Nikon on Tuesday launched the D5500 DSLR camera at the ongoing CES 2015 expo in Las Vegas, USA. The D5500 is Nikon’s first DSLR to feature a 3.2-inch Vari-angle LCD monitor with a touchscreen. It is interesting to note that Nikon is quite late to this party and the Canon’s Rebel line of DSLRs have had touchscreens since 2012.
The D5500 has a 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor, already seen in the D5300 launched last year, that can shoot up to five frames-per-second and uses a 39-point autofocus mechanism. It has the proprietary EXPEED 4 image processing engine. Also, it can shoot 1080/60p video with Full-Time AF and stereo sound. The D5500 doesn’t have a low-pass filter, also known as the ‘anti-aliasing’ or ‘blur’ filter in layman terms, just like its predecessor. With dimensions of 4.9×3.8×2.8 inches and a weight of 419 grams (approximately), it is smaller and lighter than the D5300.
Looking at all the technical specifications, apart from the addition of the touchscreen, the D5500 looks more like an iterative update to the D5300 launched last year. Also, why Nikon skipped D5400 is a mystery no one has solved yet.
The Nikon D5500 is expected to be available in early February in India, in black and red, in three different kit configurations: alongside the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens for Rs. 59,950, with the AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens for Rs. 72,950, and with AF-S DX VR 18-55/3.5-5.6G VR II and AF-S DX 55-200/4-5.6G ED VR II for Rs. 68,950. The Nikon D5500 will also be sold body only for Rs. 54,450.