What was the best deal ever you've got on a purchase of photographic gear ?

I suspect many people have interesting killer deal anecdotes to tell that would make us salivate.
At the same time, I am not looking forward to hear about someone taking advantage of a distressed elderly widow by offering her $500 for her late husband's mint EF 600mm f/4L IS USM.

My best deal was probably an (EX+) 300 f/4 non-IS lens.........$600 was asked for it, $600 I paid for it. The lens is perfect.

My best deal came in the last few months...$300 for a great condition 20D and grip. I'll hold onto it for a while yet until I have enough in the bank to upgrade to a 40D.

Ryan

I've had quite a few "best deals", here are a few recent additions:

My former US D700 for $2000 (brand new)
My US 24L II for $1480 (brand new)
My Canon 5D for $900 (very good cond with 3000 shutter count)

Those are excellent deals, good money saved.
Some folks had real big hits not long ago on 1DsMkIII's from Dell. Before that, Dell again, thru a mistake or otherwise, supplied a bunch of people with brand new 1DMkIIN's at very substantial savings.

Bought a mint Canon 200 1.8L from a Canon rep for $1700.

My best deals have been on OM MF lenses, but I think the $140 I paid for my Zeiss 1.7/50 was a low price for what this lens is capable of.

joeisayo wrote:
Bought a mint Canon 200 1.8L from a Canon rep for $1700.
I think you win.

Mine are small items.

Tamron 1.4x TC for $45
Canon non-USM 100mm macro for about $200
Arca Swiss B-1 Ballhead for $120 with a RRS plate

Mark

joeisayo wrote:
Bought a mint Canon 200 1.8L from a Canon rep for $1700.

Joe, don't say.....you didn't.
When was that

Years ago I bought a Leica 280mm R lens at a flea market for $40. A couple of weeks later I traded it even at a camera show for a black Leica M4 body. I still have the camera, although I never shoot film anymore.

(used) New Mamiya 6 with 75mm lens. LEDs in viewfinder were a bit dim (hard to see in daylight) but the focus was SPOT on. Some loss of paint, but no real damage to the camera nor lens. Lens had a small "floater" in one of the elements behind the lens shutter. Doesn't seem to impact quality, that I can tell.

Paid $600 cash for the set.

PetKal wrote:
joeisayo wrote:
Bought a mint Canon 200 1.8L from a Canon rep for $1700.

Joe, don't say.....you didn't.
When was that


$2500 i take it away from you please

A brand new in box Zeiss 85/1.2 for $3300.

Canon 400/2.8 non-IS - $1500 Cdn
Canon 300/2.8 non-IS - $2000 Cdn
Canon EF 1.4x II & 2x II - both $400 Cdn

Felt I got a good deal on these.

A friend of mine picked up a 16-35 for $400 or so.

Maybe not the best deal ever, but my recent 40D & 28-135 (like new) refurb from Adorama was already a good deal @$799 but it's better now since the same refurb now costs $899! I got a nice body upgrade & my wife got a starter lens for her 1st DSLR. Worked out great for both of us!

Omar

40D for US$550 at the B&S here. This was in January, before the inflation kicked in. Also, a 24L mkI for US$750 locally.

I have made some amazing deals, but the best is: an ugly-looking cosmetically and minty optically Pentax-K 50/1.2 for 30 dollars. Add more $30 for caps and adapter and...

Brand New 400 5.6 L for 500.00

My HP Designjet 30N with tons of extra ink for 65.00

Newegg's buy-a-lens-and-get-a-free-580ex deal.

So I did.



I cherry-picked the best 17-40 (one of the new ones was better than my current copy) and sold everything else.

Long time ago, back when the internet was new...seriously this was probably 94 or 95...I ordered a Nikon N90s film body from one of those places in NY - don't even remember the name anymore. They shipped the camera fine, but I waited and waited and they never billed my credit card. By the time I finally decided to call them back they had vanished and gone out of business...probably from losing so much money due to lousy bookeeping! I got 10 solid years of use out of that body before making the switch to Canon dSLR's (I even turned it on the other day and it still works just fine)!