Nikon D5500 Review

February 11, 2015 | Mark Goldstein |

Introduction
Ease of Use
Image Quality
Sample Images
Product Images
Rating & Conclusion
Main Rivals
Specifications
Comment
More…

Introduction

The Nikon D5500 is a new 24.2 megapixel DX-format DSLR camera with no optical low-pass filter (OLPF). The D5500 can record Full HD movies at 1080 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p with stereo sound and comes equipped with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. A high-resolution 3.2-inch vari-angle LCD touchscreen makes it easier to compose your shots from difficult angles. The D5500 is Nikon’s first ever DSLR with touch operation, allowing the user to choose their focus point via Touch AF, pinch in to check focus and even activate the shutter with the touch of a fingertip, with a new Fn touch feature providing one-touch access to important settings like AF point selection, aperture, ISO sensitivity, AF area mode and more. It also offers an extensive ISO range of 100-25,600, a 5fps burst shooting mode, EXPEED 4 image processor, 39-point autofocus system with 9 cross-type sensors, 2,016-pixel RGB metering sensor, High Dynamic Range mode, Active D-Lighting, and 10 different special effects for stills and movies complete the Nikon D5500's headline specs. The Nikon D5500 is available in black and red, as a body-only offering for £639.99 / $899.95 and in two different kit configurations: alongside the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens for a suggested retail price of £719.99 / $999.95 or with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens for £899.99 / $1,199.95.

Ease of Use

The Nikon D5500 replaces 2013's D5300 as the new mid-range model in Nikon's extensive DSLR line-up, slotting in between the existing D3300 and D7100 models, not only in terms of feature set and functionality, but also in terms of size and weight. It isn't quite as compact and lightweight as the D3300, but neither is it as bulky and heavy as the D7100. In comparison to its predecessor, the D5500 is once again slightly smaller and lighter than the D5300, sporting a new monocoque design that makes the camera one of Nikon’s lightest DSLRs. The right-hand grip is very deep given the overall size of the camera, and therefore comfortable for photographers with large hands and/or longish fingers, and there's also a handy rubberised thumb rest on the back of the body.

The D5500 uses the same 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor with no optical low-pass filter as its predecessor. The sensor can clean itself by way of high-frequency vibrations that will, at least in theory, shake off any non-adhesive dust particles that may have settled on the low-pass filter during a lens change. You can specify, via an option in the Setup menu, whether you want sensor cleaning to take place at shutdown, startup, both or neither, with the default being 'both'. The cleaning process pleasingly has no practical impact on startup times, which were near instant. The image sensor is complemented by the same EXPEED 4 processing engine and a large buffer as well.

The D5500 is the latest Nikon DSLR to offer built-in wi-fi, but it no longer offers GPS connectivity, which is instead provided via a smartphone. The wi-fi function essentially pairs the D5500 with an iOS or Android smartphone or other smart device, and allows you to edit and share images directly to social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. It also makes it possible to control the D5500 remotely via a smart device using the free Wireless Mobile Utility app, and set the focus point using the smart device's touchscreen.

The 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II kit lens that now ships with the D5500 is one of the main talking points of this new camera. Also shipping with the cheaper D3300, Nikon have implemented a retractable design to make the lens more portable when it's not in use, something that quite a lot of compact system cameras have in their lens ranges. As a result the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II is much more compact than its predecessor when retracted to the L position, although of course you still have to extend it outwards to start shooting.

Front of the Nikon D5500

The new optic now feels better-balanced on the smaller Nikon D5500 and it fits into place with a reassuring mechanical click. It also adds the very important advantage of Vibration Reduction. Nikon bodies don't offer any form of in-camera image stabilisation, unlike similar models from Sony, Pentax and Olympus, so the affordable 18-55mm VR II lens is a good partner for the D5500. We've previously published an in-depth review of the 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II lens.

The shutter release action on the Nikon D5500 is notably louder than its predecessor, emitting a more mechanical sound. There is still a Quiet Shutter Release mode, though, in which the mirror is raised fairly slowly to further reduce the sound it makes. This does, however, introduce some unwanted shutter lag.

