Nikon D5500 and Nikon 300 F4 VR PF Lens Hands On from CES 2015

I got my first hands on with withe Nikon D5500 and Nikon 300 F4 VR PF lens at CES 2015.

The Nikon D5500 Hands On was pretty surprising as I did not expect it to be as light as it was. It was almost as if it did not have a battery in it but it did. Like I said in the preview of that camera one of the only major changes was the addition of a 3.2 in. touch screen.

What I can tell you about the screen is that it was extremely responsive. I did not expect it to feel like a regular screen that I can simply touch. There was no lag from the time I touched it to scrolled it or anything along those lines.

But if you think it will allow you to do better touch focus for video it’s not as good as the Canon’s that let you do so. For the preview of the D5500 please click here.

Last week Nikon announced the 300mm F4 VR PF lens and I got my hands on it at CES 2015. When Nikon told me that this lens was 1.5 pounds lighter than the older 300 I was like how is that possible. But when I held onto it at CES 2015 I was blown away with the lack of size and weight it had.

Nikon says this is possible due to it’s Phase Fresnel optics that allow for a much small and lighter lens system. This lens is just that, smaller and lighter. It’s not exactly lighter in the pocketbook though clocking in at $2,000 but it does have 4.5 stops of VR stability.

Who is this lens for? Well if you want to travel light and cary a big stick, aka a long lens, this is for you. The lens is almost the same size as the Nikon 24-70 2.8 but weights less. If you need light weight and long glass with great stability this one will be for you.

I did not take test images from CES 2015 because they would have been shot in terrible light. I will wait for a true hands on to take sample images that represent the lens better.