Refurbished Nikon D5500 with 18-55 VR II for $500

Among the Trending eBay Deals (these are eBay daily deals that according to their algorithms are “trending” – you can find handy links to both in the Sidebar of this blog under “DAILY DEALS LINKS”) we find a more recent Nikon APS-C DSLR.

BuyDig’s eBay store (authorized dealers) is offering the manufacturer refurbished Nikon D5500 with 18-55 VR II for $500 with free shipping and a 90 day Nikon USA warranty. Limit five per customer during this promotion.

In new condition, at authorized dealers, the D5500 body only goes for $750, while the D5500 w/18-55 VR II kit goes for $850 (eg Adorama and Amazon and B&H Photo) with some free accessories and/or promotional rewards.

So as you can see, going refurbished if you need the same kit is $350 in savings, that’s many pockets full of change. But there are dozens of APS-C DSLRs and kit combinations, so you have many choices to consider considering.

Discounted Gift Cards for 12% off CVS and 5% off Target

To the eBay Deals we return, with a Post-Valentine’s Gift Card apocalypse. The following retailers sell camera and photo related gear (Target) or photo print services (CVS). Here they are:

+ Pay $88, Get $100 CVS Gift Card with free shipping (mail delivery; not email) from SVM Gift Cards [limit 3]

+ Pay $95, Get $100 Target Gift Card with free shipping (mail delivery; not email) from Gift Card Mall [limit 2]

Promise Technology 8TB Pegasus2 R4 Thunderbolt 2 RAID Storage Array for $1099

For RAID fans, the Promise Technology 8TB Pegasus2 R4 Thunderbolt 2 RAID Storage Array (includes four 2TB HDDs) is on sale for $1099 with free expedited shipping at B&H Photo. It averages 4.7 out of 5 based on 26 customer reviews.

ikan IFD576-SP Featherweight Daylight LED Spot Fixture with AB and V-Mount Plates for $349

Lighting, not lightning (although I mistype those two words half of the time). The ikan IFD576-SP Featherweight Daylight LED Spot Fixture with AB and V-Mount Plates is currently on sale for $349 with free expedited shipping at B&H Photo. This is a limited time offer but a specific expiration time is not mentioned.

Gitzo GT2542LS Systematic Series 2 Carbon Fiber Tripod (Long) with GH2780 Center Ball Head Kit for $889

For Gitzo fans, the Gitzo GT2542LS Systematic Series 2 Carbon Fiber Tripod (Long) with GH2780 Center Ball Head Kit is currently on sale for $889~ (for the number geeks, the actual price is five 8s, $888.88) at B&H Photo.

(ENDED) DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter v2.0 with Zenmuse H4-3D Gimbal Kit for $399

This daily deal expired… For more action, check the B&H Featured Deals page

The B&H Daily Deal good until 11:59pm ET on Monday is the DJI Phantom 2 Quadcopter v2.0 with Zenmuse H4-3D Gimbal Kit for $399with free shipping…

(ENDED) Monday Lightning Deals: various SSDs, microSDXC, rechargeable AAs & Charger, etc

These lighting deals expired… For future ones in the future, check the Amazon Gold Box (new, giant images version) or Amazon Gold Box (old, widget with arrows version) and Camera & Photo page

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128GB Sandisk Ultra SDXC for $45 (limit 5)

If you are a fan of the Sandisk Ultra SDXC memory cards, their 128GB SanDisk Ultra UHS-I Class 10 SDXC Memory Card, in Standard Packaging, model SDSDUNC-128G-GN6IN, up to 80MB/sec, is on sale for $45 with free shipping at Amazon by Amazon itself (limit 5). The 64GB goes for $24 and the 32GB for $12.80. So the 128GB card “wins” the bang for the buck in its own line.

