This is exciting: we have just now heard that Canon is instituting a “permanent” price drop on 26 lenses tomorrow, Sunday, August 31st.

If you bought a lens that was recently on rebate, don’t worry, you already got the better deal — for most lenses, the recent post-rebate prices were better than the new prices. For a couple lenses (notably the 24-70 II and 70-200 II) the price drop ($200) is equal to the rebate — effectively making it permanent. The best deals are on super-telephotos that weren’t on rebate — a $700 to $1000 price drop! You can see the full list below.

As for street prices? For lenses not currently on rebate, we expect street prices to drop! We will need a few days to get more clarity on what level the street prices will fall to, so we will disable street prices on all affected lenses. Please stay tuned, street prices will be back next week!

Another likely benefit of the price drop would be a reduction in the refurbished price, as refurbished prices are usually pegged at 80% of the MAP price.

A reminder, there is also a new mail-in rebate on 5D Mark III and 6D starting tomorrow. For the list of price drops (including both old and new MAP) please read more.

Continue reading →

We have now heard from a few sources about a camera-only mail-in rebate starting this weekend on the EOS 5D Mark III and EOS 6D. We’re told the rebate value will be similar to the rebate that expired on August 2nd: $200 on either body. If true, our street prices are expected to return to $2699 for the 5D Mark III and $1449 for the EOS 6D. We are sure these prices will be popular, please use the street price contact form!

We haven’t heard of any new mail-in rebate on lenses. All signs point to the lens rebates actually expiring (only valid on purchases through Saturday, August 30th). Our guess is the next opportunity for lens rebates is probably October.

Don’t worry, it’s not too late to take advantage of the lens mail-in rebate; as long as you order before Friday noon ET and your invoice is dated on or before August 30th, you have a whole month to mail-in your form. We have great street prices available.

This is also a reminder that if you participated in the previous rebates (expired August 2nd), the deadline for mailing the submission is fast approaching. Please don’t forget!

The Canon Mail-in Rebate on Lenses is currently scheduled to expire on Saturday, August 30th. As of today we haven’t heard of any extension or new rebates on lenses. There are still a few days left, so we’ll post if we hear anything.

As a reminder, there currently is no active mail-in rebate on the 5D Mark III or 6D. We’re hoping for a new mail-in rebate, instant rebate, or price drop after this week, but haven’t heard anything concrete yet.

We always recommend purchasing in the last week of a rebate period. It “locks in” a good low price, and should a new rebate, promotion, or price-drop start, we find that most retailers can accommodate a price adjustment during the return period to get you the lower price (or eligibility for the new rebate).

You have until Friday noon to take advantage of some great street prices that are available:

• EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM for $1849 (after $200 MIR)
• EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II for $2019 (after $200 MIR)
• EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM for $1839 (after $150 MIR)
• EF 135mm f/2.0L USM for $879 (after $100 MIR)
• EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM for $1239 (after $200 MIR)
• … and 32 other cameras and lenses.