Canon T6i Buying Options

[LCandMe]

I want to buy a 750D/T6i. The problem I am having is trying to decide where to buy it from.

Amazon is pushing a bundle package with varying lens options and other items. I am guessing most of these "bonus" items are junk used to attract inexperienced buyers. Is that a good assessment?
Amazon.com: Canon t6i

Adorama has another bundle option + rebate. The bundle items seem more attractive but again, I don't know enough to make that judgment. $650 seems like a fair price though.
Canon T6i

And finally Ebay. I am honestly sketched about buying said product here. It kind of seems like one of those "too good to be true" options.
Canon EOS 750D Rebel T6i DSLR Camera +18-55mm IS STM Lens Kit +1 Year Warranty

Any feedback and or reassurance on any of this would be much appreciated. Or if anyone knows of a better option then those listed above, please feel free to share. Thank you!

 

[FotosbyMike]

Like you said the Amazon packages are mostly junk, if you are looking on Amazon use this link http://www.amazon.com/Canon-Rebel-D...qid=1449697276&sr=8-10&keywords=canon+t6i+kit and you can pick between which lens you want to get.

The Adorama link is not working for me here at work and I am not able to find a $650 option

The ebay one is Gray market meaning you will not get a Canon Warranty. - Avoid

 

[LCandMe]

Hmm...by searching Adorama for T6i, I can see the listing.

The Ebay link says it comes with a one year warranty. Does that differ from the Canon warranty?

Thanks for the rely.

 

[weepete]

After mail in rebate its $650 so if you can wait a bit to get it back buy it from andromeda.

A grey market camera is one thats been imported from another country, usually China or Hong Kong where prices are much cheaper. It may come with a warranty, but it will probably require to be shipped back to the country of origin to get it, and the terms may differ from what you are used to. Normally Canon or Nikon in Europe or the US won't touch them. You may also be stung for imort tax and duty if the seller ships directly from overseas and thats something not always easy to determine.

 

[Dao]

My personal experience with the Canon rebate had been super good. The rebate process time was very shot. It was like receiving the rebate AE card in less than 2 weeks after I mailed the rebate form. To be honest, I really do not know 100% if that was really less than 2 weeks. However it felt like I mailed the rebate this week and got the Rebate back the next week, LOL.

 

[centauro74]

I would suggest two places B&H, they don't charge taxes and free shipping. Second canon refurbished, great price, full warranty, all the equipment are like new, free shipping but you pay taxes. I just bought a 70d, with 18-55mm STM + 55-250mm stm for $699.

 

[spiralout462]

I ONLY use Adorama or B&H. They both offer fair pricing, fast shipping, and most importantly good customer support.

 

[TCampbell]

If you look at camera gear on Amazon you need to be aware that while some of the gear is sold by Amazon.com.

Amazon.com is an authorized Canon dealer according to Canon (see: http://downloads.canon.com/dealer/canonauthorizeddealer.pdf ) there are ALSO Amazon "Marketplace" merchants who sell gear on Amazon.com but are not Canon dealers.

This can be a problem because if you are buying "new" gear then you probably want to make sure your gear (a) has a factory warranty and (b) will still be backed by factory service even after the product is out of warranty.

There are products which are "gray market" -- meaning really built by the manufacturer but intended for sale in other countries. Someone gets the gear from the supply chain in another country and then brings it into your country and offers it for sale -- often at just a few dollars less. If the gear wasn't imported for sale in your country by the manufacturer (not by a 3rd party) then they consider that gear to be "gray market" gear. Manufacturers generally do not provide support for gray market equipment. Not only does that mean that they won't honor the warranty... even after the warranty is expired they will often refuse to service the gear (even if you are willing to pay for the service.) You end up with unserviceable equipment. Some major sellers will sell gray market gear (they are honest about the fact that you are buying "import" version of the gear) and they claim that THEY will provide the service if/when required. That may be some small comfort but it's not the same as being able to have your equipment serviced by the factory service centers.

If you look at your own link to the Amazon products... scroll the left margin way way way down almost to the very bottom and you'll see a heading "Sellers". Check the box that says "Amazon.com" in the "Sellers" category and NOW it will show only those products that are being sold by Amazon directly -- and it shouldn't show cameras sold by marketplace dealers.

BTW, when you do that... all those product bundles that include all the junk-grade items disappear from the list. The most I seem to be able to find in terms of "bundles" are some bundles that will include either an extra lens (but it will be a Canon EOS lens), maybe a Sandisk brand memory card, maybe an entry-level Manfrotto brand tripod, maybe a Lowepro bag. But Sandisk, Manfrotto, and Lowepro are decent brands -- the sort of thing you would probably choose to buy if you were in a camera store looking for a memory card, tripod, or bag (so these are "junk grade" products.)