(ENDED) Lytro Illum for $335 (ends 1am ET Monday)

This daily deal expired, but the Lytro Illum is trending downwards price-wise across the interwebs, so it’s only a matter of time before another sale appears…

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(ENDED) Samsung WB380 compact-zoom (21x) + Extras for $130

This daily offering expired…

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(ENDED) SeaLife AquaPod Mini Underwater Monopod with GoPro Adapter for $25 w/free S&H

This daily deal expired… For more action, check the B&H Featured Deals page

The B&H Daily Deal good until 11:59pm ET on Sunday is the SeaLife AquaPod Mini Underwater Monopod with GoPro Adapter for $25 with free shipping…

(ENDED) Five Magazines for $20 total for 1-Year (options include four Photography magazines) [Max 3 Years]

This weekend sale expired…

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eBay Mobile App coupon: $5 off a $20+ order

In an email to registered users earlier today, eBay has a new promotion trying to encourage shoppers to download and use its mobile app. To make it so, the app will have a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $20+. The coupon must be used within the app. The terms say “Only invited, registered eBay users who receive the Coupon in My eBay are eligible”. Their email has more details on how to use it. I haven’t done this, so I don’t know what happens next…

ebay_mobile_coupon

Tokina 11-20mm f2.8 DX and Canon 50mm f1.8 STM for $550

This is an offer you don’t see every day. A free lens with purchase! That’s right, if you purchase the Tokina 11-20mm f2.8 DX PRO lens for the Canon EF mount for $550 (the authorized dealer price), you will automatically receive a FREE Canon 50mm f1.8 STM lens from Adorama’s website. No coupon needed, the free lens is shown on the product page while this promotion is running. This is a limited time while supplies last type of an offer (I do not know when it expires).

tokina_with_free_canon

(ENDED) Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density Filter for $80 [corrected]

This daily deal expired… For more action, check the B&H Featured Deals page

The B&H Daily Deal good until 11:59pm ET on Saturday is the Tiffen 77mm Variable Neutral Density Filter [corrected link; initially I linked to the 72mm instead of the 77mm] for $80 with free shipping…

(ENDED) Friday Lightning Deals: Rokinon 21mm f1.4 (Mirrorless), 128GB Sandisk Extreme SDXC, etc

These lighting deals expired… For future ones in the future, check the Amazon Gold Box (new, giant images version) or Amazon Gold Box (old, widget with arrows version) and Camera & Photo page

[Read more…]

Pre-order Not Yet: new Canon G7 X Mark II for $700

It is nice to see Canon taking the compacts with RAW seriously again. And they have yet another new model, it is the second generation of the Canon G7-X, the “G7 X Mark II” with a 20mp 1″ CMOS sensor and 24-100mm eq f1.8-2.8 lens and a starting price of $700 at Adorama and B&H Photo.

UPDATE: As of 2/23/16 it is still not available for pre-order… As 2/18/16 at 12:08am ET, this is not available for pre-order yet. But the 80D kits are available for pre-order…

This has been added to the Cameras & Lenses of 2016 tracking page.

Pre-order new Canon 80D Body for $1200 [updated]

The brand new Canon 80D APS-C DSLR is now available for pre-order, with an April 2016 release estimate. There are three official kits available:

+ 80D body only for $1200 at Adorama and B&H Photo and Amazon itself

+ 80D with 18-55 IS for $1350 at Adorama and B&H Photo and Amazon itself

+ 80D with 18-135 IS for $1800 at Adorama and B&H Photo and Amazon itself

It’s gonna take a while to get used to saying “80D” 🙂

Coming along with the 80D is a new version of the 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS STM using Nano USM technology. The lens will be available on its own as well, pre-orders for $600 at Adorama and B&H Photo and Amazon itself.

These two have been added to the Cameras & Lenses of 2016 tracking page.

Imported Nikon D750 body only for $1465

If you are comfortable with imported grey market DSLRs, among the many eBay Deals bubbling around, eBay seller GetItDigital (99.6%) offers the imported (grey market) Nikon D750 body only for $1465 with free shipping, with a limit of three per buyer. This does not come with a Nikon USA warranty. It is unclear from the listing whether GetItDigital offers their own 1-year warranty (typically they say so in “Item Specifics” but there’s no mention of it in this particular listing).

At authorized dealers, this goes for $2000, with a variety of free accessories and/or up to 4% rewards (=$80~) offered by Adorama (options include free $250 Audio Technica camera-mount microphone or Corel Software bundle) and B&H Photo ($80~ rewards & accessories) and Amazon itself (free accessories or free AT microphone).

