Backup in case of trouble: the Full-Text Feedburner RSS Feed!

With the sudden explosion of deal posts here during Black Friday week, the chances of WordPress/Hosting having some kind of hickup increase.

Thankfully we have a very easy and affordable [FREE!] plan B, the the Feedburner full-text RSS feed. This is hosted by Feedburner [Google], so even if this website goes down for technical issues, the RSS feed will continue to live!

OR for members of our Patreon Platinum MAX PRO XXL Elite Supreme Insiders tier, I will personally hand-deliver you the deal posts printed on premium paper, served with a complimentary Chipotle burrito 😉

Fuji X-T4 body with VG-XT4 Battery Grip for $1828

Fuji’s black friday gifts to those interested in the X-T4 body only are a combined purchase discount on the camera and the Fuji VG-XT4 battery grip. The X-T4 body only on its own goes for $1699, and the combo with the battery grip goes for $1828 at B&H Photo and also at Adorama. The battery grip on its own goes for $329.

The offer is also available on the other two official X-T4 kits, with the 18-55 and 16-80 lenses. Look for them among the options at the aforelinked links above.

Separately there are a couple of digital freebie promotions as well with the purchase of eligible Fuji cameras and lenses. A 1-year Flickr PRO subscription and a free download of the Luminar 4 software. Links with the details of the offer under “View Details” at the B&H link above…

Panasonic ZS100 with FREE Panasonic Battery and Charger Kit and Extra Freebies for $398

And now some compact/travel-zoom action, the Panasonic ZS100 with its 1″ sensor and 10x Leica-blessed f2.8-5.9 stabilized lens is on sale for $398 at authorized Panasonic dealers, which also include for FREE the Panasonic Battery and Charger Travel Bundle. But that’s not all, some retailers include additional freebies of their own as well:

+ at B&H Photo you also get a 32GB Sandisk Extreme SDHC and RJ camera pouch

+ at Adorama you get a 2pk of 32GB Sandisk Extreme PRO SD cards, a camera pouch, an extra Green Extreme battery [in addition to the Panasonic Battery and Charger bundle], Corel software and a few trinkets

+ at Amazon various 3rd-party sellers have bundles of their own

We got used to crazy superzoom ratios in fixed lens cameras, but a 10X optical zoom is no small change. This covers 25-250mm equivalent, plenty flexible…

Zeiss Batis 40mm f2 CF [Sony E] with FREE Zeiss 67mm T* UV Filter for $1104

Prime time, Zeiss time, and E-time all in one! The new condition Zeiss Batis 40mm f2 CF lens for the Sony E system is on sale for $1104 at B&H Photo which automatically includes a free lens filter, and what a filter, the Zeiss 67mm T* UV Filter (goes for $90 on its own)…

And now we can just pretend I made all the low-hanging fruit jokes (bat an eye, zeiss-zeiss baby, etc) and spare you the trouble of reading them anew 🙂

For more B&H action, check their on-going Black Friday 2020 deals page..

NewEgg Black Friday is here!

If you are fond of the way of the NewEgg, their Black Friday is here with another round of techie products on offer. As of the time of writing they have 91 pages of offers over there. Slightly too many for my Celeron-brain multi-tasking to go through and summarize on the fly, so this is a YMMV DIY adventure 🙂

Fuji GFX 50R Medium Format Body for $3499, with 50/3.5 for $4499 [w/Think Tank & Sandisk freebies!]

And now our obligatory weekly medium format deal post! If you are Fuji GFX curious, the 50R medium format digital camera body only is now down to $3499 at B&H Photo which is also including two free accessories, a 64GB Sandisk Extreme PRO SDXC and a Think Tank Photo Retrospective 7M Shoulder Bag (Pinestone) which goes for $165 on its own!

