Nikon & Canon Go On A Rebate War – Good Times For Shopping Glass

If you haven’t heard by now, this month might be a good time to grab a new lens for your gear. Two giants in DSLR manufacturing have rebates in place for select lenses until the end of this month.

Canon is offering mail-in rebates for twenty of their L-lenses; the exact rebate is $200 off, and the deal’s expected to last between today and March 29th. You can order the following lenses off of B&H and Amazon, and enter for the mail-in rebate here. Apparently, the rebate’s given in the form of an American Express gift card, but you can have the card refunded if you want.

Here’s the list of lenses Canon’s offering with the rebate:

• $150 off EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM: $1398 (B&H | Amazon)
• $100 off EF 17-40mm f/4L USM: $739 B&H|Amazon)
• $200 off EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM: $1999 (B&H|Amazon)
• $200 off EF 24-70mm f/4L IS USM: $1199 (B&H|Amazon)
• $200 off EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II: $2159 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM: $1349 (B&H|Amazon)
• $150 off EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM: $1148 (B&H|Amazon)
• $80 off EF 70-200mm f/4L USM: $629 (B&H|Amazon)
• $200 off EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM: $1229 (B&H|Amazon)
• $200 off EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM: $1349 (B&H|Amazon)
• $150 off EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM: $2084 (B&H|Amazon)
• $150 off EF 24mm f/1.4L II USM: $1518 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 35mm f/1.4L USM: $1229 (B&H|Amazon)
• $150 off EF 50mm f/1.2L USM: $1469 (B&H|Amazon)
• $150 off EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM: $2039 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 135mm f/2.0L USM: $989 (B&H|Amazon)
• $50 off EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM: $719 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 300mm f/4.0L IS USM: $1219 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 400mm f/5.6L USM: $1169 (B&H|Amazon)
• $100 off EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM: $933 (B&H|Amazon)

[dont forget your Mail-in rebate form]

*(All items are, of course, priced with the rebate included.)

While on one hand Canon just launched its rebate deals, which look just as promising as their past ones, Nikon has extended the deadlines for rebate plans it’s already had in effect. From now until the 29th, the company’s offering rebates of up to $400 dollars on the following AF-S Nikkor lenses. (Luckily, no forms needed for this one)

• 28mm f/1.8G – $100 off (B&H)
• 40mm f/2.8G DX Micro – $30 off (B&H)
• 50mm f/1.8G – $20 off (B&H)
• 50mm f/1.4G AF – $100 off (B&H)
• 85mm f/1.8G – $100 off (B&H)
• 85mm f/3.5G ED VR DX Micro – $100 off (B&H)
• 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED VR Micro – $185 off (B&H)
• 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED DX $150 off (B&H)
• 16-35mm f/$g ED VR – $300 off (B&H)
• 16-85mm f/3.5-5.5-5.6G ED VR DX – $100 off (B&H)
• 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II DX – $250 off (B&H)
• 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5G ED VR – $100 off (B&H)
• 24-120mm f/4G ED VR – $300 off (B&H)
• 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR – $150 off (B&H)
• 80-400mm f/$.5-5.6G ED VR – $400 off (B&H)

I like the fact that these lenses are starting to have more and more affordable deals coming up for them. DSLR cameras are something I didn’t see too often in my community; and even though many people are beginning to be more content with the cameras they have on their smartphone, I’ve been seeing more and more people gaining an interest in DSLR photography and making the move to buy some gear. Maybe these deals are a sign of a new trend coming into fruition for lowered lens prices, especially with the news of Sigma’s lens tests a few days back. What do you guys think about the extensions Nikon just set? What about the surplus of rebates this month in general? Drop by below and let us know what you think.