Nikon D5500 vs Sony SLT Alpha 77 II — Which Is Better?

The Nikon D5500 and the Sony SLT Alpha 77 II are both DSLRs from 2015 and 2014 respectively. The D5500 is the compact, lightweight option for everyday and travel shooting, while the Alpha 77 II is the larger, heavier body.

The D5500 measures 124 x 97 x 70 mm and weighs 420 g. The Alpha 77 II measures 143 x 104 x 81 mm and weighs 647 g, 227 g more, and larger in every dimension.

The Alpha 77 II is clearly the stronger choice for photographing moving subjects. It shoots at up to 12 fps against 5 fps on the D5500, and it has 79 autofocus points against 39. That gives you more frames of a sprinting athlete or flying bird, and more focus points for off-centre subjects.

The Sony has in-body stabilisation, steadying handheld shots with any lens, while the Nikon relies on stabilised lenses. Its 1/8000 second top shutter speed doubles the Nikon's 1/4000, allowing wider apertures in bright light. Its electronic viewfinder shows 2,359,000 dots, against the Nikon's optical pentamirror finder. Megapixels are nearly matched at 24.2 against 24.3, so neither gains meaningful cropping room.

Lens systems are separate, so your existing glass matters here. The D5500 uses the Nikon F DX mount and the Alpha 77 II uses the Sony Alpha DT mount, and neither body accepts the other's lenses.

Both cameras top out at Full HD, so neither offers 4K cropping room. Their maximum frame rate matches at 60 fps.

For timelapse work the D5500 is the easier pick, with interval shooting built in. The Sony lacks that feature. The Nikon records MOV, while the Sony offers AVCHD and MP4.

The D5500 gives you touch control on a slightly larger 3.2-inch screen, which makes setting focus points and menu changes quicker. The Alpha 77 II has no touch input on its 3-inch screen.

The Sony answers with weather sealing, which helps guard against dust and moisture outdoors. Its screen also resolves more detail, 1,229,000 dots against 1,037,000. Both cameras offer a flipping screen for waist-level and overhead angles, plus Wi-Fi transfer. Neither camera has GPS for automatic geotagging.

The D5500 has the higher battery rating, 820 shots against 480 on the Alpha 77 II, a gap of 340 shots. Each camera uses its own battery, the EN-EL14 and the NP-FM500H.

Both bodies have a single card slot, so there is no in-camera backup of your files. The D5500 takes SD, SDHC and SDXC cards, while the Sony additionally accepts Memory Stick Pro Duo and Pro-HG Duo media. Neither camera charges its battery over USB.