The Nikon D5500 follows conventional DSLR design in having a shooting mode dial on the top of the camera, which allows you to select either one of the advanced modes like Program, Manual, Aperture- or Shutter-priority, the green Auto mode for beginners, the No Flash mode, the various scene modes., and the Effects mode.

The Effects shooting mode provides 10 different filters that can be applied to both still images and movies. The Night Vision effect is particularly worth of mention, pushing the camera's sensitivity to a whopping ISO 102,400, although a monochrome rather than colour image is recorded. For stills, you can enter Live View mode to preview the effect or simply use the optical viewfinder. For movies, the recording is slowed down (dependent upon the chosen effect) as the camera uses a lot of processing power to apply the effect, leading to footage that can have a rather staccato feel. Note also that the camera sets virtually everything in the Effects mode - exposure, shutter speed, white balance, ISO, file type and quality - so its only creative in terms of the arty effect that's applied. Several of the same effects can be applied to an image or movie that you've taken, though, so you can have the best of both worlds (albeit without the luxury of a preview).

Rear of the Nikon D5500

The Exposure Compensation button is thoughtfully positioned next to the shutter release, alongside the the dedicated one-touch Movie Record button. Hold down the Exposure Compensation button with your right forefinger and spin the control wheel on the top-rear of the camera with your thumb to adjust its settings - simple and intuitive.

The D5500's Live View continues to be accessed in a different and arguably less intuitive way than on the D3300/D7200. Instead of a combined switch / button, the D5500 has a fore-finger operated spring-loaded switch on top of the body that is pushed downwards and toggles between turning Live View on and off. Positioned next to the Shooting Mode dial, it allows you to enable Live View whilst holding the camera at arms length with one hand, or to turn it off as you hold the camera up to your eye. We'd prefer it to be on the rear of the camera and also to incorporate the Movie record button, in keeping with the D3300/D7200 models.

Press the Lv switch and the mirror flips up, the shutter opens and the rear screen displays the scene as seen through the lens. There is a red rectangle in the middle, which you can move practically anywhere in the frame. When in manual focus (MF) mode, you can magnify into this rectangle in a number of steps by repeatedly pressing the button marked with a loupe icon, but this magnification seems to be at least partially interpolated. This means that you cannot see detail down to the pixel level, unlike some competing cameras.

Fortunately, MF is not the only focusing option in Live View, at least as long as you are taking stills. Single-servo AF (AF-S) and Full-time-servo AF (AF-F) modes are also available and, while slow, they tend to be accurate. Both modes can also be used in connection with face detection. 'Face-priority AF' had no problem finding and keeping track of human faces as long as they were facing the camera, but acquiring focus was another story - very slow.

Top of the Nikon D5500

Live View must also be entered to shoot movies. After pressing the Lv button and optionally presetting the aperture and focus, you can start recording video by pressing the dedicated Movie Record button on top of the camera next to the shutter release. The camera records full high-definition, wide-screen video in 1920x1080 pixel resolution, at a frame rate of 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p, in AVI format using the motion JPEG codec. As with Live View, contrast-detect AF is possible whilst shooting movies, although as with still images there's an audible whine as the camera refocuses and it's still too slow to focus on any fast-moving subject, so much so that we suspect most serious users will use manual focusing instead. Although the D5500 can automatically focus during video recording, it's just not fast enough to warrant regular use.

You can set both the aperture and the shutter speed during movie recording, although the slowest shutter speed is limited to 1/30th second, plus exposure compensation and AE-Lock can also be set. Out of the box the D5500 can record stereo sound via its built-in microphone with three different levels of sensitivity on offer, and improved sound can also be recorded using an optional external microphone. The maximum size of a single video clip is 2 gigabytes which, given that movies occupy about 100 megabytes of storage space per minute, would theoretically translate into about 20 minutes of continuous recording.

