Deal of the Day - 6/3/09

Hello All,

The Nikon D40 has dropped in price and is now almost cheap. Amazon is currently selling the D40 for $412 shipped to your door.

This camera is an entry level DSLR and has been highly rated by many, many, many, many places.

Personally I would buy a Canon, the XSi, but that is a lot more money. If I were being cost conscious I would buy the Sony A200K. It has a longer zoom lens and image stabilization in the body. My neighbor has this camera and really likes it. He says the manual is very detailed and teaches you about shooting. The Sony is $499 shipped to your door, you can find it here.

There is nothing at all wrong with the Nikon, I am just not a big fan of Nikon personally. They make arguably the best cameras in the world, I just think they charge too much for them.

You can find the D40 here.

One final recommendation, if you buy a DSLR get the Magic Lantern Guide for your camera. They simplify all of the features and really teach you how to get the most out of your camera. I like Amazon for books myself, but Borders and Barnes and Noble sell them in the store if you want it now.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #2 - 3/26/09

Hello All,

If you are unlucky enough to have a Nikon camera, at least you can take solace in the fact that I found you a good deal on a lens. J&R is selling the 55-200VR lens for $149 shipped to your door. You can find this deal here.

The only slight pause with this deal is that the lens is refurbished. It is refurbished by Nikon and comes with a Nikon warranty, but it is not brand spanking new.

If that is a concern, you can find the lens brand spanking new on Amazon for $213 shipped to your door. You can find that here.

Lastly, you can find reviews of the lens here and here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 1/3/09

Happy New Year Everyone,

Lets get the new year rolling with new posts on cameras.  The next three months are prime time for camera price drops and new camera releases.  If you want a new camera now is the time to keep your eyes open.  The current models will drop and new cameras with features you cannot live without will be out shortly.  Kind of a bummer it is right after Christmas, but they do that on purpose.  Kind of like how Apple releases all of their new laptops right after school starts.  They are not accidents.  Anyway, on to the deals.

Amazon has an incredible deal on a Nikon D80 body only.  They are selling the body brand new for $518.  That is a great deal.  You can find it here.

If you add this 18-50 lens to your package you have a great starter lens, and an incredible camera to get started on photography and all for under $600.

The major advantage that this camera offers over newer cameras is that it has an autofocusing motor built into the camera body, so you can use old Nikon lenses, and still get them to work great with your camera.  You cannot do this with a D40, or D60, or I think the D90.  The big advantage with this is you can get old lenses cheap, and they will work great for you.

The D60 is also very attractive and comes with a lens, or two if you look in the right spots and you do not care about using older lenses.  The camera with one lens is on sale at Amazon for $520.  You can find that here.  

The D60 with two lenses, the package I would recommend, for the D60, is $650.  You can find it here.

For a nice feature breakdown between the D80 and D60 you can look here.  For the best in-depth reviews of the cameras, here is the D80, and the D60.

One last option if you do not want to shell out over $500.  You can find a refurbished Canon XTi with a lens, here, for $413.  This is a great camera, I own one, and an inexpensive way to get into photography.  This camera was refurbished by Canon so I have more faith in it than most refurbished equipment.  Canon is also excellent in both their customer service and their warranty support making me even less worried about a refurbished piece from them.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 12/6/08

Hello All,

Abes of Maine is selling the Nikon D80, with a lens and a free 4GB memory card for $756.95 shipped to your door. You can use code LOYALTY10 for an additional $10 off. There is an alternative deal with the code DINE200. This code gives you a $100 gift card for select restaurants.

You can find the camera deal here.

I went back and forth for a couple months between the D80 and the XTi. I choose the XTi because is was about half of the cost at the time, and it has several anti-dust features including the vibration mechanism. The D80 is technically a better camera, and you can use older Nikon lenses on it, as it has an auto focus motor in the body. This allows you to buy great 35mm lens that are older and less expensive, and get incredible pictures.

You can find reviews of the D80 here, here, and here.

One last pitch for this camera, my friend Bob has it and loves it.

The convenient size of SD Cards might ultimately trump the fact that I wholly trust CF and I am still not sold on SD. Not sure about that one yet.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #3- 11/21/08

Hello All,

Wow is this cheap. A new Nikon D200 for $800. If I was not already into Canon, I would buy this. The D200 is a great camera, and for under $1000 this is an incredible deal. You can find a review here. I would post more reviews, but if you are thinking about this camera, you should just buy it. This is $300 cheaper than I could find it anywhere else.

Update: thanks Jon
You can actually find it here.

Act fast these won't last long.

Later,

John