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Nikon announces the D5500, its first ever touchscreen DSLR

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Nikon has just announced the touch-enabled D5500 here at CES, the first of any of its DSLR cameras to offer a touchscreen LCD. It's an area in which Nikon has lagged behind — Canon introduced touch capability to its line of Rebel DSLRs back in 2012.

In just about every other way, the D5500 isn't much more than an iterative follow-up to 2013's D5300. (Nikon skipped the D5400 name in this line for some reason). It uses the same 24.2-megapixel CMOS sensor that's found in the previous version, can shoot up to 5 frames per second, and uses a 39-point autofocus system. Like in the D5300, Nikon has also obfuscated the use of a low-pass filter, which trades the ability to keep ugly moiré at bay but allows for sharper detail in images.

See all the latest CES 2015 news here ›

Nikon finally catches up to the competition with touch controls

In addition to the new DSLR, Nikon has also announced two new Nikkor lenses. The first, a telephoto zoom, is the AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm VR II (f/4.5-5.6). It's outfitted with three different stops of image stabilization as well as Nikon's Silent Wave Motor technology (which quiets the auto-focusing mechanism). It's meant to be an affordable second kit lens, an entry-level option that can extend the reach of an entry-level user's kit to 200mm.

The second is a telephoto prime, the AF-S NIKKOR 300mm VR (f/4), which the company bills as the "world's lightest 300mm full-frame fixed focal length AF lens." It's 1.5 pounds lighter than Nikon's previous version which — combined with four and a half stops of image stabilization — should help minimize camera shake, a common problem with longer telephoto lenses.

The D5500 will be available in early February and will retail for $899.95, or $999.95 with Nikon's standard DX 18-55mm kit lens.


Nikon D5500 in photos

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