The D5500 has a proper through-the-lens optical viewfinder with a magnification of 0.82x and scene coverage of 95%, on par with most of its rivals. The Nikon D5500's 39 auto-focus points are permanently marked on the focusing screen, whereas the compositional grid lines can be called up via a menu option. Two warning signs - telling you that the battery is running low or you have forgotten to insert a memory card - may also appear in the form of overlaid icons when appropriate. Below the finder is a traditional monochromatic status bar showing practically all relevant shooting information (including the ISO sensitivity, if so specified in the menu).

As stated above, the Nikon D5500 has 39 auto-focus sensors, out of which 9 are cross type. The other thirty are of the line variety, consequently being only sensitive to either vertical or horizontal detail, but not both. In practice, this did not turn out to be a real problem, with the camera typically locking focus on the subject quickly and easily, no matter which AF point was selected. In the viewfinder, the active AF point appears in red, which is easy to see. Selecting the active AF point is done by way of the four-way pad - except if you choose Auto Area AF - again a simple and intuitive solution. In low light, the AF sensors are helped by an AF assist lamp located on the front plate of the camera.

Tilting LCD Screen

The 2,016-pixel RGB metering sensor used by the D5500 is again identical to the system used by the D5300 model. This provides precise data to the camera’s Scene Recognition System, which optimises exposure, autofocus and white balance immediately before the shutter is released.

The rear articulated LCD screen is hinged at the side rather than the bottom. This fully articulated design is a much more flexible solution, allowing the screen to be folded out from the left side of the camera and folded inwards to protect it when not in use. The screen is 3.2 inches in size and has 1,037k dots, so there's nothing to complain about in this department. The screen also has an anti-glare coating, so that it's usable most of the time outdoors in strong daylight, although it still struggled a little with reflections.

The D5500's new touchscreen allows you to choose the focus point via Touch AF, pinch in to check focus, and activate the shutter with the touch of a fingertip. You can also change the aperture and shutter speed, access the info panel, use the main menu system and other sub menus via the touchscreen. It's a genuinely useful addition to the D5500 which will suit the camera's core target audience, and it's something that we'd expect to see on future Nikon DSLRs.

The Nikon D5500 only has one control wheel and there are no dedicated buttons for controlling ISO sensitivity, white balance, metering or AF mode. Instead you can use the Fn button, which can be reprogrammed to perform ISO selection or white balance adjustment (or one of a few other functions such as file quality specification), but the others still have to be set through the main info screen, called up by pressing the [ i ] button to the right of the rear display. With practice, performing adjustments via this screen becomes fairly quick and easy, but it's not as efficient as having dedicated controls.

The Nikon D5500 In-hand

The important 'info' has also moved to join the cluster of controls on the rear of the D5500. This button is arguably at the heart of the Nikon D5500's ease-of-use, as like its predecessor the camera lacks the monochromatic status LCD of the older D90, so Nikon had to provide a different way to check vital shooting information without having to look into the viewfinder. Enter the info button - pressing it displays virtually all of the camera's main settings on the large rear screen. Pressing the "i" button on the rear of the D5500 allows you to interact with and set the onscreen options, with 14 available in total.

Most of the camera's rear controls are scattered, seemingly almost randomly, to the right of the D5500's large folding screen. While we can understand the need to locate them to accommodate the 3.2 inch LCD, the positioning of the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons in particular isn't very intuitive, being operated with your right-hand thumb, and right next to the Delete button. As the D5500 isn't a very complex camera in terms of the number of external controls, it thankfully doesn't get too confusing, but is something to consider from an ergonomic point of view.

For the images that you've already already captured, the Nikon D5500 offers a broad range of retouching tools, including post-capture D-lighting (useful if you forgot to turn on Active D-lighting before capture), red-eye correction, trimming, monochrome conversion, different filter effects, colour adjustments, image resizing, image overlay, in-camera raw processing, quick auto retouching, straightening of crooked pictures, lens distortion correction, fisheye, colour outline, colour sketch, selective colour, miniature effect, and perspective control. Many of these functions make it unnecessary to buy specialised computer programs or plug-ins and spend hours in front of a computer to achieve a desired/popular effect.

