The price of (quality, leading brand) CF cards has dropped again. You can now get Sandisk Extreme 3′s for less than $30 per 4 gig card or close to $40 per 8 gig card. So yeah, we blew right past $10 per gig and we’re headed straight for $5 per gig! WOW. (The super-fast stuff, like Sandisk extreme 4, is rapidly approaching $10 per gig, too. MY PREFERRED MEMORY CARD, the Calumet Pro-spec 305X UDMA, is now $49 per 4 gig card. A 4 gig Delkin 350X (wow!) UDMA is also $49, I might have to try that stuff sometime… When you shoot landscape photos in 14-bit un-compressed 12 megapixel RAW, you need a lot of cards!)

I have also just spotted a used Nikon D3, in mint condition for just under $4000!!! WOW! Grr I want…

Used D300′s are down under $1400, too, but I have not seen any used D700′s on the market yet. New they can be had for as little as $2700, the price of a (yet unreleased) Canon 5D mk2.

Speaking of Canon, the 5D mk1 can be had for AS LITTLE AS $1370!!! (If you already have batteries + charger and are just looking for a backup body. Or maybe you’re getting a 5D mk2 as your workhorse, but need a 2nd body / backup?)

I have to say that is un-precedented. Even the much older, 11 megapixel 1Ds mk1 is still going for $1600. Of course that’s a 1-series body that will survive armageddon, but yeah. There must be truck-loads of 5D mk1′s hitting the used market right now; making it the perfect time to buy. If you are a studio / landscape photographer who doesn’t mind crappy autofocus, You really MUST own one!!!

For sports shooters, Canon 1D mk2′s are down to $1700. Highly advisable for anyone who, unlike the studio / landscape photographers, needs speed and accuracy…

For the Canon D-rebel shooters looking to upgrade, (and not considering Nikon / Olympus / Pentax?) …The 30D is now down to about $600, an awesome buy, and used 40D’s (If you just have to have that ridiculously large LCD) are down to $750-ish.

The most affordable, pro-grade full-frame high-res camera body, the 1Ds mk2, (16 megapixels) can be had for $3500 in mint condition or $2900 in “bargain” condition. Not bad, but I’d rather have a D700 I think…

At any rate the verdict is, unless you’re one of the poor out-of-luck (or out of a job) folks who are the victims, the substance (the cause?) of this financial / housing economic crisis, it’s nothing but good news! Prices are way down all across the board. Used camera prices are down, and gas is hitting record lows so now you can make those road trips to the awesome places you’ve been meaning to photograph!

=Matt=