Nikon Z50 vs Nikon D5500

In this comparison, we will evaluate the Nikon Z50 and the Nikon D5500, highlighting the advantages of each over the other, discussing their pros and cons, shared strengths and weaknesses, and providing a rating based on their available features and specifications to assist you in choosing the one that best suits your needs.

Nikon Z50 was introduced in October 2019 and Nikon D5500 was introduced in January 2015. Let us first list highlights of the models.

Now that we've looked at the most essential specifications and gained a basic understanding of these cameras, we can delve into more details and see the differences between them.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon Z50 over Nikon D5500.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Nikon D5500 over Nikon Z50.

We already listed pros and cons of each model. However, you may also find useful to look at their common strengths and weaknesses shown side-by-side.

Screen

Nikon Z50 and Nikon D5500 have 3.2" screens with 1,040k dot and 1,037k dot resolutions respectively. Nikon Z50 has a Tilting screen which makes it very useful for photography purposes but not so useful for video shooting. Nikon D5500 has a Fully Articulated screen which makes it selfie and vlogger friendly and generally very useful for video shooting. Both models feature touchscreen which has advantages such as easy menu navigation, intuitive controls, quick setting adjustment and most importantly a Touch-to-Focus functionality allowing users to select a specific point on the screen where they want the camera to focus. This feature can be helpful for achieving precise focus in both photo and video recording.

Viewfinder

Nikon Z50 has a built-in 0.39" Electronic (OLED) viewfinder with 2,360k dot resolution and Nikon D5500 has a built-in Optical (pentamirror) viewfinder. Nikon Z50 has 100% coverage with 1.02x (0.68x 35mm equivalent) magnification and Nikon D5500 has 95% coverage with 0.82x (0.55x 35mm equivalent) magnification.

Nikon Z50 features a 20.9 megapixel APS-C BSI-CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.7 mm and a total area of 369 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 51,200 and expands to 100 - 204,800 in boosted mode. Nikon D5500 features a 24.2 megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor with dimensions of 23.5 x 15.6 mm and a total area of 243.4 mm². Its native ISO range is 100 - 25,600.

Nikon Z50 has BSI-CMOS sensor, short for Backside Illuminated Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor sensor. In traditional CMOS sensors, the wiring and circuitry are located on the front side of the sensor, which can block some of the incoming light. BSI technology flips this design by placing the photosensitive elements (pixels) on the backside of the sensor, allowing more light to reach the pixels. This significantly enhances light sensitivity and improves low-light performance. BSI-CMOS sensors are particularly effective in low-light conditions, as they can capture more light, resulting in brighter and less noisy images. This makes them well-suited for indoor and night photography. BSI-CMOS sensors deliver a higher SNR and reduced cross-talk.

Here is a sensor size comparison chart where you can see how different sensors compare with each other:

Sensor size chart

	Sensor	Dimensions	Area	Aspect Ratio	Crop Factor
	Medium Format	44 x 33 mm	1452 mm2	4:3	0.79x
	Full Frame	36 x 24 mm	864 mm2	3:2	1x
	APS-H	27 x 18 mm	486 mm2	3:2	1.3x
	APS-C	23.6 x 15.6 mm	368.2 mm2	3:2	1.5x
	APS-C (Canon)	22.3 x 14.9 mm	332.3 mm2	3:2	1.6x
	Micro Four Thirds	17.4 x 13 mm	226.2 mm2	4:3	2x
	1-inch	13.2 x 8.8 mm	116.2 mm2	3:2	2.7x
	1/1.7-inch	7.44 x 5.58 mm	41.5 mm2	4:3	4.7x
	1/2.3-inch	6.17 x 4.55 mm	28.1 mm2	4:3	5.6x

Nikon Z50 is equipped with EXPEED 6 processor and can take pictures up to 5568 x 3712 resolution. Nikon D5500 is equipped with EXPEED 4 processor and can take pictures up to 6000 x 4000 resolution. It can also take pictures with lower resolution like 4496 x 3000, 2992 x 2000 with 3:2 aspect ratios.

