Camera Deals

Refurbished Nikon D5000 for $485, D60 for $320 (body only)

If you are looking for refurbished Nikon DSLRs, B&H Photo is offering refurbished Nikon D5000 body only kits for $485 + shipping and refurbished Nikon D60 body only kits for $320 + shipping.

Pentax K-x w/18-50 & 55-300mm returns to $629 (updated)

The Pentax K-x with the 18-55mm and 55-300mm lenses has now returned to $629 at B&H Photo. This is the standard black K-x body and lenses. Thanks to one of our readers for the email alert!

As of a Fri September 3 at 4:11pm EST price-check, the aforementioned two-lens kit has returned to $629 at Amazon as well, sold and shipped by Amazon itself.

Meanwhile, if you are a fan of the red Pentax K-x, the K-x with the 18-55 and 50-200mm lenses has dropped to $615 with free shipping sold and shipped by Amazon itself.

Plan ahead your September purchases at B&H Photo

If you are planning to make purchases from the B&H Photo website this month, be sure to make note of their upcoming website ordering schedule. Online ordering will not be available at the following dates and times as shown in the table below (screenshot crop from B&H website):

In-stock alert: Nikon 28-300mm VR for $1050

If you are a fan of superzoom lenses but you don't want the prime elitists to give you "the look", hide this blog-post! The brand new Nikon 28-300mm is now in-stock and shipping at Amazon, sold and shipped by Amazon itself for $1050, which is its opening price. Despite the high opening price, yesterday, third-party sellers on Amazon were offering it for $100 more.

Samsung HZ30w w/spare battery, 8GB SD, trinkets, ships for $200

If you are curious about the Samsung superzooms but don't want to risk too much money trying them, Adorama is having a a solid Samsung HZ30w bundle for $200 with free shipping and handling. This includes the standard camera kit, plus a bonus 8GB SD card, a spare battery, mini tripod and camera case. The camera also goes by the name of WB600 in Europe/Asia.

A quick Google search found these reviews:
+ Photography Blog
+ CNet UK
+ ephotozine
+ Pocket Lint

Tamron USA giveaway: two lenses a day (70-300mm VC, 18-250mm) until October-30

We normally don't mention giveaways here since the chances of winning are relatively low, but this one offers better chances - Tamron USA is having a 60 days of giveaways promotion, good until October 30. Each day, five different lucky photographers will win a 70-300mm Di VC SP lens, 18-250mm Di-II, $60 off coupon, a one-year magazine subscription, or a limited-edition t-shirt. This is one prize per winner, not five prizes per winner :)

That's 120 lenses and 60 $60 off coupons given out in two months. Plus 60 magazine subscriptions and 60 t-shirts. That means a total of 300 individual winners/prizes (60x5=300). That's a rather smart way of viral advertising on their behalf. Instead of spending advertising money on media/airtime, they are spending/giving it to 300 of their potential customers!

To enter the giveaway, you give them your name, physical address, and email address and subscribe to their eViewfinder email newsletter. Optional fields in the giveaway entry are gender and "where did you learn about Tamron products". As usual, be sure to read through all the terms and conditions before entering as different people have different preferences and sensitivities when it comes to matters of this nature.

In-stock alert: Panasonic FX700 for $400

It looks like all the interactions with Leica are "rubbing off" on Panasonic as they are trying their hand at luxury-for-the-middle-class non-entry-level compacts. The latest one is the Panasonic FX700 and it has began shipping at its opening price of $400 at critically-acclaimer Western retailer Vanns of Montana: black FX700 and silver FX700

Black DSLR strap for $5.85 (limit 3, limited time offer)

One of the deals of the day on eBay is a Black Heavy Duty Camera DSLR SLR Hand Grip Strap offered for $5.85 with free shipping by eBay seller "eForCity". You can buy up to three straps at this per-unit price. Being a featured eBay deal, it can last from a few hours to a few days, depending on the good old supply-and-demand curve.

Heads-up: 50pk of Staples 8.5"x11" Photo supreme double-side matte paper for 25c after rebate

The Staples streak of photo paper after-online-rebate deals continues next week, Sunday September 5 to Saturday September 11 for purchases made at Staples brick and mortar stores of a 50-pack of Staples 8.5"x11" photo supreme double-sided matte photo paper. You pay $15 in-store, then save your cash register receipt, go to your computer, enter information from the receipt on the Staples Easy Rebates website, select the reward method if applicable (cash, gift card, VISA debit card) and submit it. After a few weeks you will receive a check or card of $14.75, making your after-rebate price a mere 25c. You can also submit this by mail if you like to suffer :)

If you are not familiar with rebate deals, sales-tax is not refunded, so be sure to factor that in if applicable.

This is a limit 2 promotion, so you can get 100 pieces of paper for 50-cents after a $29.50 rebate. The promotion is good in-store only!