I have seen, more than once, people get the bundles with "junk" grade things such as extra "professional lenses" (really just adapters that screw on to the filter threads on the front of the lens.) Those threads aren't intended to hold anything more than filters) and had the "lens" threads seize to the point that they couldn't get them apart without breaking the lens.

A good starter package would include:
- Camera body and all the things that the manufacturer normally includes (a single battery, battery charger, USB cable, neck-strap, supplemental software and documentation.)

- A "kit" lens -- almost always this is an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens. But some "nicer" packages will replace the 18-55 with an 18-135. Some packages will add an extra lens such as the 55-250mm zoom. I've also seen the 75-300mm zoom in packages but of all the zooms that you could possibly get you need to be aware that the 75-300 is primarily designed with affordability in mind and it is optically rather mediocre.

- A memory card. You will need a memory card because manufacturers don't include a card in the factory packaging. But memory cards are inexpensive.

- You might want a camera bag. Not critical to have a bag straight away but as you start to amass more gear then it's nice to be able to put it all in one bag. One bit of advice is to use a bag that does not scream "Expensive camera located inside me! Please steal!" Factory bags with a Canon logo are actually decent bags, but I would get something else so as to not advertise the contents. Lowepro, ThinkTank Photo, Tenba, and the list goes on... there are LOTS of good bags on the market (honestly the bag choices are even more overwhelming than the camera choices.)

There is one item you won't need:

- A "UV" filter for your lens. There is some debate about the usefulness of such a filter and I confess I do "own" them, but they are packed away in their own storage case and not on my lenses. I have never seen a situation in which having the UV filter actually "helped" image quality (that was true in the days of film. But all digital cameras have a UV filter built-in to the camera body and located immediately in front of the sensor.) But I have seen many cases where the UV filter degraded the optical quality. It's sort of a shame to buy a high quality camera and high-quality lenses and then degrade the image quality with a poorly made filter that creates reflections, ghosting, flare, and reduces contrast and sharpness. The proponents say that it "protects" the lens but there's actually plenty of evidence that they really don't protect the lenses and you're better off using a lens hood to protect the end of the lens. There are some weather-sealed (very high end) lenses that will sometimes indicate that a clear filter should be put on the front of the lens to "complete the weather seal" (this assumes you would even have such a lens and that you're shooting in an environment where weather-sealing would be a good idea.) So I'd pass on the UV filter.

There are other things that you don't "need" but you might want.

A tripod is nice to have -- especially for taking exposures at very slow shutter speeds. Manfrotto is a good brand. I also like Benro. Normally a tripod should be able to take a bit of abuse -- you shouldn't have to handle it with white gloves. But there are some cheap tripods that quite frankly need to be handled delicately and I avoid those. Better tripods allow you to swap heads (the legs connect to a shoulder assembly, and a separate head threads onto the shoulders. Ball-heads are the most popular for still photography. The thread-size is a standard so you can have a tripod made by one company and a head made by another. If photography is mostly an enjoyment of capturing snapshots (and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that) then you might not want or need a tripod. But if photography develops into a passion, sooner or later you'll want a tripod -- and it might as well be a durable tripod so it's the sort of thing you only buy once.

A spare memory card is a very good idea. Memory cards are sort of like the tires on your car. Each time you use them, they "wear" -- by a very subtle but technically non-zero amount of wear. And there will come a day when a memory card will eventually fail. So it's a good idea to have a spare. ALSO... if you are lucky enough to have a memory as solid as mine then you'll be miles from home with your camera and ready to shoot some photos when you'll get the dreaded "No card" error -- only to remember that this is because your memory card is plugged into your computer... back at home. No, I've never done that before <whistles innocently>.

A spare battery is a good idea too. But not as "necessary". The truth is that a DSLR camera can shoot a staggering number of images on a single battery charge. If you shoot video, however.... or if you make extensive use of "live view" then the camera is going to go through battery power much faster. So you might want to own a spare. Batteries that don't ever get used can have their lives shortened (the electrons like to move around from time to time) so I number my batteries and swap them out from time to time just to make one doesn't get all the use and other never gets used.

There are lots of items that I'll leave off the list (a remote shutter release, an external flash, a circular polarizing filter, etc. because I don't suggesting just running out and buying things long before you ever need it.)

But if you are new to shooting with a DSLR camera, then there is one more accessory that I'd to your list... a good book!

Pick up a copy of something like Bryan Peterson's "Understand Exposure" or the Scott Kelby "Digital Photography" series (photographers here can suggest many good books.) Spend a few hours browsing through the manual and learning about your camera. These modern cameras are remarkable pieces of gear and able to do amazing things... in the hands of someone who learns how to get the most out of them. But they do not automatically take good photos -- that still requires decision making skill on the part of the photographer.

“The single most important component of a camera is the twelve inches behind it!”
- Ansel Adams​