AF-S or AF - P: I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a...

Hasviolin

I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a newby.

dannac Loc: 60 miles SW of New Orleans

AF-P lenses use a “Pulse” motor or “Stepping” autofocus motor and are even quieter and smoother to autofocus than an AF-S lens, making these lenses ideal when shooting video with a DSLR.

https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/tips-and-techniques/which-nikkor-lens-type-is-right-for-your-dslr.html

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

As noted, AF-P technology involves the lenses, not the body, so we could comment better if we knew what lenses were involved. As a general personal observation, AF-P technology works wonders in the speed of AF.

olemikey Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida

Hasviolin wrote:

I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a newby.

I can only offer a 70-300 zoom hands on comparo - I have both the AF-P 70-300 F4.5-6.3 VR (not the pricier FX model) and the AF-S 70-300 F4.5-5.6 VR - after shooting several months with the AF-P, I haven't picked up the AF-S much lately. The AF-P is faster, sharp, quiet, lightweight, the VR is excellent, and I've found it a pleasure to use....I can only imagine, but the FX version is stated to be even better. I use mine on D7100/7200. The AF-S lenses are great lenses, but a bit older tech. You don't see the AF-P FX version discounted, but the DX VR model can be had for <$130-140 (Refurb/used) warrantied to boot, from places like MPB, KEH, UsedPhotPro, Ebay, etc.. if you wanted to try w/o breaking the piggy bank.
My $.02

lamontcranston

MrBumps2U wrote:

As noted, AF-P technology involves the lenses, not the body, so we could comment better if we knew what lenses were involved. As a general personal observation, AF-P technology works wonders in the speed of AF.

I think the lenses he was looking at were the 18-55 AF-P and the 18-55 AF-S and wondering if the P model was worth an extra $120. From what I've read the lenses are optically similar but the AF-P is better for video as dannac has pointed out above.

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

Hasviolin wrote:

I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a newby.

If you can wait about 3+ weeks, you may get a Black Friday deal on the D5600 with a 2 lens kit. The D5500 is a very good DX camera. But, it may be better to pay a little bit more and get a current camera. They usually come with the AF-P 18-55mm with VR, and the non VR AF-P 70-300mm lenses. Included sometimes is a free 16gb Class 10 SD card. The D5500 is no longer manufactured. Discontinued.

JD750 Loc: SoCal

mas24 wrote:

If you can wait about 3+ weeks, you may get a Black Friday deal on the D5600 with a 2 lens kit. The D5500 is a very good DX camera. But, it may be better to pay a little bit more and get a current camera. They usually come with the AF-P 18-55mm with VR, and the non VR AF-P 70-300mm lenses. Included sometimes is a free 16gb Class 10 SD card. The D5500 is no longer manufactured. Discontinued.

How much difference is there between D5500 and current version (D5600)?

JD750 Loc: SoCal

Hasviolin wrote:

I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a newby.

If your are buying a DSLR camera, it might be worth looking at the D7xxx instead, because it has the internal focusing motor. Having that will give you autofocus with the AF and AF-D lenses, which will provide a greater variety of high quality used lenses. You can mount the AF and AF-D lenses on the D5600 but you will have to manually focus them.

Check out the link below for Nikkor lens information, what the different model numbers mean and fo Nikon camera lens compatibility information:
https://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm#pro

mas24 Loc: Southern CA

JD750 wrote:

How much difference is there between D5500 and current version (D5600)?

They are virtually identical. The D5600 has NFC connection and Bluetooth. I doubt if Nikon will sell their Black Friday Deals with a discontinued D5500 camera. But, I could be wrong?

Bunkershot Loc: Central Florida

Hasviolin wrote:

I am looking at refurb Nikon D5500 at B&H. There are 2 offered both refurbed by Nikon. The p auto focus is $579 and the s is $449. Why the big diff? Thx for helping a newby.

Spend the extra $130. I have the 70-300 AF-P, the fastest, sharpest focusing lens in my bag...you'll not be disappointed.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

One other consideration concerning the AF-P 70-300 DX. It comes in two versions: VR and non-VR, with the non-VR frequently in the promotional packages. While normally I would reject a non-VR lens, for wildlife photography that uses higher shutter speeds, VR is not usually needed.