I'm trying to decide whether to buy the 550D. I take a fair number of pictures in dim light in places that don't allow flash and am worried that I'll have problems focusing.
Odd that the 50/1.8 is bad in dim light and other lenses (such as the 18-55 or 55-250?) do better. Usually a 1.8 would focus a lot faster than a 3.5-5.6 or a 4-5.6.
By the way, this is one of the most helpful threads I've seen on any topic on any photography forum. Informative, polite and on topic is a very rare combination.
I sometimes shoot in clubs with 550D and 7D and even though the 7D is unquestionably a better camera i don't see such a huge difference in how they focus in low light. I usually keep my flash on the body even if I don't use it (PW to trigger external flashes) so that it helps out with the AF beam and with the 24-105 f/4 the camera usually does not struggle to focus. 85 f/1.2 or 50 f/1.4 are a different story but I attribute most of the OOF shot to the shallow DOF since people are moving around a bit and even a resonably high ISO will not let you shoot faster than ~1/50s.
While on the subject - anyone noticed that the AF assist beam on the 430EX II in combination with the 550D sometimes just won't fire? I have yet to figure out under what circumstances that happens...