The Nikon D5500 is powered by a proprietary EN-EL14a Lithium-ion battery, good for 600 shots, and records videos and image files on SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. As we noted in our D5300 review, we would really have liked to see Nikon add a second card slot for Compact Flash cards, so that owners of higher-specified Nikon DSLRs who buy a D5500 as a second body can use their existing memory cards. It also lacks the dual-SD slots of the D7200. As far as connectivity goes, there are USB/VideoOut and Mini HDMI ports as well as an accessory terminal for the connection of a wired remote or a GPS unit, all sheltered behind a door on the left side of the camera, when viewed from the back., and a new HDMI connection on the right flank of the camera.

That concludes our look at the D5500's interface and feature-set. Now let's take a look at the D5500's image quality...

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 24 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 8Mb.

The Nikon D5500 produced images of excellent quality during the review period. The D5500 produces noise-free JPEG images at ISO 100-1600, with ISO 3200 also looking pretty good. ISO 6400 only shows a little noise, while the fastest settings of ISO 12800 and 25600 are quite a lot noisier and suffer from softening of fine detail and a loss of saturation, but the images are still perfectly usable for small prints and resizing for web use.

The images were a little soft straight out of the D5500 at the default sharpening setting and ideally require some further sharpening in an application like Adobe Photoshop, or you can change the in-camera setting for JPEG files. The night photograph was excellent, with the maximum shutter speed of 30 seconds and bulb mode allowing you to capture plenty of light. Red-eye was not a common occurrence with the built-in flash, and when we did encounter it, it was very moderate and easily cured by setting the flash to red-eye reduction mode.

Active D-lighting managed to squeeze most of the dynamic range captured by the sensor into the JPEGs the camera produced, while the HDR mode greatly expands the dynamic range by combining two shots taken at different exposures. The Picture Controls and creative Effects help to get more out of your JPEG images.

Noise

There are 9 ISO settings available on the Nikon D5500 and the ISO speed can be adjusted in 1/3 EV increments. Here are some 100% crops which show the noise levels for each ISO setting, with JPEG on the left and RAW on the right.

The Nikon D5500 also has ISO Sensitivity Auto Control, activated from the shooting menu. If set to On, the camera will automatically adjust the sensitivity if proper exposure cannot be achieved at the value chosen by the photographer. The user can put a limit on the maximum sensitivity selectable by the camera.

JPEG	RAW
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)


ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)


ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)


ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)


ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)


ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)


ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)


ISO 12800 (100% Crop)	ISO 12800 (100% Crop)


ISO 25600 (100% Crop)	ISO 25600 (100% Crop)

File Quality

The file quality settings available on the D5500 include Basic, Normal and Fine for JPEGs, plus you can also store your photos in Nikon's proprietary raw format (NEF). Here are some 100% crops which show the quality of the various options, with the file size shown in brackets.

Fine (12.2Mb) (100% Crop)	Normal (5.88Mb) (100% Crop)


Basic (2.65Mb) (100% Crop)	RAW (25.4Mb) (100% Crop)

Sharpening

Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 50 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. The out-of-the camera images are a soft at the default sharpening setting and benefit from some further sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. You can also change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes by changing the Picture Styles.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

Flash

The pop-up flash on the D5500 has several settings including Auto, Fill-in flash, Red-eye Reduction, SlowSync, Red-eye Reduction with Slow Sync, Rear-curtain Sync and Off. These snaps of a white wall were taken at a distance of 1.5m.

Flash Off - Wide Angle (27mm)	Flash On - Wide Angle (27mm)


Flash Off - Telephoto (82.5mm)	Flash On - Telephoto (82.5mm)

And here are a couple of portrait shots. The built-in speedlight caused no red-eye effect in this test.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)


Red-eye Reduction	Red-eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night

The Nikon D5500 lets you dial in shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds and has a Bulb mode as well for exposure times of practically any length, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. There is an optional long-exposure noise reduction function that can be activated to filter out any hot pixels that may appear when extremely slow shutter speeds are used. Do note that this works by way of dark frame subtraction, which effectively doubles the exposure time. The shot below was taken using a shutter speed of 30 seconds, aperture of f/8 at the ISO 100 sensitivity setting.

