Best deal on Canon Rebel T1i?

[iamlouie]

I'm ready to purchase my first DSLR, a Canon Rebel T1i but I'm not sure where I should buy the equipment from.

The main uses for the camera are: I do a lot of traveling for work and visit a lot of national parks and would like to be able to take good wide angle shots of landscapes. I also want to be able to take nice crisp action shots of my dogs playing/running/wrestling and general picture taking. It was also suggested to me that I also pick up one of these: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/12142-GREY/Canon_2514A002_Normal_EF_50mm_f_1_8.html#accessori es

Amazon and B&H are both offering a $400 rebate if you purchase a Canon T1i and a Canon Pixma PRO9000MkII Printer:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001R4BTIA/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B001XURPQS/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

This leaves me with an awesome printer for $50 or try to resell it to "lower" the price of the T1i.

BH have kits available but I'm not sure if its better to purchase a kit or buy the parts individually:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/638282-REG/Canon__EOS_Rebel_T1i_SLR.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/638278-REG/Canon__EOS_Rebel_T1i_SLR.html

I'm also considering purchasing a kit off eBay but I'm not sure if this is a smart move. I've been told that Canon/Nikon sometimes don't honor the warrantee but I'm not sure how true this is. I know most of the tripods, bags etc that accompany these kits are cheap but are they better deals overall?

For $1,149.49 you can get a kit that includes Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens, 2x Telephoto Lens, Pro 0.45x Wide Angle Lens, a few filters, SD Cards, an external flash
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270436397368&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_11691wt_1169

This kit costs 1,209.00 and comes with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Image Stabilizer IS Lens, Tamron AF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 Standard Telephoto Zoom Lens, Canon 50mm Lens, wide angle lens, telphoto lens, etc.
http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-EOS-Digital-Rebel-T1i-500D-SLR-Camera-5-lens-NEW_W0QQitemZ140337747469QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDigita l_Cameras?hash=item20acc8160d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_18659wt_988

Do you guys advice agaisnt purchasing from eBay? There's also a 12% Cashback on eBay items.

J&R Music World has the T1i for $712.69 (after cashback). Am I better off getting the camera itself and buying the pieces separately?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm a DSLR newbie and all this research and price hunting is very overwhelming.

[sanjeeva7]

I'm a noob as well but for the most part, 99% of ebayers are not authorized resellers. They were probably bought in China/Japan/etc (ie grey market) so they won't have a valid US warranty if that is important to you. It's a personal preference. There is an authorized seller number you can cross reference with Canon to verify if that matters to you.

The best deals from authorized sellers seems to come form in no particular order:
B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com)
Adormna (http://www.adorama.com/)
Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_5_5?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=canon+t1i&sprefix=canon)

From what I've been told some good lenses:
55-250mm (http://forums.slickdeals.net/Canon%20EF-S%2055-250mm%20f/4.0-5.6%20IS) - sounds like you plan on getting this. I've used it for 2 events so far and love it.
50mm f/1.8 (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-50mm-1-8-Camera-Lens/dp/B00007E7JU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1250382632&sr=1-1) - best bang for your buck for less than $100
50mm f/1.4 (http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Standard-Medium-Telephoto-Cameras/dp/B00009XVCZ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1250382617&sr=1-1)- quite a price difference but for certain situations a better choice.

[kacki]

I am also researching this camera, having shifted my focus (heh) from the lower entry level DSLRs such as K2000 to this price level.

I also considered the kit sellers at eBay when I was on the other camera but emailed a couple of buyers who told me most of the accessories were junk. The add-on 'lenses' are quite inexpensive to purchase on your own. Some of the items are throw-away quality. Then in the bookstore today I read (I think it was in Popular Photography) about this same type of thing on eBay (and I bet it was the same seller you and I looked at), and their advice was strongly on the side of 'don't do it'.

Which is how I feel, the more I think about it. Use the authorized guys; $1K is a lot of money to throw away (for me anyway). Good luck; feel free to PM if you want to trade info on this camera. I read a lot of reviews today in print that talk it up quite a bit but I still need to research.

[iamlouie]

Sanjeeva7 - Thanks for the reply and the links to useful lenses. I'm definately going to be picking up a 50mm f/1.8 when I purchase the camera. I'll play with the stock lens and the 50mm f/1.8 first before dumping more money into lenses.

Kacki - Thanks for the reply. Researching prices and which DSLR to purchase is very overwhelming. I was also considering a D90/D80 but it's $300 more. Since I am very new to DSLRs, I probably won't notice the difference. The T1i seems reasonably priced for an entry level DSLR and from what I've read.

I'll probably pull the trigger on the T1i by the end of next week. I'm trying to find a store that is participating in the Cashback program and has the rebate for the printers but having a difficult time.

[phillie5o3]

Sanjeeva7 - Thanks for the reply and the links to useful lenses. I'm definately going to be picking up a 50mm f/1.8 when I purchase the camera. I'll play with the stock lens and the 50mm f/1.8 first before dumping more money into lenses.