UPDATE:: Speaking of eBay, their current spotlight offer is an HDMI cable for $2 (3 feet) or $3 (15 feet) with free shipping. Limit 50 per customer. This ships from Brooklyn (New York) from eBay seller “BuySuperDeal” (99.5%). Over 5400 HDMI cables got sold through this listing so far. The other sizes sold out.

Opt-In Feature: PayPal offers Return Shipping Refund on up to 11 eligible purchases (until 12/31/16)

PayPal has a new feature for its users, but it is opt-in, you must manually accept this offer and agree to the terms in order to activate it. It won’t go live on your account by default. Perhaps that’s how they can afford it, because manual opt-in means only a tiny percentage of its users will take advantage of it.

The offer is this: you get refunded (up to $30 per incident) on Return Shipping, on up to 11 orders, on purchases made with Paypal on February 1st (2016) or later. The offer expires 12/31/16. As usual, there are terms and conditions and restrictions, so be sure to check those out. For more, here’s the Returns page and the FAQ page. To claim a refund for return shipping, you have to fill in an e-form and follow the process as outlined by PayPal. If it’s Paypal, it’s rarely simple or easy 🙂

NOTE: I do not know if every PayPal user is eligible, or only those who get pestered invited by PayPal emails outlining this offer. As far as I can recall, I haven’t returned anything with eBay/PayPal, so I don’t know if that factors in on how they target these promotions.

Activation is simple
Activation is simple, I just guinea-pigged (verb) myself for it. You click on the blue button, login with your PayPal account, and you are activated. The screen simply changes to this after you activate:

paypal_return_shipping

I don’t have any returns or returnable items, so I can’t test it any further at this point in time.

Canon 70D body + Pixma PRO 100 + Extras for $879 after $350 MIR (prepaid AMEX GC)

If you are cool with mail-in rebates and prepaid gift cards, there’s another Canon-Pixma-AMEX triangle offer. B&H Photo is offering the Canon 70D body only, along with the Pixma PRO 100 printer and the obligatory 50pk of 13×19 inch photo paper (a great way to get you hooked on 13×19 photo prints is to give you some free razor blades Canon paper), along with a Ruggard shoulder bag, an extra generic battery (Watson), and a 16GB Sandisk ExTrEmE SDHC card. You pay $1229 at checkout, you receive the order, make sure all is well, follow the PDF rebate instructions, submit the mail-in rebate, and a few weeks later, if all is well, you receive a $350 prepaid American Express gift card by mail, making it $879 after $350 MIR (prepaid GC). Railroad sentences are free for everyone 🙂

Vanguard Alta Pro 283 CB 100 Tripod w/SBH 100 Ballhead for $230

Thankfully tripods continue to remain camera-mount agnostic (I shouldn’t be saying this, it may give them ideas). One such camera accessory creature is on sale, the Vanguard Alta Pro 283 CB 100 Tripod with SBH 100 Ballhead goes for $230 with free expedited shipping for a limited time at B&H Photo.

Panasonic G7 with 14-42mm and $100 Gift Card for $600

For a limited time (good until 2/20/16 at 11:59pm ET), B&H Photo is bundling a $100 B&H Photo Gift Card with the purchase of the Panasonic G7 with 14-42mm kit for $600 total. The gift card will be automatically included by B&H while this promotion is running.

If on the other hand you want/need (or don’t mind trading/selling) an Audio-Technica AT8024 camera-mount mic (goes for $250 on its own) you can get the G7 with 14-42mm and said microphone for $600 at Adorama in either the black G7 or the silver-black G7. You also earn 4% promotional rewards (around $24).

Optionally you can triple the original warranty by submitting a mail-in rebate to Panasonic. The PDF file with the details is available at the aforelinked pages.

Needless to say, there are many camera and kit options for M43rds shooters, it can be an interesting/frustrating experience trying to figure out which one to get. That’s why the internet is full of gurus and self-appointed authorities telling you what you need to buy 🙂

Fuji X-System Instant Savings (Cameras, Lenses, Combos)

If you are interested in the Fuji X system, there is a new round of instant savings promotions featuring X cameras, X lenses and X combos. You can find all eligible items nicely organized at B&H Photo, with the different tabs (body, lens, kit, B&H kit, etc) an easy way to filter your items of potential interest.