Night	Night (100% Crop)

D-lighting

D-lighting is Nikon's dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. The available settings are Off, Low, Medium, High, Extra High and Auto. The following examples demonstrate the differences between the various settings.

D-lighting - Off	D-lighting - Low


D-lighting - Normal	D-lighting - High


D-lighting - Extra High

HDR

The Nikon D5500 has a HDR mode with four levels of manual exposure and an Auto setting. The camera only combines two shots, one under and one over exposed, to produce the final image, and it's only available when shooting JPEGs.

HDR - Off	HDR - Low


HDR - Normal	HDR - High


HDR - Extra High

Picture Controls

Nikon's Picture Controls are akin to Canon's Picture Styles in being preset combinations of sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue. The available choices are Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape and Flat. The following examples demonstrate the differences across these options.

Standard	Neutral


Vivid	Monochrome


Portrait	Landscape


Flat

Effects

The Effects shooting mode provides 10 different creative filters that can be applied to both still images and movies.

Night Vision	Super Vivid


Pop	Photo Illustration


Toy Camera	Miniature


Selective Colour	Silhouette


High Key	Low Key

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon D5500 camera, which were all taken using the 24.3 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	4.5
Ease-of-use	4.5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4.5

Type	Single-lens reflex digital camera
Lens mount	Nikon F mount
Effective angle of view	Nikon DX format; focal length equivalent to approx. 1.5x that of lenses with FX format angle of view
Image sensor	DX, 23.5 mm x 15.6 mm CMOS
Total pixels	24.78 million
Dust-reduction system	Image sensor cleaning, Image Dust Off reference data (Capture NX-D software required)
Effective pixels	24.2 million
Image size (pixels)	(L) 6000 x 4000, (M) 4496 x 3000, (S) 2992 x 2000
Storage file formats	NEF (RAW): 12- or 14 bit, compressed. JPEG: JPEG-Baseline compliant with fine (approx. 1 : 4), normal (approx. 1 : 8), or basic (approx. 1 : 16) compression. NEF (RAW)+JPEG: Single photograph recorded in both NEF (RAW) and JPEG formats
Picture Control System	Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, Landscape, Flat; selected Picture Control can be modified; storage for custom Picture Controls
Storage media	SD, SDHC (UHS-I compliant), SDXC (UHS-I compliant)
File system	DCF 2.0, DPOF, Exif 2.3, PictBridge
Viewfinder	Eye-level pentamirror single-lens reflex viewfinder
Frame coverage	Approx. 95% horizontal and 95% vertical
Magnification	Approx. 0.82x (50 mm f/1.4 lens at infinity, –1.0 m-¹)
Eyepoint	17 mm (–1.0 m-¹; from center surface of viewfinder eyepiece lens)
Diopter adjustment	-1.7 – +0.5m-1
Focusing screen	Type B BriteView Clear Matte Mark VII screen
Depth-of-field preview	No
Lens aperture	Instant return, electronically controlled
Compatible lenses	Autofocus is available with AF-S and AF-I lenses. Autofocus is not available with other type G and D lenses, AF lenses (IX NIKKOR and lenses for the F3AF are not supported), and AI-P lenses. Non-CPU lenses can be used in mode M, but the camera exposure meter will not function. The electronic rangefinder can be used with lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster.
Shutter type	Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focalplane shutter
Shutter speed	1/4000–30s, in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV; Bulb; Time
Flash sync speed	X=1/200s, synchronizes with shutter at 1/200 s or slower
Release mode	S (single frame), CL (continuous low speed), CH (continuous high speed), Q (quiet shutter-release), Self-timer, Interval timer shooting, delayed remote, ML-L3; quick-response remote, ML-L3
Frame advance rate	Approx.5 fps. L: Up to 3 fps. H: Up to 5 fps (JPEG and 12-bit NEF/RAW) or 4 fps (14-bit NEF/RAW). Note: Frame rates assume continuous-servo AF, manual or shutter-priority auto exposure, a shutter speed of 1/250 s or faster, Release selected for Custom Setting a1 (AF-C priority selection), and other settings at default values.