The same free accessories are included if you purchase the “take pictures with” kit, the 50R with the FUJIFILM GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR Lens for $1000 more…

B&H Tech Round-Up: 2TB Samsung SSD, 12TB MyBook, 12.9″ iPad PRO

And now some techie B&H Photo action! Expiring tonight (Thursday 11:59pm ET) is the new condition 12TB WD MyBook Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive for $212 with free US shipping. That’s under $20 per TB. “My Book” are powered desktop HDDs. Needless to say, you need a backup of that 12TB, it’s scary to leave so many eggs in a single basket without additional backup 🙂 Probably don’t back it up on floppy disks or CD-Rs though 🙂

Speaking of storage, the new trend is SSD storage instead of spinning hard disks, and if you’re into that, the 2TB Samsung T5 portable SSD is on sale for $230, while the 1TB goes for $130. As of the time of writing these average 4.8 out of 5 based on 830+ ratings over there.

Next up, iPads! One way to lower your “Apple Tax” is to go with the previous generation model. If you follow that philosophy, B&H Photo is offering the new condition 12.9″ iPad PRO (previous generation) with 64GB on-board and Wifi and 4G LTE (Verizon unlocked, can be used with T-Mo and Big T) for $799 with free US shipping…

For more action, check the on-going B&H Black Friday deals

Spend $25+ on Kindle ebooks, Get $6 promo credit

It’s that time of the year for the Kindle ebook offers as well! This promotion runs between November 23-30 in 2020. If you purchase $25+ in Kindle ebooks in any combination [eg one expensive ebook, or multiple ebooks on different days] during the promotional period, you will earn a $6 promotional Kindle ebook credit.

First, you must activate the promotion. If you are logged on, it may activate simply by visiting or reloading the page, or by following the link mentioned over there.

Once activated, any purchases you made during this promotional period [even before you activated the offer] count towards the $25 minimum.

Your $6 bonus will be applied to your Amazon account within two days of reaching the $25 minimum.

Once applied to your account, you have 21 days to spend the $6 ebook credit (you can use it on one ebook or multiple ebooks).

There are plenty of photography ebooks out there, from camera guides, to post-processing, to inspirational, to “Understanding Exposure” type of books, and so on. OR you can buy any other ebook sold at Amazon.

To make the most of it, plan also how to spend the $6 credit before jumping in on the offer, so it won’t be left to expire unused.

Some ebooks also have a “Great On Kindle” store credit, which is stackable with this $6 credit…

BOOK CLUB TIP: If you are looking for a long complicated epic fantasy that can be read by the whole family during the socially-distanced winter holidays, try The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson [there’s Kindle sample and look inside]. Not brutal or convoluted or uber-complicated or sexually charged as “A Song of Ice and Fire / Game Of Thrones”. From what I recall the most sexual thing that happened in book #1 was a kiss between two mature adults. Infact it’s so nonsexual you have to wonder whether most of the characters are eunuchs 😉 Note that this is planned as a 10-book series but Sanderson is writing fast fast fast fast.

Godox, Flashpoint, 6TB Seagate Ironwolf [end Thur 10am ET]

A new lot of Adorama daily deals is here, this lot ending on Thursday 10am ET (or earlier if sold out):

+ Godox LC500R RGB LED Light Stick for $199

+ Flashpoint eVOLV 200 Pro TTL Pocket Flash Exclusive HexaPop Kit (Godox AD200 Pro TTL Pocket Flash) for $329

+ 6TB Seagate IronWolf NAS internal HDD (3.5″, 6Gbps, SATA, 7200rpm, 256MB cache, 210Mbps) for $130

+ a $90 car dash camera module type thing

PS: speaking of Adorama, they have launched their Black Friday deals as well…

Wedn: “Picture This: How Pictures Work” by Molly Bang for $3

The number of ebook offers are increasing in the Amazno gold Box, and as such, the net may grab more photography-related ebooks. Such as this offer, good until 11/25/20 [one month until COVID Christmas!] at 11:59pm pacific time [ebooks rarely ever sell out]. It is a classic, Molly Bang’s “Picture This: How Pictures Work” going for $3. This is a 154-page book. As of the time of writing it averages 4.5 out of 5 based on 131 customer ratings…

You can request a free Kindle sample [and send it to your favorite Kindle app or Kindle ereader or tablet] or you can go to the Hardcover version and “Look Inside”.