UPDATE: you can also find a variety of Fuji X Instant Savings offers at Adorama. They have an ever-scrolling style page, so keep scrolling down to see more options.

Pre-order new Pentax K-1 Full Frame DSLR for $1800 [updated with Battery Grip]

Many thought the day would never come, but it’s here! The Pentax K-1 35mm Full Frame DSLR is now a real product, with a 36mp non-AA CMOS sensor, sensor-shift stabilization, weather sealed, dual SD slots, and more. You can now pre-order it as a body only kit for $1800 at Adorama and B&H Photo (early April 2016 release estimate) and Amazon by Amazon itself (late April 2016 estimate).

Also new is the Pentax D-BG6 Battery Grip available for pre-order for $230 plus shipping at B&H Photo. No release estimate yet. I haven’t found it at other retailers. It holds one D-LI90P Battery.

This has been added to the new New Cameras & Lenses of 2016 tracking page.

Poll & RFC: Do you find Fry’s Electronics Deal Posts Useful?

We have an opinion poll for you. Do you find the Fry’s Electronics deal posts useful? Most of their deals now are going through their email newsletters instead of having an “open source” weekly ad with various offers. They only have a small number of regional brick and mortar stores, so that reduces the percentage of our readers who have access to the stores. Also as one of regular readers pointed out a few days ago, they also mark as “online” offers that are “buy online pickup in-store”, which does not help the majority of our readers since Fry’s stores are only in a few cities/states.

If you have any answers that don’t fit the binary Yes/No, please leave a blog-comment or use the online contact form. The blog-comments are posted on the blog (unless you write in the comment “don’t publish it” or something along those lines – it has be clear enough for birdbrain me to understand it :)). Anything that is sent via email or the contact form is considered private (unless you indicate otherwise).


Pre-order new Pentax FA 15-30mm f2.8 and 28-105mm f3.5-5.6 Lenses

It’s Pentax Full Frame time! Hide your wallets K-fans. Pentax has revealed two new 35mm full frame FA lenses that may have some K-fans singing FA FA FA FA FA 🙂 The two new FA lenses are available for pre-order as follows:

+ 15-30mm f2.8 ED SDM WR HD D FA for $1450 at Adorama and B&H Photo

+ 28-105mm f3.5-5.6 ED DC WR HD D FA for $500 at Adorama and B&H Photo

These have been added to the new New Cameras & Lenses of 2016 tracking page.

32GB Sony Class 10 SDHC for $7.19 (limit 1) [updated]

The 32GB Sony Class 10 UHS-1 SDHC up to 70MB/s Memory Card (SF32UY2) is currently on sale for $7.19 at Amazon by Amazon herself. Limit of one per customer. It beats the other storage options in its own sub-line (8GB to 256GB) in terms of $/GB. It is currently “temporarily out of stock” but you can still order it. If you are a Prime member, you get free shipping even if you just buy this one and nothing else. If you are not a Prime member, a $35+ total order of physical goods (shipped/fulfilled by Amazon) gets you the usual free super-saver shipping. This is not a lightning deal.

UPDATE: as of 2/17/16, the price increased from $7 to $7.19. Still limit one per customer.

In-stock nao: Corel VideoStudio 9 for $80 or $100

Corel’s latest new video software, VideoStudio 9 is now ready for purchase or a free trial if you are curious about it but don’t want to commit. The official Corel Store offers the Pro X9 for $80 and the Ultimate X9 for $100 as full versions. Qualifying Upgrades get a $20 off discount (they have an “Upgrade Eligibility” link there for more details). You can also start a free trial… The full versions are also available at Amazon as a digital download (available now) or PC disc (ships in a couple of days) – Pro X9 for $80 or Ultimate X9 for $100. Amazon does not have free trials or upgrade options.

DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter Aircraft with 3-Axis Gimbal and 4K UHD Video Camera, Remote Controller Included for $999

The DJI Phantom 3 Professional Quadcopter Aircraft with 3-Axis Gimbal and 4K UHD Video Camera, Remote Controller Included is on sale, now down to $999 with free expedited shipping at Adorama. The page there notes that any issues with the product must be sent to DJI After-Sales support, not Adorama.

UPDATE: the same price is available at B&H Photo.