Self-timer	2 s, 5 s, 10 s, 20 s; 1-9 exposures
Metering method	Matrix metering: 3D color matrix metering II (type G, E, and D lenses); color matrix metering II (other CPU lenses). Center-weighted metering: Weight of 75% given to 8-mm circle in center of frame. Spot metering: Meters 3.5-mm circle (about 2.5% of frame) centered on selected focus point
Metering range (ISO 100, f/1.4 lens, 20 °C/68 °F)	Matrix or center-weighted metering: 0–20 EV. Spot metering: 2–20 EV
Exposure meter coupling	CPU
Mode	Auto modes (auto; auto, flash off); programmed auto with flexible program (P); shutter-priority auto (S); aperture-priority auto (A); manual (M); scene modes (portrait, landscape, child, sports, close up, night portrait, night landscape, party/indoor, beach/snow, sunset, dusk/dawn, pet portrait, candlelight, blossom, autumn colors, food); special effects modes (night vision, super vivid, pop, photo illustration, toy camera effect, miniature effect, selective color, silhouette, high key, low key)
Exposure compensation	Can be adjusted by –5 – +5 EV, in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, in P, S, A, M, SCENE, and night vision modes
Exposure bracketing	3 frames, in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV
Exposure lock	Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button
ISO sensitivity	100–25600, in steps of 1/3 EV. Auto ISO sensitivity control available
Active D-Lighting	Auto, Extra high, High, Normal, Low, Off
ADL bracketing	2 shots
Autofocus	Nikon Multi-CAM 4800DX autofocus sensor module with TTL phase detection, 39 focus points (including 9 cross-type sensor), and AF-assist illuminator (range approx. 0.5–3 m/ 1 ft 8 in.–9 ft 10 in.)
Detection range	–1 – +19 EV (ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
Lens servo	Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S), Continuous-servo AF (AF-C), Auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); predictive focus tracking activated automatically according to subject status. Manual focus (MF): Electronic rangefinder can be used
Focus points	39, can be selected from 39 or 11 focus points
AF-area mode	Single-point AF, 9-, 21-, or 39- point dynamic-area AF, 3D-tracking, auto-area AF
Focus lock	Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
Built-in flash	Auto, portrait, child, close up, night portrait, party/indoor, pet portrait, super vivid, pop, photo illustration, toy camera effect: Auto flash with auto pop-up. P, S, A, M, food: Manual pop-up with button release
Guide Number	Approx. 12/39, 12/39 with manual flash (m/ft, ISO 100, 20°C/68°F)
Flash control	TTL: i-TTL flash control using 2016-pixel RGB sensor is available with built-in flash; i-TTL balanced fill-flash for digital SLR is used with matrix and center-weighted metering, standard i-TTL flash for digital SLR with spot metering
Flash modes	Auto, auto with red-eye reduction, auto slow sync, auto slow sync with red-eye reduction, fill-flash, red-eye reduction, slow sync, slow sync with red-eye reduction, rear-curtain with slow sync, rear-curtain sync, off
Flash compensation	-3 – +1 EV in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, in P, S, A, M, and SCENE modes
Flash-ready indicator	Lights when built-in flash or optional flash unit is fully charged; blinks after flash is fired at full output
Accessory shoe	ISO 518 hot-shoe with sync and data contacts and safety lock
Nikon Creative Lighting System	Advanced Wireless Lighting supported with SB-910, SB-900, SB-800, SB-700, or SB-500 as a master flash or SU-800 as commander; Flash Color Information Communication supported with all CLS-compatible flash units
Sync terminal	AS-15 sync terminal adapter (available separately)
White balance	Auto, incandescent, fluorescent (7 types), direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, preset manual, all except preset manual with fine-tuning.
White balance bracketing	3 shots in steps of 1
Live view - lens servo	Autofocus (AF): Single-servo AF (AF-S); full-time-servo AF (AF-F). Manual focus (MF)
Live view - AF-area mode	Face-priority AF, Wide-area AF, Normal-area AF, Subject-tracking AF
