550D or Canon 600D. Both are similar prices and similar spec. Both cameras have Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels at 24, 25, and 30 frames per second. And 720p or VGA video at 50 and 60 fps.
One key difference that I've found between them is the video crop mode. This is something that was introduced on the Canon 550D with the 640x480/50fps video mode, sadly a feature missing from the groundbreaking first HD DSLR the Canon 5D Mark II. The Canon 600D now calls this Digital Video Zoom.
On the Canon 550D the video crop mode allows you to zoom up to 7x on the centre of the image but only in the 640x480 and not in HD 1080p mode. The Canon 600D extends this to allow you to zoom anywhere between 3x and 10x on the 1080p and still keeping full HD quality.
This fantastic zoom facility makes this an idea camera for birdwatching videos as it allows you to capture details from a huge distance giving a whopping 4500mm equivalent lens just using a normal 70-200 zoom.