UPDATE: of popular science interest, Brian Greene, one of the “physics/space science popularizers” has a daily deal ebook as well, it’s “Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe” for $4 (408 pages, February 2020, 4.5 out 5 with nearly 1000 ratings, you also get a $0.40 Great On Kindle credit)…

Canon RP with RF 24-105mm f4-7.1 with Freebies for $999

If you are curious about Canon’s new full frame mirrorless system, and want a native “take pictures with” kit, Black Friday comes to the rescue as it crosses downwards the magical mystical “$1000 full frame” price threshold of $1000. I’m sure I could have said the above with a lot fewer words 🙂

Anyway, during Black Friday festivities, the Canon RP camera bundled with the 24-105mm f4-7.1 RF lens is now down to $999 with free US shipping at B&H Photo

But wait, there’s more! If you also want free accessories, Adorama is bundling it with lots of freebies: 64GB Sandisk Extreme SDXC, Slinger camera bag [Slinger is the brand name, it’s not a sling bag, but a bag-bag], 67mm filter kit, Corel software [PC or Mac], and a few trinkets.

On the other hand, if you don’t want/need the 24-105mm kit lens, Adorama has a kit for that too. For $998 you get the Canon EF-R mount adapter [EF lenses to R bodies], 32GB Sandisk Extreme PRO SDXc, shoulder bag, Corel software, 2pk of rain covers, and a few trinkets.

BUT I ONLY WANT THE BODY ONLY!
The RP body only goes for $899 instead, $100 less than the “take pictures with” kit. At B&H Photo you also get a 128GB Sandisk Extreme PRO SDXC card, RJ DSLR shoulder bag, and a cleaning kit (includes a …lipstick brush)…

At Adorama the freebies include a 64GB Sandisk Extreme PRO SDXC, shoulder bag, Corel software, 2pk of rain covers, octopus tripod with ball head and a few trinkets.

The Venus Loaoaoaoawa RF option
I should also note that at Adorama [see links above], with any of the above RP kits, you have the option to buy it together with select Venus Loawa RF lenses for a combined purchase discount. As of the time of writing there are four Venus lenses and the combined purchase discounts are either $100 off for the more expensive lenses and $25 off for the least expensive of the four lenses.

Tamron 150-600mm f5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 for $1199 with Choice of FREEbies (Tripod or TAP-IN Console, Filters) [C/N]

Zoom with your feet has its limits, unless you have Inspector Gadget type of feet. For other occasions, there’s big zoom lenses, such as the Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2 lens which is currently on sale and with freebies at various authorized dealers. This is available for the Canon EF and Nikon F DSLR systems. The sale price is $1198 but you also have a choice of free accessories included:

+ at B&H Photo you get the Tamron TAP-IN console and a B&W 95mm UV Haze MRC filter
+ Nikon only: or if you don’t need the extra accessories and you want to optimize for a lower price, B&H has it USED for $943 in “Used – Condition 9” (minor scuffs and surface marks)

+ at Adorama, this listing has a freebie that is the Vanguard Vesta 203AGH 3-Section Aluminum Tripod with GH-45 Pistol Grip Head ($60 on its own)
+ after all, there’s only so many Tamron TAP-In consoles one can have 🙂
+ or with free accessories (lens filters and software), or look in the options on the same listing for an option with the Gobe 95mm filter

B&H launches their Apple Black Friday deals!

Apple fans, unite and take over! B&H Photo has launched their Apple Black Friday deals for the season. New offers are also being added, so this is not a static list.

Products include the whole array of non-iPhone Apples, from Mac Minis, MacBooks (includes PRO and AIR), iMacs, Mac PRO [the big desktops], iPad of course (PRO, Air and “regular”, and Mini too), Apple TV streaming boxes, iWatches, and Airpods.

The Apple Silicon M1 laptops are available for pre-ordering but they are obviously not on sale. With benchmarks like that, sales may arrive in the next decade 😉

Wedn Camera & Photo Lightning Deals: it’s a Neewer Party!

