For the most part, all of the consumer DSLRs I’ve had have worked flawlessly – even shrugging off unintentional accidents (falls, mostly) from heights that would have at least dinged a metal body, and quite possibly put the mount, sensor and finder out of alignment. I’d actually argue that for the volumes produced, these things are actually almost binary products: either they work properly, and all of the machines involved in producing them are set up and calibrated correctly, or they don’t – they’re so out of whack you’ll be able to tell straight away. And they’re so cheap that if you wait a generation, you can get one for about the price of a Leica lens hood – and that price probably includes a kit lens or two, too.
![nikon d5500 nikon d5500](https://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-d5500/Z-NIKON-D5500-FRONT.jpg)
Consumer product cycles are so fast that if the current camera is missing something mission critical, chances are the next one will fix it. But for some reason, I’d never considered the more compact DSLRs – and here we are.ĪPS-C means you can have a narrower field of view with a physically shorter lens, and maintain size the whole body can be smaller, and the field of options is a very mature one. And the wide cameras have serviceable crop modes, to a degree. There’s the Sony A7 series, but they aren’t that small or light or responsive.
NIKON D5500 SERIES
Granted, we have the mirrorless options with compact lenses: M4/3 and 25mm (the most compact of which is the Panasonic GM series with a 20 or 25mm) – but tracking and low light abilities are questionable. The problem is, there hasn’t been very much in the latter camp. Preferably, both of reasonable speed to maximise shooting envelope handheld. Most of the time, we can achieve the majority of the desired photographic results with no more than two perspectives: something wide, and something in the long-normal to short-tele range. Of these options, only the Sigma (in DP2 form, but that’s arguably another camera entirely) and Fuji (via teleconverter) offer any ability to reach a longer focal length. I’m sure there are probably one or two others I’ve forgotten. We have everything from the extremely compact Ricoh GR to the larger (but supremely versatile) Leica Q, and other niche cameras like the Fuji X100 series, Sony RX1RII and Sigma DP0 and DP1. This is really a very, very small camera.Īll of you will be aware that there are a lot of wide to moderately wide fixed-lens large-sensor compacts available the choices in the 28 and 35mm range are so diverse there’s bound to be something for everybody.
![nikon d5500 nikon d5500](https://nikonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Nikon-D5500-DSLR-camera-8.jpg)
Did I mention it has a carbon fiber monocoque to keep weight down and rigidity up? It has a single control dial, a fully tilting and reversing touch LCD, the 24MP AA-less Sony sensor of its senior D7200 sibling, 5fps 14bit (compressed, though) shooting capability, and the lightest, smallest, most compact body of any Nikon DSLR to date. The D5500 is the fifth and latest in the line of consumer-grade articulating-screen Nikon DSLRs, starting with the D5000. But I think all will make sense by the end of the post.
![nikon d5500 nikon d5500](https://parscanon.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/nikon-D5500-18-140-02.jpg)
I’ll be the first to admit this is an unusual camera for me to bother reviewing, and an even more unusual one for me to land up buying and using fairly extensively. Not taped up because I hadn’t gotten around to it at this point.