B&H has an instant discount code for a modest range of 'prosumer' Canon RF gear:
CANONSAVEBIG
$700 off the R6: body only $1599; R6 w/24-105/4 $2699; R6 w/24-105STM $1899 and the RF 5.2mm f/2.8 L Dual Fisheye 3D VR Lens $1299.
$300 off the RF 100 macro: $999.
$200 off the following RF lenses: 24/1.8 $399; 600/11 $599; 800/11 $799.
$150 off the RF 15-30 STM $399.
$100 off the RF 16/2.8 $199 and 50/1.8 $99
YES, the RF 'nifty fifty' for only $99
Must use the discount code at B&H: CANONSAVEBIG
Maybe other stores will match this?
Edit (Jan 2023): Looks like a bunch more Canon gear has been marked down (end of January 2023). One thing that caught my eye was $400 off the R3, which I think is the first time it has been discounted.
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Original post from late Sept. 2022:
Got an email from B&H that Canon instant savings of up to $400 will go into effect on Monday Oct. 3, 2022.
Here's a rundown of discounts on items listed in the notification:
R body: $200 (down to $1599)
R body with 24-105 non-L: $200 (down to $1899)
It's unclear if other items will also be discounted. With the strong USD it would be nice to see some across the board price reductions, but not holding my breath.
Zenon Char wrote:
B&H so that would be for US customers only. Might be something North of the border.
It's not just B&H, it's Canon USA instant savings. But yes, now that Canon USA has 'geofenced' their dealers, it's difficult to get that shipped to Canada. A contact at Canon Canada indicated there should be similar coming here in Canada in a week or so. We may not get the exact same items discounted and possibly not quite as much at the high end, either. The indication was that the 100 macro would be included here in Canada, but I didn't get any other specific details.
Who knows about the reasons for the 100 macro discount. Maybe they realized it's priced too high and sales have been flat, perhaps in part due to the focus shift issue. I would argue similar about the RF 70-200/4's price point relative to the EF versions.
The 28-70/2 might be the first RF lens I get and would love to see it discounted, but it's constantly out of stock, so I guess they sell as many as they can bring in. I saw stock a few weeks ago at various places here in Canada, but some have sold out again, so maybe demand is softening slightly, but probably not along the lines of some other lenses.
I’ve read a lot of reviews on this lens and the pros outstrip the cons by a mile. I wouldn’t call it crippled just because you cannot use an extender with it. True that it’s more expensive than any other 70-200/4 lens but you are getting the lightest and smallest lens (when retracted) in this highly desirable focal range. It’s perfect for travel and hiking. I am definitely getting this lens. It will compliment my RF 14-35/4 two-lens kit really well on an upcoming trip to Asia.
EB-1 wrote:
The 70-200/4 was somewhat overpriced for such a crippled lens.
EBH
EB-1 wrote:
Is the high discount on the 100 macro on account of the severe focus shift?
I would have liked to see the 28-70/2 and 100-500, but maybe they sell decently.
The 70-200/4 was somewhat overpriced for such a crippled lens.
EBH
Respectfully, I think you misunderstand the role of the RF 70-200 f/4 in the marketplace.
They were going for best quality optics in the smallest, lightest package possible and yes that included sacrificing extender capability. But the number of people using 70-200 f/4s with extenders is not common anyway. The rest of it they absolutely hit out of the park.
There was a $100 instant rebate just recently for the RF 85/2 STM lens - and probably other lenses as well but I didn’t pay any attention to the other lenses. Anyway, it expired before I could pull the trigger on the 85 f2. Does anyone know how long these Canon instant rebates usually last?
tsangc wrote:
Do people really use extenders with the EF70-200mm f4?
I did once in a while, mainly because I already owned the Extender 1.4x for my other lenses. Even with the Extender, was a much better performer than my 70-300 IS USM. Now I own the RF 70-200 4L—wonderful lens—but I'm okay living without the pricey RF extender option.
tsangc wrote:
Do people really use extenders with the EF70-200mm f4?
Yes, I used to quite a bit. When traveling it was an easy way to get more reach, without having to bring another longer, larger lens. I also used it for sports, but TBH, 280/5.6 isn't great for subject/background separation, so it was a less frequent use case.
That was also back in the days of 8 and 10MP cameras. Now with something like the R5 or R7, you can crop in a lot more and forego the physical TC. I'm guessing this is a reason Canon opted for this approach with the RF 70-200s. Their compactness is unique among competitors and Canon perhaps calculated that would be more appealing to more photographers than TC compatibility. I can appreciate this, but also am disappointed by the lack of TC compatibility.
I have used my 1.4x many times with my 70-200mm f2.8, both v1 and v2--same sort of thing, travel reach. But I thought with the f4 focusing would get pretty dodgy with the old PDAF focus sensors. I guess I'm wrong (:
The compact RF70-200mm f4 looks like a fantastic travel lens.
rscheffler wrote:
It's not just B&H, it's Canon USA instant savings. But yes, now that Canon USA has 'geofenced' their dealers, it's difficult to get that shipped to Canada. A contact at Canon Canada indicated there should be similar coming here in Canada in a week or so. We may not get the exact same items discounted and possibly not quite as much at the high end, either. The indication was that the 100 macro would be included here in Canada, but I didn't get any other specific details.
I saw the 100 a couple of weeks ago for $350 off in Canada. Now it's back to just $100 off. The 800/11 was $300 off and several others had a fairly good discount. The 28-70 wasn't included. The 50/1.2, 85/1.2 were also discounted by $100. It may have just been The Camera Store that had the deals.
