Canon 5D Mark II Price Drop...and Why

The Canon 5D Mark II has just been the beneficiary of a nice price drop, putting its number below $2500 for the first time. (B&H throws in two excellent 4GB CF cards and a shoulder bag to further sweeten the deal.)

This is a strategic move on Canon's part, to try to suck a few more fence-sitters out of the camera market before February. Because if you put your ear to the ground, that rumbling you'll hear is a thundering herd of new Nikons just over the horizon. (Anybody Canon can entice with a 5D Mark II now will not be in the market for the D700 replacement a month from now, in case you're wondering how a price drop can be strategic.) What's coming? I don't know anything official—no non-disclosure agreement and nobody in the know has spilled any beans to me in private—but the rumors are that there'll be some major new high-level Nikons in the first couple of weeks of February, a D700s and a D800 and maybe an even bigger surprise. If you enjoy following new camera introductions, well...cue the theme music.

Mike
(Thanks to Gary)

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Featured Comment by Marty McAuliff: "Come on, tax returns! Daddy needs a new pair of compact flash cards!"

Featured Comment by sean: "I prefer this.

Comments

[erlik]

I can't but respond with Let the River Run. :)

[Mike Johnston]

Erlik,
Ah, the good old Big Hair days.

Mike

[John Brewton]

I am one of those fence sitters, but I can easily wait the two or three weeks to see what Nikon has up its sleeve.

[Gordon Lewis]

I'm with John Brewton. Waiting is so much less expensive than buying. Besides, what true Canon devotee would have anything more than mild interest in what Nikon has up its sleeve?

[Ken Tanaka]

No interest here. I'm set for the foreseeable future, certainly on the 35mm-size dslr genre.

Certainly the 5DII will have a successor and it may indeed be coming up soon. Canon has a history of introducing major new camera models around Olympics so watch the skies in February.

Of course I've no idea what a new model will be. But I'd bet a 6-figure sum that it features more HD video feature embellishment than still photo improvements. It's the new craze and, after all, what's left to improve in 35mm full-frame still photography?

[Scott Johnson]

Come on, tax returns! Daddy needs a new pair of compact flash cards!

Hilarious! If there were a "comment of the day" contest here, this would get my vote.

[Miserere]

I am also sitting on the fence...a 2-mile high, crocodiles on one side, sharks on the other, type of fence. Ain't no price reductions gonna move me!

On the plus side, I have a nice view from here and can enjoy what the camera companies are tempting other fence dwellers with.

A D700s you say? Does anyone want to take bets as to the price? What about a D700x? Better start working on those Hitler subtitles :-)

[neil]

Canon has been sleeping too long, and IMHO even the 5D mk II was below par (AF performance, fps, shutter lag). Now Canon proline is in trouble.

I was disappointed by the 5DmkII release, and it even caused me to rethink my photography from ground. I switched back to my old faithful rangefinder camera.

Yes, I know the limits of rangefinder cameras. But I am now 10O% satisfied with my photographs.

[Karl Knize]

I think I'm pretty much done with the Nikon crawl. I waited a long time in anticipation of FF, but by the time it finally arrived I couldn't justify the $5K difference between a D3x and the MKII I use now. The D3x just isn't that much better or better made. Now, if Nikon finally offers a FF camera with pro options at a reasonable price am I going to jump back? Why should I? I've finally learned to treat DSLR development like my hometown Chicago weather:just wait a few minutes and it will change.

[Benjamin Marks]

I am so deliriously happy with my last set of mega purchases that I'm sure Nikon's announcements will hold no allure for me. Wait. What seems off about that statement? Mike has exhibited a justified skepticism about my ability to keep my palms from sweating on the question of new gear. We've all seen the symptoms. Nikon digital RF? Nahh . . . just dreaming.

Ben Marks
(who is even more out of the loop than Mike J.)

[Andy Marfia]

This also could be a delayed reaction to the Sony A850, which is still $500 less than the MKII even with the price reduction. I don't have any info about how the Sony is selling, but if I were buying into a camera system for the first time (and needed over 20mp) I'd have to seriously consider it.

[Ken]

My guess is that Canon's stratgy will be to drop the price of the 5DII to compete with the A850 and introduce a new body to compete with D700 replacement. Packaging the new 1DsIV sensor in a 7D-like body and calling it the 3D seems like the obvious next step for Canon.

