Canon has a nifty “Loyalty Program” wherein you can trade in your old-and-busted (and it does have to be busted, at least from what the representative on the phone told me) Canon and get a newer-but-refurbished model at a significant discount.
It turns out that my old and very busted S200
is exchangeable for a $375 Rebel XTi, including the standard 18-55mm kit lens. Refurb or not, that is a price I can live with.
I call up the Canon Loyalty Program hotline and go through the transaction, and right before I place the order, they tell me that the XTi is out of stock, but that they can backorder it. Ok, shiny, I can wait another two weeks or so to get the camera, not a problem.
I hang up, and then realize that the Canon company told me that one of their products was out of stock, and could be backordered. How does Canon backorder Canon products?
By the by, other options included an SD890IS for $150 and a G9 for $275, but what cameras you are eligible for and how much they cost is entirely dependent on what camera you are trading in. The G9 is a particularly good deal, but I have been wanting a DSLR for a while now… and while I will not be able to exploit Nikon’s new uber-cheap prime-for-non-full-frame-DSLRs lens (see the Amazon price, not the stupid price), Canon has a pretty good contingent of lenses to go with its cameras as well.
Just think – another modular toy I can play with…
a new window
A while back, I mentioned that I was upgrading my old-and-busted S200 to a new(er)-and-shiny XTi, and, well, the toy got here: I rapidly wrapped said shiny new toy in some silicone armor (trust me, this is a good thing):…