Nikon D5500 DSLR Camera Review: A compact DSLR with all the required features and great performance

As compared to D3300 and D750, that we’ve previously reviewed, this camera now gets a monocoque design which allows the body to be compact and lightweight.

Build and design: The front is quite similar to previous D series cameras, however, it now supports a dedicated AF-assist lamp and IR receiver. On the right side, the camera hosts an HDMI jack and SD card slot, with the rest of the I/O ports on the opposite side. The rear panel is filled with all the functional buttons. Its 3.2-inch touchscreen can rotate 270 degrees to click images from any angle and enables you to capture selfies. The back also has an optical viewfinder and other key buttons. Overall this compact DSLR camera is easy to hold even with one hand, as it offers a good grip over the body.

The touchscreen: The 3.2-inch touchscreen lets you take a picture using the screen as well lets you adjust the camera’s focus. The screen enables you to change settings, see clicked images, play videos, and many other things. In short, the idea here is to make you feel like you are operating a smartphone.

Capturing key life moments: The camera is equipped with 24 MP APS-C CMOS sensor, which produces images with a good amount of details as well as low noise through a good portion of its ISO range. Though it’s an entry-level DSLR, but the camera has an advanced auto ISO, which might have seen in expensive DSLRs. It has sixteen scene modes to choose from and a couple of other features worth mentioning include Auto ISO, interval timer, and in-camera RAW editing.

Sample Images

D5500’s NEF (RAW) processing menu lets you adjust the white balance, exposure, Picture Control, high ISO noise reduction, color space, vignetting control, and D-Lighting. This camera supports Wi-Fi and has a wireless feature called ‘SnapBridge’, which is similar to Wi-Fi. It also has smartphone app, Wireless Mobile Utility for iOS or Android, which lets you connect to the camera via a push button or PIN-based WPS, or by entering the SSID. The camera has basic functions for sharing clicked images and videos as well. While capturing images in JPEG format, it produces good quality images. However, if you cross ISO 3200, then you can get grainy images. Even while shooting in RAW mode, noise can be noticed at ISO 3200. However, you get good details till ISO 12800.

D5500 offers a pleasurable experience while shooting videos, but lacks aperture control and Auto ISO. You can shoot videos in Full HD at both 24p and 60p, with ‘Flat’ Picture Control for easier color gradation. Using the HDMI port you can record the video to an external recorder. D5500 is backed by EN-EL14a rechargeable Li-ion battery that enables you to click more than 760 images in one charge. Though it completely depends on your usage, still we found the battery backup from this camera to be decent as compared to others we have reviewed till date.