This post is a warm-up to the Madness that will start Thursday and continue until Tuesday. We are back at looking at the Camera & Photo Lightning Deals. These are some potentially interesting items scheduled to go live on Wednesday. They are posted in the order they are scheduled to go live:

+ Neewer F100 7″ IPS camera field monitor

+ ring light generic and also a Neewer

+ Neewer 2pk lighting kit

+ Neewer camera trolley case

+ Hohem iSteady X and FeiyuTech handheld gimbal stabilizer-y type things

+ Neewer macro ring light flash kit

+ even more GVM and Neewer lightning kits throughout the day

+ generic camcorders throughout the day

I am not posting times in this practice post for expediency reasons.

Keep in mind, as always with the Gold Box other products may also be offered unannounced, and some items may get added/deleted. The distinction of the unannounced is that Amazon doesn’t want millions of people sitting and waiting for a high-demand item and then getting furious because only X units were available. These are what we call in the business “known unknowns” 😉

Wedn: Nanuk, Sony CFast 2.0, Dracast, SirUI, Etc

Wednesday is here and with it we can haz a new set of B&H daily deals good until 11:59pm ET (or earlier if sold out), plus a flash deal!

+ Nanuk cases, five options, $25 to $140

+ DraCast LED180 Mobile Broadcast Kit for $99

+ SirUI EP-204S Aluminum Multi-Function Photo/Video Monopod for $79

+ 64GB Sony CFast 2.0 card with card reader for $100

+ RucPac Photographer’s Winter Apparel Package (black) for $40 in two size options

+ CoreSWX kits, four options, $135 to $390

+ NetGear CM1200 DOCSIS 3.1 Multi-Gig Cable Modem for $170

+ flash deals: now $40 truly wireless set, later 10-in-1 smartphone camera kit

PS: so much nicer to be doing this thing with a full-size mechanical keyboard versus a laptop or wireless keyboard 🙂

UPDATE: headlining the Woot dailies are factory reconditioned curved Samsung monitors…

Meanwhile among the Best Buy dailies there’s a sale on a couple of 10th generation Intel i7 and i9 processors…

FREE Gitzo Century Traveler Camera Backpack with select GITZO products (18 options)

Free with purchase time for fans of the GITZO products! B&H Photo is running a Gitzo Black Friday promotion. When you purchase one of the aforelinked participating 18 Gitzo products (prices range from $614 to $1150, it is Gitzo, not AmazonBasics after all!). The free item is included automatically by B&H Photo while this promotion is running. You see it mentioned on the individual product listings and the search results as something like “Includes Free: 1 item ($219.95 value)”. You don’t add it to cart yourself.

For reference only, this is the free item, the Gitzo Century Traveler Camera Backpack which averages 5 out 5 based on 13 customer reviews and goes for $220 on its own… Do not add this to cart for the freebie!

Vello Extension Tubes for $70 [different system options]

If you like macro the more budget and adventures ways, B&H Photo is having a Black Friday promotion on some of their Vello Extension Tubes. These are hollow so autofocus and autoexposure are not affected by any additional glass or plastic.

The options vary by system. Canon EF and Nikon F has a three-tube bundle, while mirrorless Fuji X and Sony E and M43rds are two-tube bundles. Check each option over there for more details…

Sigma 50mm f1.4 DG HSM Art with FREE Vanguard Alta Pro 264AT Tripod and TBH-100 Head with Arca-Swiss Type QR Plate for $799 [C/N] {other freebies for other systems}

There’s a special place in photographer’s historic hearts for the 50mm prime lens, and if you like the f1.4 aperture, you may be interested in this new Shiguma offer, their 50mm f1.4 DG HSM Art lens is on sale for $799 at authorized dealers. The freebies vary as follows:

At Adorama’s, Nikon F and Canon EF users get a free Sigma USB dock and the big freebie, a Vanguard Alta Pro 264AT Tripod and TBH-100 Head with Arca-Swiss Type QR Plate which goes for $180 on its own!