Kacki - Thanks for the reply. Researching prices and which DSLR to purchase is very overwhelming. I was also considering a D90/D80 but it's $300 more. Since I am very new to DSLRs, I probably won't notice the difference. The T1i seems reasonably priced for an entry level DSLR and from what I've read.

I'll probably pull the trigger on the T1i by the end of next week. I'm trying to find a store that is participating in the Cashback program and has the rebate for the printers but having a difficult time.
if you decide to buy from J&R, would you please come back here and post what cashback they're offering you at the time?

thanks.

[lordoffire]

just make sure you get a 18-55mm lens from where ever you buy it:

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-EF-S-18-55mm-3-5-5-6-Lens/dp/B000V5K3FG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1250394339&sr=8-3


....oh, and make sure to pick up some filters.....

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-2605A001AA-UV-filter-58mm/dp/B0000C4GEE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1250394494&sr=8-5

[iamlouie]

lordoffire - Which filters should I buy? Are they necessary in the beginning?

phillie5o3 - According to the Cashback website, J&R has 12% Cashback at the moment. Normal price is $809.88 with $97.19 in Cashback savings. Final price with shipping is $712.69.

[thrillhov]

lordoffire - Which filters should I buy? Are they necessary in the beginning?

phillie5o3 - According to the Cashback website, J&R has 12% Cashback at the moment. Normal price is $809.88 with $97.19 in Cashback savings. Final price with shipping is $712.69.


how exactly do i do the chashback at J&R? ive heard of ebay cashback... but id much rather buy from a store and get the cashback.

[sanjeeva7]

how exactly do i do the chashback at J&R? ive heard of ebay cashback... but id much rather buy from a store and get the cashback.

Go to bing (http://www.bing.com/cashback/) and just use the search feature to the merchant you are going to use anyway.

[iamlouie]

how exactly do i do the chashback at J&R? ive heard of ebay cashback... but id much rather buy from a store and get the cashback.

Hopefully this link will work: http://www.bing.com/shopping/Canon-Rebel-T1i-Digital-SLR-with-18-55mm-Lens-15-1MP-Black/search?q=t1i&p1=[CommerceService%20scenario%3d"o"%20docid%3d"852F82C42161276253E5"%20cashback%3d"1"]&wf=Commerce&scope=cashback&FORM=ENCA0

I went ahead and made the purchase from J&R. Prices are always dropping but it's hard to judge when a stores will change their Cashback percentages.

The price from J&R was decent. It was $670 from ZipZoomFly earlier last week but I didn't act fast enough.

[deeds]

Check here http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=567723&t=1509807

[iamlouie]

Check here http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=567723&t=1509807

That link isn't working for me. Could you re-link?

[JackProton]

......
For $1,149.49 you can get a kit that includes Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Telephoto Lens, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Autofocus Lens, 2x Telephoto Lens, Pro 0.45x Wide Angle Lens, a few filters, SD Cards, an external flash
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270436397368&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en#ht_11691wt_1169
......


These sorts of kits usually offer a pile of useless no-name accessories for premium prices. For example, the "telephoto lens" and "wide angle lens" are add-on lenses made for point and shoot cameras. They screw onto the end of an existing lens. If you have a dSLR, these are completely unnecessary because you can buy a real lens of MUCH higher quality. The filters are complete generic junk. The tabletop tripod won't hold up the T1i with a lens attached and the full size tripod is of dubious quality. The "digital slave flash" won't be helpful in the least since it needs the camera's flash to trigger it. Avoid these types of package deals at all costs.

The B&H kit, however, includes name brand accessories which are actually helpful. I'll leave the math to you to determine how good a deal it is.

My advice is to get the T1i with the 18-55mm IS lens. That will save you save few bucks over buying the lens seperately. If you can get the 55-250mm IS lens thrown in for a good price, that's even better. Pick up an extra battery from Sterlingtek.com, a Sandisk or Kingston memory card or three and a case.

[thrillhov]

i bit,
picked up the kit from J&R for $712 after cashback.($810 before)
the price has since jumped to $900 instead of $810 on J&Rs site.
i live in CT so i was hoping ground shipping would get it to me this week, but it is still "submitted" i bought a lowepro off trail 1 bag to go with it from buy.com for $27 after ~$2 cashback
and a filter pack from amazozn.

[vtecb20coupe]

true. if looking for a decent deal, beach camera is selling the t1i w/standard lens kit for $809 + 6.2% bing cb. they are also selling the same thing on ebay for the same price but today, at 10% cb. mine shipped within 24 hours.

[thrillhov]

true. if looking for a decent deal, beach camera is selling the t1i w/standard lens kit for $809 + 6.2% bing cb. they are also selling the same thing on ebay for the same price but today, at 10% cb. mine shipped within 24 hours.

where did you order yours from? mine is still "submitted" at J&R, i was hoping to get it before the weekend. (only takes about a day to ship NY to CT)