Lens Mount

Nikon Z50 has Nikon Z lens mount and Nikon D5500 has Nikon F lens mount. Due to their APS-C sensor their crop factor (also called lens multiplier) is equal to 1.5x. This means that a 35mm equivalent focal length of the mounted lens will be equal to its actual focal length times 1.5.

No Low-Pass Filter

There is no optical low-pass filter (OLPF), also known as an anti-aliasing filter, in front of the sensor on either of the cameras. This results in a slightly sharper image but may also introduce moiré patterns and aliasing artifacts when photographing subjects with fine, repetitive patterns or details.

No Image Stabilization

The cameras do not have image stabilization. On Nikon Z50 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Nikon D5500 nothing can be done. On Nikon D5500 it means that you need lenses with optical image stabilization for vibration reduction. As for Nikon Z50 nothing can be done.

Built-in Wi-Fi

Cameras have built-in Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi 5 802.11ac/b/g/n 2.4/5 GHz on Nikon Z50) which allows to easily transfer photos and videos from the camera to other Wi-Fi-enabled devices, such as smartphones, tablets, printers, or computers. This eliminates the need for cables and allows for quick and convenient media sharing and social media integration. It gives you the ability to control your camera remotely using a smartphone or tablet. This is particularly useful for taking self-portraits, group shots, or capturing images in challenging conditions without having to touch the camera. Firmware updates can also be downloaded and installed wirelessly.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in WiFi.

Bluetooth on Nikon Z50

Nikon Z50 has a built-in Bluetooth which lets you to connect the camera to a smartphone or a dedicated remote control device. This allows you to remotely trigger the camera, adjust settings and controls remotely through a paired mobile app. While Wi-Fi is generally faster for transferring larger files, Bluetooth can be used for small, selective transfers, it can provide real-time information about your camera's battery status, memory card capacity, and other key settings directly on your paired smartphone or smartwatch.
  Check out the cameras in our database that have built-in Bluetooth.

USB Inputs and HDMI Outputs

Both models have USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) inputs for data transfer. Nikon Z50 has a Micro HDMI and Nikon D5500 has a Mini HDMI connector for video signal output.

Battery

Nikon Z50 comes with EN-EL25 battery pack with battery life of 320 shots and Nikon D5500 comes with EN-EL14,EN-EL14a battery pack with battery life of 820 shots.

External Storage Slots

Nikon Z50 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS-I) card slot. Nikon D5500 has a single SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.

Shutter

Nikon Z50 has Electronic shutter and Mechanical Focal Plane shutter. Nikon D5500 has Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter. Shutter speed can go up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon Z50, and up to 1/4000 sec on Nikon D5500. Nikon Z50 can shoot continuously up to 11.0 fps. Nikon D5500 can shoot continuously up to 5.0 fps.

Focusing

Nikon Z50 has Hybrid phase-detection/contrast AF system with 209 focusing points and Nikon D5500 has 39 (9 cross-type) focusing points. Nikon Z50 has detection range from -2 to +19 EV and Nikon D5500 has detection range from -1 to +19 EV.

Exposure

Exposure meterings of Nikon Z50 and Nikon D5500 range from -4 to +17 EV and 0 to +20 EV respectively and you can set the exposure compensation within the ±5 EV range. You can also do exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon Z50 and exposure lock, exposure bracketing and manual exposure adjustment on Nikon D5500.

Flash

Cameras have built-in flash with maximum range of 7.00 m at ISO 100 on Nikon Z50 and 12.00 m at ISO 100 on Nikon D5500. They also accept external flash which can be connected via Hot Shoe. The fastest flash synchronization speed is 1/200 sec on both cameras.

Nikon Z50 body has dimensions of 127 x 94 x 60 mm (5 x 3.7 x 2.36") and Nikon D5500 body has dimensions of 124 x 97 x 70 mm (4.88 x 3.82 x 2.76"). Nikon Z50 weighs 450 g (0.99 lb / 15.87 oz) and Nikon D5500 weighs 420 g (0.93 lb / 14.82 oz).

Nikon Z50

Nikon D5500

127 mm

94 mm

124 mm

97 mm

94 mm

97 mm

60 mm

70 mm