Deal Archives: Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II




Canon USA Price Drops: 5D Mark III $2299, 6D $1249 (Street Prices)


The previously leaked price drops have happened as expected: a $300 drop on the 5D Mark III, a $100 drop on the 6D, and conversion of the $300 mail-in rebate to a $300 instant rebate!

B&H Photo Video now has the Canon EOS 5D Mark III for $2499.00, and the Canon EOS 6D for $1399.00. Both include a bunch of freebies including memory card, battery, bag.

If you’d rather save an additional $200 on the EOS 5D Mark III and $150 on the EOS 6D (no freebies, sorry!), check out our street prices of $2299 and $1249, respectively, brand new from authorized Canon USA dealers with free shipping.

Also started is a new lens mail-in rebate, with improved values. Get the rebate form. Our favorites are the 70-200mm II for $1849 AR and the 24-70mm II for $1649 AR. Check out the other street prices on lenses newly on rebate.

(Our apologies: we’ve had a few site issues tonight with double-counting mail-in and instant rebates; also, some retailers jumped the gun and lowered their price early, while the mail-in rebate was still active. We think everything is sorted out now, please let us know if there still are discrepancies.)



Last Call for Street Price with Mail-in Rebates on Lenses


One final reminder that the Canon mail-in rebate is scheduled to expire tomorrow, January 31st. We’ve heard that the lens rebates won’t be extended at the same rebate value (although bodies we hear will be).

As it takes a few hours to do the street price process we strongly recommend you confirm your street price order before 1 PM ET today (that’s 3 hours from now). It may be possible, in some cases, to confirm your street price order as late as 11:59 PM tomorrow, but that’s cutting it close!

Check out the street prices. Historically, the Canon holiday mail-in rebates (which these are) result in the lowest prices of the year. You don’t need to receive your purchase before tomorrow, you have until March 2nd to submit the mail-in rebate.



Rebates Expiring: 70-200 II for $1849 AR, 24-70 II for $1699 AR


We have been told by a few people that the Canon lens rebates will not be renewed in their current form. We’re told that the next round of rebates will provide smaller rebates on lenses, and only when you buy lenses at the same time as a camera. As a result, we’re expecting the effective prices to go up after Saturday, January 31st, when the current rebate ends.

It’s not too late to take advantage of the street prices — as long as your order is entered by Friday, you can still take advantage of the mail-in rebate, you don’t need to receive your purchase before January 31st. Good thing too, as shipping will likely disrupted for many due to the blizzard on the East Coast! (Please stay safe.)

The current street prices are quite close to the historic lows. For example, the authorized dealer street price on the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II ($1849 AR) is close to the historic-low price for the lens. Same as for the EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM ($1699 AR). We probably won’t see these prices again until the Holiday 2015 rebates (our guess). Check out the price graph below for the 70-200 II to see the trend. The graph shows the lowest advertised authorized dealer price over time. The best prices occur during the November/December/January season, which we’re just about to exit.

02968-Canon-EF-70-200mm-f2.8L-IS-USM-II-price-norebate-force-graph



Popular Street Prices on Lenses, Canon Rebates Expire January 31st


Many of the recent deals have been on bodies (and body plus printer bundles). Remember, we still have extremely popular street prices on Canon lenses, brand new from Canon authorized dealers with full Canon USA warranty, and free shipping. The Canon mail-in rebates were extended from the Holiday season and expire on January 31st. We’ve been told the rebates won’t be extended in their current form (although we are waiting for solid confirmation of this).

It’s not too late: you don’t need to mail-in the rebate form until March 2nd. As long as you order it during January, you can receive the package after the rebate deadline and still be eligible for the mail-in rebate. You can buy different items and claim multiple rebates; but you can’t claim the rebate on two copies of the same item during this rebate period (which started November 23rd.)



Canon Refurbished Store Restocked — Up to $100 Off


The Canon Direct store restocked. There is currently a sale: $100 off purchases of $500 or more. You see this discount in-cart.



Street Price Combo Discount: 5D3 or 6D + 24-70 II or 70-200 II


The first-ever street price combo discount: for one week only, authorized dealers are giving an additional $50 discount when you purchase select bodies and lenses together at street price.

This discount applies to the following popular items. All items are brand new from authorized dealers with a Canon USA 1-year warranty. Discount only applies to items purchased and shipped together.

For example, a EOS 6D plus a EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM would only be $2988 AR (regular street price $3038 AR, or MAP price $3348 AR). As you know, our street prices are already quite low so these combo discounts aren’t usually offered. If interested, submit street price forms on both items, and mention you’d like the “COMBO” discount.



Most Popular Street Prices: 24-70 II $1699 AR, 70-200 II $1849 AR


Thanks to the recent unexpected price drop, our most popular street prices at the moment are the:

Both are brand new, after the Canon $150 mail-in rebate, from Canon USA authorized dealers with a full Canon USA warranty. Guaranteed delivery before Christmas with free shipping.

These are the lowest street prices we’ve ever had for these lenses, and the lowest price we’ve seen since the sales in December 2013. These prices are bringing out a lot of first-time street price users (and the usual skepticism)! For their benefit here’s a quick recap of what street price is all about:

In April of 2014, Canon began strictly enforcing their Minimum Advertised Price policy which forbids retailers from advertising items for sale below a certain mandated price. It doesn’t prevent stores from having deals, it just prevents them from telling you about it. The “street price” is a price we know some retailers are willing to sell at. You can fill out the contact form on a product’s page to get in contact with us, and we can help you obtain this price, from a Canon authorized dealer with full Canon USA warranty. All items are brand new, eligible for mail-in rebates, come from reputable retailers with return policies, free shipping, and no tax to most states. Street price orders generally ship out the same or next day.

Thousands of readers have now done street prices this year, you can read their stories here (please write a review if you’ve done it!), or you can read the street price FAQ for more details.