Live view - autofocus	Contrast-detect AF anywhere in frame (camera selects focus point automatically when face-priority AF or subject-tracking AF is selected)
Live View - Automatic scene selection	Available in auto and auto, flash off modes
Exposure metering	TTL exposure metering using main image sensor
Metering method	Matrix
Movie - frame size (pixels) and frame rate	1920 x 1080, 60p (progressive)/50p/30p/25p/24p, high/normal. 1280 x 720, 60p/50p, high/normal. 640 x 424, 30p/25p, high/normal. Frame rates of 30p (actual frame rate 29.97 fps) and 60p (actual frame rate 59.94 fps) are available when NTSC is selected for video mode. 25p and 50p are available when PAL is selected for video mode. Actual frame rate when 24p is selected is 23.976 fps.
Movie - file format	MOV
Movie - video compression	H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding
Movie - audio recording format	Linear PCM
Movie - audio recording device	Built-in or external stereo microphone; sensitivity adjustable
Movie - ISO sensitivity	100–25600
Monitor	8.1cm (3.2–in.) diagonal. TFT vari-angle LCD touch screen with 170° viewing angle, approx. 100% frame coverage, brightness adjustment, and eye-sensor controlled on/off. Approx.1037k-dot, (720 x 480 x 3 = 1,036,800 dots)
Playback	Full-frame and thumbnail (4, 12 or 80 images or calendar) playback with playback zoom, movie playback, photo and/or movie slide shows, histogram display, highlights, photo information, location data display, auto image rotation, picture rating, and image comment (up to 36 characters)
USB	Hi-Speed USB; connection to built-in USB port is recommended
HDMI output	Type C HDMI connector
Video output	NTSC, PAL
Audio input	Stereo mini-pin jack (3.5 mm diameter); supports optional ME-1 stereo microphones
Accessory terminal(s)	Wireless remote controllers: WR-1, WR-R10 (available separately). Remote cords: MC-DC2 (available separately). GPS units: GP-1/GP-1A (available separately)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) standards	IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) communications protocols	IEEE 802.11b: DSSS/CCK. IEEE 802.11g: OFDM
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) operating frequency	2412–2462 MHz (channels 1–11)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) range (line of sight)	Approximately 30 m/98 ft (assumes no interference; range may vary with signal strength and presence or absence of obstacles)
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) data rates (actual measured values)	54 Mbps. Maximum logical data rates according to IEEE standard. Actual rates may differ.
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) security	Authentication: Open system, WPA2-PSK. Encryption: AES
Wi-Fi (Wireless LAN) access protocols	Infrastructure
Supported languages	Arabic, Bengali, Bulgarian, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Marathi, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese
Battery	One EN-EL14a rechargeable Li-ion battery
AC adapter	EH-5b AC adapter; requires EP-5A power connector (available separately)
Tripod socket	1/4–in. (ISO 1222)
Dimensions (W x H x D)	Approx. 124 x 97 x 70 mm (4.9 x 3.9 x 2.8 in.)
Weight	Approx. 470 g (1 lb 0.6 oz), with battery and memory card but without body cap; approx. 420 g/14.9 oz (camera body only)
Operating environment - temperature	0°C–40°C (+32°F–104°F)
Operating environment - humidity	85% or less (no condensation)
Supplied accessories	Rubber Eyecup DK-25, Body Cap BF-1B, Rechargeable Li-ion Battery EN-EL14a (with terminal cover), Battery Charger MH-24 (plug adapter supplied in countries or regions where required; shape depends on country of sale), Strap AN-DC3, USB Cable UC-E23, Audio/video cable EG-CP16
Wireless setup	Supports WPS

Nikon D5500 Review

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Introduction

Ease of Use

Image Quality

Noise

File Quality

Sharpening

Flash

Night

D-lighting

HDR

Picture Controls

Effects

Sample Images

Sample RAW Images

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Conclusion

Main Rivals

Specifications

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