T3i with kit lens $649 it's up again

Seems these deals between the T3i / T2i / 7D and 5D2 are coming every few days - this time around it's the T3i with kit lens http://www.ilikecheaps​tuff.com …a-with-ef-s-18-55mm-lens/

Well canon has done a great job at killing the 2nd hand market for those of use that want to upgrade. The prospect of getting maybe 500 out of my T2i and kit lens along with the batteries and SD card is really not worht selling. I paid over 1100 for everything new with a bag. I offered a guy 700 today for my T2i kit lens, with 3 Hoya ND filters a stepup ring, my other bag, the 2 extra lenmark batteries, and the 2 Sandisk Extreme Pro 8gb and 16gb cards, and he said someone was selling almost the same amount of stuff minus the ND filters for 500 bucks. It is not the right time to sell these cameras I guess with all the sales and rebates. Those are supposed to end on the 7th, but who knows at this point. Canon may extend them since their stuff is flyng out the doors.

I will have to hang onto my T2i for awhile longer.

Here's the thing, and take none of this with any offense. I've been buying DSRLs since the 10d, which I paid $1500 for the body and later sold for $250 on eBay, with the optional $300 grip. I then proceeded to pay nearly $2300 for a used 5d, which I sold a few months ago for $1100 to buy a 5d2, which I got a great deal on at nearly $1,000 less than when they first came out and MSRP was $3300.

Photography is more than a hobby for me, I use my camera gear to make money. Sure, I got hosed on my 10d but I can't even begin to tell you how many thousands of dollars I made, especially compared to shooting the EOS A2 I had prior to it (and still have because it's only worth about $35 now).

If you don't make money with your gear and it's a true hobby, then that's what it is. I have several other not-so-cheap hobbies, like road cycling. My carbon fiber bike is awesome, but I bought it used for a fraction of what the original owner paid for it and I'll sell it for less than I paid, but I feel I got my monies worth out of it. If you're buying gear in the hopes of a high resale value, or waiting for the next newest and super great thing to come out, you're buying for the wrong reason. Buy gear because it does exactly what you want it to do. Quick story - a friend has a small business that's reliant on him updating his site (I built him a site based on WordPress so he could do it himself) with new product shots. After evaluating several options and possibly hopping on one of these T3i / T2i deals + a macro lens, even a lower priced Tamron (which I prefer over Canon anyway) it's still a LOT of money for what will only ever end up on the web, no larger than 800px wide. It makes more financial sense for him to buy the G12, on sale for like $379 at B&H or a used G10 for $125 less because it's a great camera, has amazing macro abilities and can be connected easily to studio strobes. Find the proper answer for the solution, cost of ownership is irrelevant.

The funny thing is that those sale prices don't kill the used market as much as you think. You can see items for sale here now at higher prices than they were available for new (on sale) within the previous few weeks.

The reality is that some people constantly scour the deals, new and used, and understand where pricing should be. Others just pop in when they are ready to buy something, and may not look beyond the first page or two of the Classifieds before making a decision.

The trick is to be a patient buyer and seller. If you have to have something now, or have to sell it now, you are likely to come out on the short side of the transaction.

As someone who used to burn through 6K a year in my paintball hobby, as far as hobbies go, this one is cheeper.

Skiing also takes a little bit of money out of my pocket. I have a friend into auto racing. I don't want to even know how much he goes through in a year.

Hobbies are expensive, especially is you want to do them at the highest level. You can buy a camera for 50 dollars that allows you to make it your hobby. We chose higher end equipment, so we pay for it

Just the way things go.

Coming into this hobby, I had no clue what kind of resale people were expecting to get. It's both nice and disappointing at the same time. I really wish I could get into some high end lenses on the cheap, but I guess it's nice to not worry about it when I do invest. It's just sad to read the stories about how much the prices have increased over the last few years.

As for bodies, I'm surprised they hold value like they do. Maybe canon realizes the used market is essentially up for grabs, but realistically they are dumping inventory to close out the year. It's better to sell those units for a small profit than it is to have them sitting around.

The nice thing is that lenses can be rented now for super cheap if you only need it for a short time.

No Angle wrote in post #13618370
I will have to hang onto my T2i for awhile longer.

it's only going to drop in value...cameras aren't like lenses...they only go in one direction...down...

mafoo wrote in post #13619482
As someone who used to burn through 6K a year in my paintball hobby, as far as hobbies go, this one is cheeper.

i feel like you only need a few months, and a few lens purchases to see how expensive it can get

I'm extremely pleased that I sold my 4 month old T3i body for $600 locally after seeing this. Sold it today actually and ordered me a 60D