At B&H Photo you get a free Sigma USB dock and a free Hoya filter kit in the Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A, Leica L, Sigma SA “color schemes” [okay, lens mount options]. The Sony E is at the same price BUT it does not include a free USB dock…

Sony a7R II body with either 1-year Creative Cloud (Pho) or Flashpoint Flash for $1198

The Sony a7r II body only goes for $1198 with free accessories (cards, bags, trinkets, etc) at some photography dealers but apart from those offers, there are a couple with more substantive freebies:

+ at B&H Photo and for the same price you get a 12-month Adobe Creative Cloud Photography Plan included
+ if you go through the other options at B&H, for $1396 you can get it with the Sony 28-70 f3.5-5.6 OSS lens and either the Grip Extension kit or the aforementioned 12-month Creative Cloud

+ at Adorama you get their house brand Flashpoint Zoom TTL R2 Flash with Integrated R2 Radio Transceiver for the same price

Refurbished Sigma 70mm f2.8 DG ART Macro for $379 [C]

This lens was a daily deal in new condition for $479 a couple of days ago but if you want to optimize for an even lower price, Adorama has the refurbished Sigma 70mm f2.8 DG ART Macro for $379 with a 90-day Sigma USA warranty. This is only available in Canon EF.

Black Friday deals portal at Adorama

Adorama has launched their Black Friday deals portal page highlighting some of the best offers per category and then linking to the rest of them (eg the the 83 camera kits). This is best viewed with a wide(r) computer monitor for the easiest browsing experience… More on these later on…

Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f1.2 MF for $630 [E/C], $649 [N], $659 [GF]

If you like super-bright manual focus lenses, the new condition Mitakon Zhongyi Speedmaster 85mm f/1.2 manual focus lens is currently on sale for a limited time and at different prices for different camera systems at B&H Photo and also at Adorama as follows:

+ Canon EF for $629 (only at Adorama)
+ Sony E for $630
+ Nikon F for $649
+ Fuji GF (Medium Format) for $659
+ the other options (A,K) are higher
+ manual focus all of them

Sony Educational discounts up and running at B&H

If you are eligible and registered for the Sony Educational program, a handful of limited time Sony Educational offers is up and running at B&H Photo. You can only see the offers if you are registered for the Sony EDU program and you are logged on to that account at B&H Photo…

Some of the educational offers include:

+ Sony a7 II body for $758
+ Sony a7R II body for $1018
+ Sony a6600 body for $1158
+ Sony RX100 VII for $1068
+ a6000 with 16-50 for $433
+ FE 50mm f1.8 $161

You must be registered as an EDU/student at B&H to see the above offers…

Ricoh Theta V 360 Degree Spherical Camera for $350

Not a lens day but it’s a camera day (of sorts) at the Adorama daily deals, this set is good until Wednesday at 10am ET (or earlier if sold out):

+ Ricoh Theta V 360 Degree Spherical Panorama Camera for $350

+ Godox VL300 300W LED Video Light for $499

+ studio headphones for $50

15% off certified refurbished with eBay coupon [ends Tue PM]

Good until Tuesday 11/24/20 at 11:59pm pacific time, coupon code PICKCRTECH15 gets you 15% off select certified refurbished technology items on eBay. A total of 72 options are available as of the time of writing…

Walgreens Photo Couponanza: 75% off Custom Photo Books, 60% Cards, Canvas, Calendars

It’s a couponanza for Walgreens Photo as they brought out their big coupons just in time for the Black-Cyber season with the following offerings:

+ 75% off Custom Photo Books with coupon BOOKS75
+ 20 pages included, extra for more [maximum 25 pages]
+ expires 11/28/20 at 11:59pm

+ 60% off Photo Cards and Stationary with coupon HIFALL60
+ expires 12/5/20 at 11:59pm

+ 60% off Photo Calendars with coupon 60ITSADATE
+ expires 11/28/20 at 11:59pm

+ 60% off Canvas prints and 60% off Floaters with coupon 60BIGGER
+ expires 11/28/20 at 11:59pm

+ Buy 100+ in a single shopping cart and get 10-cents each 4×6 prints with coupon TURKEY100
+ offer includes 4×6 and 4×5.3 size
+ expires 12/12/20 at 11:59pm

Each coupon can be used five different times by the same customer before it expires.

