The 2015 Holiday Season is now over… This post will no longer be updated… For the latest deals, check the Camera Deals blog with a full-text RSS feed and an easy to remember shortcut url noisydeals.com
The post below is kept for reference/archival purposes. It will not be updated again…
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We digested most of the camera and photo related items from the major brick and mortar retailer Black Friday ads in this earlier long and winding post. In this post, we summarize and grade the offers for Black Friday 2015. The Grade? A rather generous C- 🙂
DSLRs
Just like previous years under the MAP (minimum advertised pricing controlled by the manufacturers) regime, the offers are pretty much the same at authorized dealers. And they are fairly predictable too. The two main DSLR offers are a Nikon D3300 two-lens kit (18-55, 55-200) for $500. At least both lenses are VR, perhaps some progress over previous years. On the Canon front, the most common offer is the Digital Rebel T5 with 18-55 and 75-300 non-USM lenses for $400. Both of these offers have already been price-matched by the internets (see D3300 price-match and T5 price-match).
The more advanced of the DSLR kits advertised is a Nikon D7100 2-lens kit (18-55, 55-300) for $1000, perhaps a bit of an unusual combination of camera + kit lens choice, but then again, what do I know 🙂 This too has been price-matched by the internets.
On the Canon side, the D-Rebel T5i has its own two lens kit for $700 with the 18-55 and 55-250 lenses [this too is now price-matched by the internets]. It is almost an ad duopoly, but the Microcenter saves the day, they are offering a Pentax K-50 2-lens kit (18-55 & 55-200) for $460 [also price-matched by the internets].
One common thread is that almost all of the 2-lens kits include manufacturer-included extras, such as bags, memory cards, and other assorted items. Market research probably tells them it increases the chances of a purchase by a consumer at a store that sees a bigger box, either in terms of size or number of items included 🙂
Mirrorless
It’s cold in here. Except for the Sony a6000 two-lens kit (18-55, 55-210) going for $700 at authorized dealers. This is featured at Best Buy and Costco. This too has been price-matched by the internets.
Fixed Lens Cameras
Compacts with RAW? Nope, not here 🙂 Superzooms are featured the most, with Canon and Nikon mostly, along with some budget Samsungs. Target continues its tradition of a $100 L-series budget-superzoom Coolpix, this year it is the L340.
Second to superzooms are the compact and sub-compact consumer cameras, such as the Canon Elphs and some Coolpixies and Sony W-series.
Action cameras continue to get more of the spotlight, not just GoPros, but also “generic” manufacturers such as Vivitar and ActiveON. I don’t know if they are related to the “apply directly to the forehead” infomercials 🙂