Most notably, used Canon 20D’s are now below $700! Wow! For those of you who are “used” to the Canon rebel XT’s LCD size but want OTHER features that are improved, such as way better autofocus, way better speed and responsiveness, etc. etc., BUT you’re on the same budget that you were on when you got the XT, well, now’s your chance! Sell the XT for $400 or so on Ebay and upgrade…
Then there’s the 20D’s older brother, the 30D, with a 2.5″ LCD screen and not much else of great importance. For those of you who are fed up with 1.8″ LCD screens, I guess? Anyway, the 30D is now between $800 and $900, which finally puts it on my list of recommended cameras! Many of my long-time subscribers will know that back when the 30D was $1300 or whatever, I highly un-recommended it, simply because it was hundreds more than the 20D for almost no reason. So now, if you’ve got a little more cash than the people shopping for 20D’s, get a 30D!
Of course there’s the brand new, oh-so-sweet 40D if you’ve got $1300 to spend, but this post is exclusively about USED gear prices…
In the full-frame department, we’re about to break the $2000 barrier! Both used 5D’s and used 1Ds’s are about to drop below $2000, and I’m sure it’s already happening on Ebay… (I don’t shopt here, but you can if you’re gutsy!)
Get a 5D if you’re just starting portrait photography, or maybe weddings, and you really just want full-frame for its high ISO performance and shallow depth of field. The 5D is just a 30D with a bigger sensor /viewfinder, and without the pop-up flash.
Get a 1Ds if you’re interested in doing something nuts like going on a trip to India or Antarctica, or some war zone, I dunno. The 1Ds will be a burly, dependable stalwart of a camera that “takes a likcing and keeps on ticking…”
However, in the 1.3x department, don’t expect 1D mk 2′s or 1D mk2N’s to get that cheap any time soon; thanks to the 1D mk3′s strange autofocus issues that is making big-time pro sports shooters who shoot in bright sunlight hesitant to buy. (The 1D mk3 actually boggles your mind at low-light, indoor photography, however, so don’t expect THAT camera to get cheap any time soon either!
Alright, Nikon!
Used D70 prices, at OVER $600, are way higher than a year ago when I bought my spare for less than $500, including shipping. Probably because of it’s popularity, or at least it’s relative popularity compared to the D40 and D40X, which are both getting a slightly bad rap right now because they don’t have the old screw-type AF motor.
Other than the D70, all across the board the Nikon DSLR prices are dropping. The D80 is below $800, The D50 is below $500, the D40X is below $600, wow!
Get a D40 if you’re just now getting into photography and want to learn manual control, get a D50 if you want to do that and still use oldschool AF lenses like the 50mm f/1.8, or get the D40X if you’re a psycho adventure travel nut who goes to beautiful, remote locations but to whom every last ounce counts… (OR, get an Olympus E-410, which is INSANELY small and light, at just 13 oz… And the E-410 affords you an amazingly sweet lens lineup, many of which lenses are weather sealed even though the E-410 isn’t…)
D2H’s are still around $1350 but dropping, however D2HS’s are still up around $2500. (but you KNOW that price will fall through the floor if the “D300+BG=8FPS” equation proves to be as sweet as it sounds on paper…)
I’ll expect D2H prices to break below $1000 by the end of the year, and D2HS prices will easily drop below $2000. Just wait till the D3 and D300 hit the market, you’ll see!
Similarly, the D2X price is on it’s way down. You can get them in “bargain” condition, or “grey market”, for about $2500! Decent condition USA models however are still up above $3000, but that should change by the end of the year.
I have no idea why, but the D2XS is still $3800 or so. Juuust not worth it, if you ask me, considering the HUGE relative value in the “plain” D2X and the upcoming D300. (Again, especially the D300 with it’s battery grip!)
SO, that’s all for now, folks.
=Matt=
) …I get consistent, even lighting almost everywhere in the room, and I can move back or forth with my camera all I want without adjusing any settings at all!
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