In a shopping cart, you can use up to three coupons IF there are no overlapping products (eg one coupon for canvas, one for calendar, one for custom photo book). If you need more, simply organize multiple orders…

NIK Collection 3 (25th Anniversary edition) with 15% off

DXo is the current custodian of the NiK collection and they have rolled out the 25th anniversary edition of the NiK Collection 3 for $150 or 150 euro depending on location at the DXo online store. But wait, there’s …less! While you are visiting that page, a promotion will appear that gives you a 15% off code! This is a digital delivery that includes eight plug-ins. It can be used on up to three computers. Minor software updates are included. Upgrade discount when a major version comes out. Works on Windows and MacOS. Check their website for minimum requirements and such…

The 25th anniversary edition added [wait for it] 25 new presets 🙂 Note that this is a plug-in collection that works with Dxo PhotoLab, Serif Affinity and Adobe’s Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and Elements. Minimum versions are also mentioned at the “System requirements” link over there…

KEH Camera remodeling with a more modern look

If you haven’t checked the KEH Camera website lately, it looks quite more modern now as they have done a remodeling/rebranding, a more soulful feel if you must. Fear not, the 180-day warranty is still there 🙂

They’ve been rather quiet on deals lately (they posted one last week but I missed it). Based on that, I think they should have BF/CM offers. You don’t launch a pre-BF offer if you are not planning actual-BF offers 🙂

Sigma 70mm f2.8 DG ART Macro for $479 [C]

I forgot about Dre, and also forgot about the Adorama daily deals where’s it’s another lens day! This set of offers ends on Tuesday at 10am ET [or earlier if sold out]:

+ Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG ART Macro for Canon EF for $479
+ only the Canon, and nothing more

+ Flashpoint XPLOR 300 Pro TTL R2 Battery-Powered Monolight With Glow 24″ HexaPop for $499

+ Qnap TS-251D 2-Bay NAS Enclosure, Intel Celeron J4005 Dual-Core 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM for $230
+ finally a good use for Celery processors 🙂

UPDATE: among the Woot daily deals (expire Tuesday 11:59pm [hello] central) they have Kindle e-readers and tablets starting at $20, previous gen Android phones, Macbooks and iPads, all of the refurbished kind of course…

UPDATE #2: FREE coffee until the end of 2020 at Panera Bread when you subscribe to their Netflix-style coffee plan (use coupon code FREETIL2021 which is already built-into this link]. If you don’t cancel it, it will auto-renew at the standard rate of $9/month. You can cancel it online or using their app. This includes free (hot or iced) coffee and hot tea. Every two hours you can go and get free refills too. The other more expensive drinks are not included (no espresso-based drinks, no iced tea, no cold brew, no extra syrups, etc). The trick here is to resist getting other things (pastries, sweets, etc) every time you go in for the free coffee. Which is really their plan because many people many times won’t/can’t resist 🙂

Tuesday: Intel, Tamrac, GVM, Manfrotto, Pixel 4 XL, Etc

Power and Lightning at the Meh daily deal for Tuesday 11/24/20, it’s a 2-pack of Morphie 10,000 mAh each powerbanks with a Lightning cable [Apple tax alert!] going for $29 plus shipping [free S&H for Meh-members]…

Another set of B&H daily deals is here as well, good until 11:59pm ET or earlier if sold out. The streak of “lens days” however is broken 🙂

+ Tamrac Pro Compact 2 Camera Bag (Black) for $12

+ ReVo SR-1000 Shoulder Support Rig (Black) for $50

+ Manfrotto Lumimuse 8 On-Camera LED Light (Black) for $64

+ Intel NUC Bean Canyon i7 Kit (Tall) for $340 with FREE Bitdefender (5 devices, 1 year)

+ GVM 800D-RGB LED Studio 2-Video Light Kit for $174

+ 16GB Kingston DataTraveler SE9 USB Flash Drive for $4

+ Technical BOOM8 Rechargeable 8″ Bluetooth LED Speaker for $35

+ flash deal: Samsung Galaxy Watch3 GPS Smartwatch (Bluetooth, 45mm, Mystic Black, International Version) for $299
+ next flash deal: Google Pixel 4 XL 64GB Smartphone (Unlocked), price before sale $900