Meanwhile, good this week until the close of business on Saturday September 4 is 100-packs of HP 4x6 advanced photo paper for $1 after rebate, also good only at Staples brick and mortar stores.

Meanwhile, at CVS, starting Sunday September 5, the front page of their "upcoming" circular advertises a 7-inch Sylvania netbook for $100! No model number is given.

Please note some of the specials may be different in different regions, so check with your local store or check the "Weekly Ad" on the Staples.com website using your zip-code.

Pre-order alert: New iPod Touch, Nano, Shuffle (ship in 1 to 3 weeks), and $99 AppleTV

The pre-order party continues, this time with Apple! The new iPod Touch, Nano and Shuffle that were announced today by Pope Steve Jobs are now available for pre-order at Amazon at their opening prices of $230-$400 (iPod Touch), $150-$180 (iPod Nano) and $50 (iPod Shuffle). Amazon estimates these will ship in 1 to 3 weeks.

Also available for pre-order at Amazon is today's "Helen of Troy", the new $99 Apple TV (model MC572LL/A), which is "temporarily out of stock".

(DEAD) Popular Photography one-year subscription for $5 (limited time, up to 3 years)

This promotion has ended Deal of the day website Tanga.com is offering a one-year subscription of the "Popular Photography & Imaging" magazine for $5.

You can buy up to three years at the $5 per-year price. The default is a one-year subscription. You can pay with PayPal or a credit card. This is a limited time offer, good for a maximum of 24 hours. It may end earlier if the allocated quantities are depleted (or something like that).

Canon T2i w/18-55 for $810 in-stock

After nearly a month, we have just refreshed the Canon T2i stock status page. Here are the best prices as of the time of writing:

T2i w/18-55mm kit lens
+ $810 at Sears.com in-stock and shipping
+ $817 at Amazon ("temporarily out of stock")

T2i body only
+ $800 at multiple retailers - see them all at the Canon T2i stock status page

Now shipping: Nikon 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G DX VR for $400

The newly announced Nikon 55-300mm f4.5-5.6G lens has began shipping for $400, its initial opening price, sold and shipped by Amazon itself. As Hogan mentioned on his website, three of the four lenses (except for the 24-120mm) have began shipping to retailers from Nikon warehouses. The other two are available from third-party sellers on Amazon but with a $100 and $200 limited availability premiums.

Witnessing how the free market works live: Amazon drops TV episode purchases to 99c (HD or SD)

We often hear people talking about the benefits of the free market, but it's not often that we can actually witness a real-world high-profile example happening live right before our eyes. This just happened today!

Background: The established prices before today for _purchases_ of TV episodes was $2.99 for HD and 99c for SD (standard definition) on both iTunes and Amazon Video on Demand. Rentals were not available.

Free market at work: Earlier today, during their big event, Apple announced that they will be offering 99c _rentals_ of TV episodes from ABC and Fox in HD. Just a few hours later, Amazon.com dropped the _purchase_ prices of ABC, BBC, and Fox TV shows from $2.99 (HD) and $1.99 (SD) to 99c per episode in your choice of HD or SD. Amazon offers purchases, not rentals, so you own the videos you pay for! For HD episodes, this is a discount of $2 per episode. In practical terms, you can get a complete season of "24" in HD for $24, the last season of "LOST" in HD for $16, the latest season of "Doctor Who" in HD for $13, etc, etc!

These two developments will likely encourage more people to find the courage to pick up the phone and call their "favorite" cable company that charges them $100+ per month for things they have no interest in watching and telling them "goodbye"! (via Engadget).

(DEAD) Sony Cybershot WX1 drops to $228 (Wedn only)

This daily special has ended The Wednesday deal of the day at OneCall.com is the Sony Cybershot WX1 offered for $228 with free shipping and handling. The price is good for Wednesday only (pacific time zone). The WX1 uses a 10mp 1/2.3" backlit CMOS sensor. Please note this is not a 2010 model, so it only takes Memorysticks, not SDHC/SD cards.

Now shipping: Fuji Real3D W3 for $500

The Fuji Real3D W3 digital camera is now in-stock and shipping at Amazon again for $500 with free shipping, sold and shipped by Amazon itself.

UK/Ireland: Nikon offers 10% cashback for full-time students and lecturers (higher education)

If you are in the UK or the Republic of Ireland, and you are a full time student or lecturer in higher education, you can qualify for 10% cashback on Nikon purchases. See more details via DPhotographer UK, WDC, Nikonblog.net, et al...

FIY post: In-stock/out-of-stock status of high-demand cameras at Adorama

Helen Oster is Adorama's customer service ambassador to the Republic of the Internets and has a blog where she posts some "behind the scenes" updates and answers questions from shoppers. In today's blog-post, a reader's question about the confusion of in-stock/out-of-stock for limited availability/high-demand cameras is answered.