Tag Archives: xsi

Commentary

Canon Spring 2009 Rebates

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Canon is running its annual spring rebate program between now and July 11, 2009. A number of DSLR bodies (with lens kits), lenses, and flash units are included. Canon has wisely switched from the old mail-in rebate system (which created a lot of problems when buyers encountered problems obtaining their rebate checks) to a much better “instant rebate” system under which the price reduction is given at the time of sale. Since most of these products are rarely if ever offered at sale prices, if you are ready to make a purchase and can time it for the “rebate season,” some good discounts are available.

The following list of rebate items links to B&H Photo|Video. If you choose to purchase through these links to B&H your purchase helps support this web site. (You get the same regular B&H prices.) Thanks in advance!

Be sure to download and read the rebate terms. Not all Canon products are eligible and there are specific conditions and dates that you must observe. (Note that I could not find B&H links to a few of the items listed on the rebate forms.)

Camera Bodies

EOS 50D Kit + EF-S 18–200mm f/3.5–5.6 IS – $300″>EOS 50D EF-S 18–200mm IS Kit – $300
EOS 50D EF 28–135mm IS Kit + EF-S 18–200mm f/3.5–5.6 IS – $300
EOS 50D Kit + EF 70–300mm f/4–5.6 IS USM – $150
EOS 50D EF 28–135mm IS Kit + EF 70–300mm f/4–5.6 IS USM – $150
EOS Rebel XSi EF-S 18–55mm IS Kit (B) + EF-S 55–250mm f/4–5.6 IS – $200
EOS Rebel XS EF-S 18–55mm IS Kit (B) + EF 75–300mm f/4.5–5.6 III – $100

(Canon Rebate Form for DSLR Bodies)

Lenses

EF 200mm f/2L IS USM – $500
EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM – $130
EF 70–200mm f/2.8L IS USM – $200
EF 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS USM – $100
EF 16–35mm f/2.8L II USM – $100
EF 50mm f/1.2L USM – $100
EF 24–70mm f/2.8L USM – $80
EF 70–200mm f/4L IS USM – $75
EF 17–40mm f/4L USM – $50
EF 70–200mm f/4L USM – $40
EF 100mm f/2.8 MACRO USM – $35
EF 28–200mm f/3.5–5.6 USM – $30
EF 28–105mm f/3.5–4.5 II USM – $20

EF-S 17–55mm f/2.8 IS USM – $70
EF-S 10–22mm f/3.5–4.5 USM – $50
EF-S 17–85mm f/4–5.6 IS USM – $50
EF-S 60mm f/2.8 MACRO USM – $30
EF-S 18–55mm f/3.5–5.6 IS – $15

(Canon Rebate Form for Lenses)

Flash Units

SPEEDLITE 580EX II – $50
SPEEDLITE 430EX II – $30
SPEEDLITE 220EX – $30
MACRO TWIN LITE MT-24EX – $70
MACRO RING LITE MR-14EX – $50

(Canon Rebate Form for Flash Units)

Commentary, Equipment

‘Low End’ Cameras – Interesting Choices

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An interesting juxtaposition caught my attention this morning.

Yesterday Michael Reichmann posted a very interesting article (“You’ve Got to Be Kidding“) in which he compares the image quality from the (arguably high end point and shoot) $500 Canon G10 with that obtained from his high end Hasselblad medium format digital system. While some are misrepresenting the point of his article to be that the G10 is equal to the Hassy MF system (it isn’t, and he didn’t write that), the significant point is that for many uses the G10 can produce good size prints (13″ x 19” in Reichmann’s article) that are largely indistinguishable from those that came from the MF camera.

At about the same time I saw a link to a dealmac.com posting about sub-$600 prices for the Canon XSi 12.2MP APS-C DSLR with the quite decent EFS 18-55mm image stabilized lens. Anyone who looks at the features of this camera objectively and knows about the generally quite good reviews of this lens understands that this is a tremendous value for a camera system that is more than capable enough for the vast majority of DSLR purchasers.

So, on one hand we have a small almost pocketable camera (the G10) that can produce excellent quality prints as large as most people will ever produce (much larger, in fact). If your point of comparison is DSLRs of a year or two ago – $1000+ in many cases – this is a quite amazing thing, and could induce many buyers to think about the G10 or a similar camera, either as the camera or as an adjunct when traveling light is important. But wait, the cost of a quite decent DSLR isn’t $1000+ any more – it now appears to be perhaps only $100 more than that of the G10.