Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Nikon D5500 is a smaller/lighter version of the the D5300 (They skipped over the D5400). The Image Quality and Features appear almost identical; the only added feature I have spotted is the new touch screen. I am not personally a touch screen fan so this is not that big a deal for me. Obviously for those that do prefer a touch screen interface, this would be an important feature. The body is definitely smaller and lighter than the D5300. This is really a small and lightweight DSLR especially when using the bundled 18-55mm collapsible lens. However, The camera stills feels very solid and I think that the grip has actually improved. The size and weight is now comparable to the D3300. By the way, there would now seem to be very little reason to consider the D3300 (beyond the fact that is cheaper) as the only advantage the D3300 held over the D5xx series was its size and weight. The D5500 is about the same size and weight (perhaps even a bit lighter but I can't say for sure) as the D3300 but has several more features including a fully articulating screen, bracketing, DOF preview, better high ISO performance and more ISO options, etc. The D5500 is the same size as some compact system cameras with the important advantages of better High ISO shooting and an optical viewfinder. I believe it is the smallest/lightest DSLR with an articulating screen. Like the D5300, High ISO and Autofocus performance is very, very good. ISO 800 is really indistinguishable from ISO 100. ISO 1600 is also very good with some graininess/noise creeping in. ISO 3200, and even ISO 6400, are usable but there is a definite degradation in image quality especially at ISO 6400. .JPGs are a little soft even after making in-camera adjustments; Shooting Raw and using Nikon's very good Image Editing software can enhance the photos quite a bit. Like almost all cameras, the built in flash is not great; an external speedlight with bounce capabilities is really essential for properly exposed photographs (or alternatively not using a flash at all and shooting at a higher ISO/slower shutter speed). There is no dedicated WB or ISO button (although the FN button can be programmed for one of those or some other functions). The only real issue I have with this camera (and all Nikon DSLRs since they switched from a CCD to CMOS sensor) is the orangish shift by the Automatic While Balance when shooting indoors under artificial lighting. Using a higher kelvin# (which cannot be accessed directly, you have to use a preset such as "sunny") helps somewhat. Using "preset" Whie Balance (manually measuring the WB using a white sheet of paper) improves the WB a lot. But if you really care about accurate AWB, take a look at the older Nikon DSLRs such as the D40x or D80. The tradeoffs of course would be significant loss of megapixels (not that important really) and high ISO performance. Overall, this is a great DSLR in a smaller/lighter package. Like all cameras, the most important component is the skill and imagination of the photographer.