Find me a better deal on a dSLR than this.
 

It's time to upgrade my old D50 setup. I don't love the lenses I have so I could stick with Nikon or switch to Canon, doesn't matter to me.

Best deal I've seen so far is this:

Canon Direct Store- EOS Rebel T1i EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens Kit Refurbished

$360 for a refurb Canon T1i plus the 18-55mm IS kit lens.

Can you beat that?

You can get a Nikon refurbed D5100's for a little over $400. A bit more, but I prefer Nikon over Canon, so to me that is a better deal. Pretty comparable cameras, but I think the Nikon edges the Canon out just slightly. I just upgraded from my D50 as well, and the D5100 is a WHOLE new ballpark, especially in lower light. I found a full 9 stop difference between the two cameras when it comes to low light performance.

Yeah, the D50 really struggles with low light performance. And since the high ISO quality is so terrible, you can't really cheat that way either. Looking forward to a noticeable improvement.

Oh, you'll notice it right away, with any more modern camera you get. To me, I was limited to either 200 or 400 ISO with the D50, 800 and 1600 I couldn't use, too much noise. Even with my 50mm 1.8 lens, I could still barely manage dark shots. When I did get one worth using, it was pure luck that there was no hand shake detectable in the image. Now with the D5100 and the 18-55 VR lens, I can shoot handheld at 1/4 sec at ISO 1600 and the images come out really clean and sharp. It's so nice.

Yes I can beat that deal on the same camera. *Call* Canon and speak with the loyalty department. I got the same T1i package for $325 shipped (plus sales tax) a few months ago.

If you are taking pictures of motorsports events, I recommend also purchasing a 55-250 lens.

I thought you had to send in an old Canon for the loyalty program?

What lenses do you have? Because it would have to be a HELL of a good deal on a body to also pay for replacement glass.

Bodies are nearly disposable and should be treated as such. Lenses are what matter.

18-135mm 3.5-5.6 -- Not a bad lens, but it's easily replaceable. If I were staying Nikon, I'd eventually be wanting to move up to the 18-200 VR anyway.

50mm 1.8 D -- Great little prime, but would have to replace it with the G model for most newer Nikon bodies.

And that's it.

Best comparisons I can find so far:

D5000 + 18-55VR (preowned) Nikon D5000 12.3MP Digital SLR Camera w/ 18-55 Lens - CowBoom.com $372

D3100 + 18-55VR (preowned) Nikon D3100 14.2MP DSLR Camera Kit w/ 18-55mm Lens - CowBoom.com $387

Either of those would let me keep my 18-135mm lens. I'd still have to sell my 50mm 1.8 D.

Got any local camera shops? There might be deals on used bodies to be had.

That is one bad thing about the D5100, is losing autofocus on the 1.8D lens. It's tough to get a sharp image even when using the af indicator light. With such a shallow DOF, it's tough to get it just right.

Ben -- did you have to send in an older Canon camera to be eligible for the loyalty program? Or just tell them you really want a Canon and are so poor and oh what kind of a price can they offer you?

I told them my Canon camera was broken and I asked for a discount on a replacement. IIRC, the discount they offered was 20% off refurb + free shipping. Had to pay sales tax. Did not return a broken camera to them.

Think I'm going to pull the trigger on this today:

Canon Direct Store- EOS Rebel T1i EF-S 18-55mm IS Lens Kit Refurbished

There's a $25 off discount expiring today that brings it down to $333 plus tax.

Nice, that's the same one I got.

If you'll be taking pics of motorsports events, I recommend also getting a longer lens.

Yeah, working on getting the 55-250 IS from Brainy.

That's pretty much a done deal. Just gotta work out the logistics.

Ran into this on techbargains.com:

Canon EOS Rebel T3 DSLR Camera w 18 55mm Lens II and EF 75 300mm F4 5 6 Lens 610563301157 | eBay

That's a good price, but the T3 < T1i from what I can see, and the 75-300mm is supposed to be a bit of a dog. Almost every review or comparison I read said to save your money and just get the 55-250mm unless you absolutely have to have the extra reach (or, save your dollars and step up to the 70-200mm L 4.0 non-IS).

Good catch. Techbargains had it listed as T3i.