Canon Rebates 2006 - What's next?

Well this is the last week of the current Canon EOS rebate program, which ends on Saturday July 15th, so if you're looking to by a Canon EOS 5D ($300 rebate) or a Canon Digital Rebel XT ($100 rebate) or one of the eligable lenses (up to $50 rebate) , now would be a good time to act!

So what comes next? Will the rebates be extended? Will they be increased? Will they be decreased? [BTW if your reaction to this is "what rebate program?", the see the Current Canon Rebates page].

Sorry to say only Canon knows the answer to that, but I can make some guesses based on past experience.

In the past, Canon have typically offered two rebate programs each year, one in the spring and one in the fall. The fall program typically runs from mid-October to mid-January and the spring program typically runs from mid-April to mid-July. Between these dates (mid-July to mid-October and mid-January to mid-April) there's usually no significant rebate program in operation on SLR cameras and lenses.

So I expect the current rebates to end on July 15th. Right now you can get up to $50 off a lens, $100 off a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT and $300 off a Canon EOS 5D full frame DSLR, so it's not a bad deal and I'd suggest that if you're interested in a lens, and XT or a 5D that you seriously consider buying it before July 15th to take full advantage of the rebate program.

So what's next....well, I suspect that the EOS Digital Rebel XT is due for a facelift, just like the EOS 20D got a facelift in February when the EOS 30D was released. I certainly don't expect Canon will put a larger sensor in the Digital Rebel XT's offspring, just as they kept the same sensor size as the EOS 20D in the EOS 30D. 8MP is already more than most of the competition and Canon couldn't really have a Digital Rebel XT with a larger sensor than they have in the EOS 30D. So I'd expect a few firmware tweaks, maybe a bigger LCD, availability by October 2006 and a price maybe $200 higher than the current $585 (after rebate) on the Digital Rebel XT (up until July 15th). If there is an updated Rebel XT it's not likely to be included in any fall rebate scheme.

The future of the Canon EOS 5D? Well, it was introduced in late August 2005, so it's less than a year old right now and certainly not due for an update. The earliest I'd expect to see a revised EOS 5D would be spring of 2007. I wouldn't be surprised to see rebates on the EOS 5D in the fall.

Note that all of the above is pure speculation. Canon do not talk to me and they certainly don't tell me their plans. If they did, I wouldn't be able to speculate! I could be totally wrong, but the above represent my current best guesses on what's likely to happen in the next 3-4 months.

BTW the price on the Canon EOS 20D has now fallen to under $1000 (no rebates...) which makes it a pretty good buy if you want to save around $300 over the Canon EOS 30D. They're very similar cameras and produce virtually identical images. The EOS 30D has a few more bells and whistles and the larger LCD is nice, but if money is tight the EOS 20D (which is what I still own myself) is an excellent camera and a bargain at under $1000.