The Canon direct store refurbished sale (15%-off) is now over, without any restock. In the end, less than 20 each of the desirable lenses were sold during the sale. As there are thousands of people waiting for a restock on each of those items, it’s no wonder these sales are nicknamed “lens lotteries”.

If you’re still looking for a lens before Christmas, we still have great street prices available — these are brand new from authorized dealers, should ship Monday, and no tax charged to most states. The mail-in rebate ends on January 3rd; historically the December rebate has been the best rebate of the year. We don’t have any info on a possible extension, but our one data point is last year’s December rebate was not renewed in January.

• $150 Rebate on EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II: Street price of $1849 AR
• $150 Rebate on EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM: Street price of $1699 AR
• $100 Rebate on EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM: Street price of $1759 AR
• $50 Rebate on EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM: Street price of $829 AR
• $200 Rebate on EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM: Street price of $989 AR
• Art 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Canon: Street price of $854
• Art 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Canon: Street price of $809
• EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM: Street price of $629

Also consider some great street prices on bodies, or check out our run down of advertised holiday deals.

• $300 Rebate on EOS 5D Mark III: Street price of $2469 AR
• $300 Rebate on EOS 6D: Street price of $1339 AR
• EOS 7D Mark II: Street price of $1639

Canon USA recently issued a statement on the gray market. Nothing in the statement should come as a surprise to our readers, we’ve been writing about this for quite some time now.

We’re not shocked to see Canon concerned about the “Gray Market”. Due to a rising dollar, falling yen, and static Canon USA prices (not to mention a strict Minimum Advertised Price), the market has been flooded with “import” models from resellers. The most poignant example was the Black Friday / Cyber Week deals, where imports were priced between $300 and $1000 less than the “full MAP” seen at authorized dealers. There’s no doubt in our minds that this was a primary motivator for the the recent price drop on select bodies and lenses.

In our opinion, though, Canon USA’s statement goes too far and demonizes gray market, describing it with terms like “illegal”, “fake”, and “counterfeit”. You do have to be more careful when buying imports, as there are unscrupulous import resellers whom we’d recommend you stay away from. But, on the whole, many readers report experiences with the major import resellers that have been very positive.

Also, many readers are concerned that “Gray Market Products may not be eligible for coverage under a U.S. warranty” — emphasis added by us. Note, this isn’t news, or a departure from their current written policy, which is to not accept grays for warranty. In practice, however, they have been honoring warranty on grays. As we always disclaim, it’s in their right to unilaterally change this practice at any time. If they do change their practice, we are sure we will hear from reader reports immediately after this change happens, and we’ll communicate it widely. Until then, it is still the status quo.

In our opinion, there is “no news” in this statement — it doesn’t strongly indicate a policy change. It shows Canon USA’s increasing concern and thus sabre-rattling towards the import/gray market forces that are invading and taking Canon USA’s market share.

Rather than disparaging the gray market and focusing on how “bad” grays are (let’s not forget, after all these are the same Canon products from the same factories), our open suggestions to Canon USA are to consider adding value to USA purchases (rather than attacking gray), be faster to respond to global price and currency changes, and eliminate the dreaded Minimum Advertised Price.

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This post is a recap of all the major Holiday deals still available, as of Wednesday, December 17th! Some can still get to you with free shipping before Christmas, but not for much longer!

5D Mark III

• 5D Mark III + PIXMA PRO-100 for $2449 AR at B&H
• 5D Mark III for $2469 AR Street Price
• 5D Mark III (Import) for $2365 at GetItDigital eBay

• 5D Mark III + 24-105mm f/4L IS for $2999 AR Street Price
• 5D Mark III + 24-105mm f/4L IS + PIXMA PRO-100 for $3049 AR at B&H
• 5D Mark III + 24-105mm f/4L IS + PIXMA PRO-100 + LP-E6 + SD for $3099 AR at Adorama

EOS 6D

• EOS 6D for $1339 AR Street Price
• EOS 6D + PIXMA PRO-100 for $1349 AR at BuyDig
• EOS 6D (Import) for $1299 at 6ave eBay

• EOS 6D + 24-105mm f/4L IS for $1829 AR Street Price
• EOS 6D + 24-105mm f/4L IS + PIXMA PRO-100 + LR5 for $1899 AR at BuyDig

7D Mark II

• 7D Mark II for $1639 Street Price
• 7D Mark II + PIXMA PRO-100 + SD for $1699 AR at Adorama

Lenses

• EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM for $1699 AR Street Price
• EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II for $1849 AR Street Price
• Art 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Canon for $854 Street Price
• Art 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM for Canon for $809 Street Price
• Lots of other street prices available…

Miscellaneous

• X-Rite i1Display Pro for $129 AR at B&H
• Adobe Lightroom 5 + Free Printer for $58.99 at BuyDig (Add to Cart to see Discount)