Best time of yr to buy?

[agtaylor]

Could be a stupid question but is there a good time of year to start building up a dslr system? Im used to bikes (new models come in) skis (midsummer) etc.. Cameras the same way?

[Photo-John]

First of all, there are no bad DSLRs now. And it's sort of a bad habit to always be waiting for the next best thing. Better to find out what serves your needs, buy it now, and be shooting and learning.

However, there is a camera release cycle. There are two shows in the US every year and new cameras are more or less released around those shows. Camera price drops also happen around the time of the shows, as new cameras are announced. We just had one show - the PhotoPlus Expo. It was in New York, at the end of October. The other big show is PMA. It takes place in Las Vegas in January of 2008. It's about ten days after the big Consumer Electronics Show (CES). So there will be new camera announcements in the week or so before each of those shows, and there may also be price drops on some equipment as camera makers prepare to announce replacement models. A likely camera to be replaced this spring is the Canon EOS 5D.

[agtaylor]

Thanks John. I remembered someone saying something about buying after a show. I just didnt want to buy now and then find out a month later new models were released and prices had dropped. Much appreciated.