[Eolake Stobblehouse]

Neil,
I am very happy with my 5D2. I'm sure the 7D and the D300 beats it in responsiveness, but the 5D2 is not bad in those areas, and it was not meant to be a sports camera, it was meant to give the max image quality for a reasonable price, and I think it does that remarkably. If it was also super-tough and super-sporty, it could not have been less than half the price of the 1Ds.

[Zlatko]

Well, one can be disappointed with the 5DII for various reasons (the AF mainly) but it's not Canon's 1 series and it doesn't mean Canon anything is "in trouble". The 5DII is my main camera for events and it has been a phenomenal camera. It's low light ability has allowed me to make some photos that I never would have made before. And it works beautifully with Canon's best lenses.

[charlie]

That, or maybe Canon just has not sold the units they had expected.

Good lord, I *almost* traded in my D700 for a GF-1 the other day.

I really need to stop reading about cameras. TOP excluded of course.

[sevres-babylone]

Here's hoping the surprise is a mirrorless camera with D700 sensitivity (with or without, but preferably with, an M-mount adapter).

[Christopher Lane]

"I prefer this."

Boy, that about says it all!

Chris

[David Boyce]

"... a D700s and a D800 and maybe an even bigger surprise."

The long rumored "modular" Nikon? Now that could be interesting.

[Mani Sitaraman]

"The long rumored "modular" Nikon?"

David, a very reliable source tells me that its going to be called the "Nikon F".

Sorry, I couldn't resist... ;)

[Craig Norris]

Quoting Ken Tanaka: *...and, after all, what's left to improve in 35mm full-frame still photography?*

Don't get me started... I have a long list.

[grant]

I too am a very happy 5DII owner. Anything from either Canon or more so Nikon given glass investment is going to have to be exceptional to get me out of the field and bothering to look. The 5DII has me taking photos not caring anymore about what the next camera features. Can't be bad.

[Flaneur (Albano Garcia)]

This is the video for the thread:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_H8TOKcfjg

[Jon Porter]

I'd rather see Nikon rediscover the f/4 zoom. An f/2.8 zoom isn't as critical for digital as it is for film, especially given it's bulk and price. Canon understands this, and if I ever switch to the big C, their 17-40mm, 24-105mm and 80-200mm f/4 lenses will be a key reason.

[sean]

"Boy, that about says it all!"

A link like that from an owner of a 1ds mk lll. I'm either conflicted or I'm complex...

Erm... Complex, it's as simple as that

[Herman Stehouwer]

Rumors are rumors. What will be will be.

I am more exited about the 40-year old rangefinder is good working condition that is coming in the mail tomorrow.

[Andy]

You just have to look at either Nikon or Canon rumours dot com to see all the latest rumours which are rife, with it being PMA next month, yes it’s the silly season. I expect there will be pre PMA launches by both C & N early next month, and you never know Sony may bring out 3 version of yet another entry level DSLR :)

[Michael Eckstein]

It's all about the lenses. Until Canon lenses will work on Nikon bodies I'm sticking with Canon. My 400 ƒ5.6 and 70/200 ƒ4 are all the weight that this 73 year old can handle.

[TSJanik]

Maybe it's in response to this rumor:

http://photorumors.com/2010/01/07/pentax-evil-645d-price-rumors/

$6500 for a 645D would certainly get me off the fence

[David Dyer-Bennet]

Andy: I'm having a little trouble mixing the concepts "buying into a camera system for the first time" and "needed over 20mp" here!

[David Dyer-Bennet]

It's probably just a historical artifact, but the "low-pro" space has been interestingly divided; Canon got the high-res piece (5D), but Nikon got the fast-action (D300, D700). I suppose the next step is for both of them to compete for both pieces.

Looks like the "high-pro" space contains high-speed vs. high-res choices from both N and C, the "lo-pro" space has only one (as above), and then down in hi-consumer (D90 on the Nikon side) and lo-consumer (D5000 etc. on the Nikon side) it makes sense to not subdivide.

(The "space" names are somewhat arbitrary, and lots of cameras are used outside their defined space. I, an amateur, shoot a D700, and I know pros who shoot D90s and things (often as a secondary backup or something, but they shoot them).)

[A M Johnson]

The other side of this is the rumored 3D and the 5D mkIV, both full frame cameras. Canon would never lower the price without an interest in reducing inventory of that item either.

[AYRTON360]

These are great news for NIKON users like myself :-)
Thanks for telling me
Cheers
Ayrton360