If you are interested in a brand new 1D-X at a great price (even better than the current $5699 unauthorized dealer price), please be sure to sign-up for a notification on our 1D-X page (click the ‘Notify’ button) before midnight Eastern Time tonight.

In general, sign-up for notifications on things that you are interested in and we can keep you up to date with the latest deals!

[UPDATE: Thank you for your interest in the group-buy — it is now closed, as the retailer is out of stock. This went really quickly — we filled up all the group buy slots within 45 minutes of the e-mail going out. There will be more group-buy opportunities on other items soon.]

The Canon Price List is a sea of red: a strict Minimum Advertised Price, or MAP, has been enforced on almost all bodies and lenses. It appears to be so strict that stores aren’t even allowed to use the old “add to cart” trick. Not a single store is less than full MAP, even in-cart or at checkout. This is exactly as we warned last week.

Again, MAP does not prevent a retailer from selling below the advertised price, but in our experience it does result in higher prices because stores are not actively competing against one another. We are waiting to see how this will play out, but so far, the strict adherence to this new policy is ominous.

Again if you’re interested in a specific item be sure to sign-up for a notification at a price that you’re interested in, we will continue to find ways to share the current price trends across the Canon market.

The Canon Direct Store sale, 20% off refurbished bodies, lenses, and flashes, was extended two days. It now ends on March 31st.

This gives us hope that there’ll be time for one more restock before the sale ends Monday night.

You can see what is currently in stock on the CanonPriceWatch Refurbished Stock Tracker, and set notifications to get e-mailed when things go back in stock.

Here are some of the best deals we’ve seen during this sale.

• EOS 60D for $460.79
• EF 28mm f/2.8 IS USM for $351.99
• EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Pancake for $127.99
• EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II for $1599.36 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM for $1471.36 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF 200mm f/2L IS USM for $3839.36 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM for $563.19 Not in stock (set notification)
• Speedlite 600EX-RT for $351.99 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM for $1359.20 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF 50mm f/1.2L USM for $1295.20 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM for $1759.20 Not in stock (set notification)
• EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM for $415.99 Not in stock (set notification)

Unfortunately, we can now confirm the price change rumor we posted earlier this week. Canon will strictly enforce their “Minimum Advertised Price”, or MAP, starting April. We expect to see the listed price at all stores go up to MAP. We’re told that the usual “add to cart” trick will not be permitted.

This would explain the recent spike in great deals as stores rush to clear inventory at low prices.

MAP does not prevent a retailer from selling below the advertised price. However, in our experience, it keeps prices high as retailers are not openly offering deals and competing against one another.

This is the third attempt at MAP enforcement from Canon. The previous two lasted several months each, with good deals being extremely rare during those periods. We don’t know how long this new strict MAP enforcement will last.

At this time we recommend purchasing at the current low after-rebate, refurb, or deal prices.

• The mail-in rebate ends Saturday, March 29th.
• The Canon refurbished sale ends Saturday, March 29th.
• Various other deals are going on this week, for example the 5D Mark III for $2675.
• Sign-up for a specific item notification on CanonPriceWatch.
  Occasionally we will have special deals and group buys.
• Feel free to contact us and we can always help find you a deal.