Nikon D5600
Modest updates to a great SLR
The D5600 is designed for those looking for a few more features and greater creative control than
Nikon’s more entry-level cameras. Its resolution is a decent 24.2MP, with a native sensitivity range running from ISO100 to 25,600, so it’s quite comfortable shooting in a range of lighting conditions.
The optical viewfinder provides coverage of 95% of the frame, so for some key shots you may want to double-check the composition on the rear display to ensure that nothing unwanted has crept into the very edges of the frame. Speaking of the display, there’s the same 3.2-inch vari-angle touchscreen display with a 1,037,000-dot resolution, although its operation has been improved. It now offers the frame-advance bar to speed up toggling through images, as well as a crop function for use during playback.
Another addition to the D5600 is Nikon’s timelapse movie function. This allows for timelapse movies to be captured and put together entirely in-camera, with an exposure smoothing function evening out variations in lighting as your sequence is captured. Other manufacturers are starting to offer 4K video capture as standard but Nikon has, a little disappointingly, decided to stick with 1080p capture here, with a choice of 60p, 50p, 30p, 25p and 24p frame rates.
The D5600 sticks with Nikon’s proven 39-point Multi-CAM 4800DX autofocus (AF) system. It may be starting to show its age against mirrorless rivals offering ever-more AF points, but it’s still a solid and accurate system when shooting with the viewfinder. Both single and continuous AF modes are fast and accurate, locking on with ease to static subjects, while the AF tracking modes work well for moving subjects, although you don’t get the more advanced custom settings found higher up the Nikon range. We did find that the bundled 18-55mm kit lens struggled a little when light levels dropped, though.
Performance
The D5600’s Matrix metering system copes well with a range of lighting situations, although you might need to dial in some negative exposure compensation in highcontrast scenes to retain highlight detail,
and recover shadow detail in postprocessing if necessary. Alternatively, the Active D-Lighting system can be useful here, retaining more detail in both the highlights and shadows when shooting JPEG files.
The auto white balance system did well in a range of lighting conditions, rendering natural-looking results, although under some artificial lighting images can look yellowish; the dedicated white balance presets can help.
The burst shooting speed remains at 5fps; some mirrorless cameras of comparable price and spec are offering considerably more speed in this area. What a mirrorless camera will struggle to keep up with, however, is the D5600’s battery life. Good for 820 shots, it towers over most mirrorless options.
Image quality
The results from the 24.2MP chip didn’t throw up any nasty surprises. As you’d expect, with all of those pixels packed onto the sensor, resolution is very good, with the absence of a low-pass filter allowing for intricate details to be recorded, while there’s plenty of scope for decent enlargements too.
Images captured at lower sensitivities appear to be very clean, with little or no noise present, and it’s only at ISO6400 and above that the D5600’s processing starts to really encroach on image quality.
Finally, dynamic range is impressive, with the potential to recover plenty of shadow detail in raw images shot at lower ISOs. This latitude does decrease as you ramp up the camera’s sensitivity, with ISO1600 about the limit at which you can expect recovered shadows to stand up to close scrutiny.
The D5600 is a very capable mid-range DSLR that delivers great images and is complemented by sound autofocus and solid controls. That said, unless you’re desperate for a camera with timelapse movie capture, the cheaper Nikon D5500 would be our pick until the price drops on the D5600.