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Nikon Discounting
May 6, 2017 18:55:36   #
JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore
 
I don't have any "skin in this query at all"; I'm a Canon 60D shooter and extremely happy with it, but I am curious.

In today's mail we received an "Instant Savings" flyer from Sam's Club, and on Page 5 they are pushing a Nikon D3400 Bundle with an 18-55mm and a 70-300 mm both are AF-S DX Nikkor lenses plus an extra battery, 32GB SD card and a 2 year service contract all for $300 after the "instant savings"; the picture also shows a bag but the print doesn't mention it. I realize that the D3400 may be a soon to be discontinued model, but that cheap with that much stuff? My ex-Nikon P500 P&S which was a piece of junk cost that much, and once burned, I'm not going to buy Nikon at any price.

If a newcomer is looking for a starting DSLR, this MAY be a good deal (that's not a recommendation), but Nikon never seems to price things this cheaply. What's going on? I've read here on UHH that in 2016 Canon beat them badly in DSLR units sold. Are they trying to make up the loss?

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May 7, 2017 07:03:14   #
NJLen Loc: Freehold, NJ, USA
 
You read the ad wrong. $300 is the savings. The bundle costs $499.

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May 7, 2017 09:17:26   #
JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore
 
NJLen wrote:
You read the ad wrong. $300 is the savings. The bundle costs $499.


Len, I saw that but when copying the ad put in the wrong number, Sorry, but isn't $499 still inexpensive for all that Nikon gear? I guess it could be grey market, but that still sounds low; there almost has to be some catch, and I doubt there would be enough Refurbished stuff to satisfy Sam's demand.

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May 7, 2017 14:28:18   #
cthahn
 
You are a Canon user and for the sake of something to write, you are trying to talk stupid by running Nikon down and listening and repeating the BS that others write on UH. Nikon is still there, they sell cameras, and no one really knows what is going on in the company. Just people like you that guess and think you know.

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May 7, 2017 15:55:24   #
jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ
 
JCam wrote:
I realize that the D3400 may be a soon to be discontinued model, but that cheap with that much stuff?


I think you hit the nail on the head with this statement. The D3400 and those lenses are the most entry level you can get for a Nikon DSLR. And, like many companies that are about to release a new improved model and they want to sell through all the older models, they will price them with incentive and sell fast. I'm sure they'd rather do this than get a whole bunch of cameras back from the retailers so they can sell the new models.

As you know, Nikon just became #3 in camera sales slipping down a notch to Sony. Sony is putting a lot into their camera division and into mirrorless camera models. I'm sure that Nikon will fight back as this is a very competitive market.

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May 7, 2017 16:02:39   #
bdk Loc: Sanibel Fl.
 
IN reality it may be a great idea for camera companies to sell a camera at almost cost. It gets people interested in photography, it gets them hooked on the brand and those people may just get a bad case of G.A.S. and move up to a better camera.

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May 7, 2017 17:57:48   #
JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore
 
cthahn wrote:
You are a Canon user and for the sake of something to write, you are trying to talk stupid by running Nikon down and listening and repeating the BS that others write on UH. Nikon is still there, they sell cameras, and no one really knows what is going on in the company. Just people like you that guess and think you know.


I don't know about Nikons which is why I asked the original question which you apparently didn't bother to read. Trying to read between the lines almost always leads to misunderstandings!!!!!!!!!!! The fact that I don't use a Nikon and the one experience I had with Nikon was not good (after almost 50 years of using Canons) doesn't mean I'd dissing their entire line; most of my friends use them with good results, but after that one experience, I chose not to.

Just to inform you the original question was "Why is that bundle so inexpensive?". Whenever any company seems to disregard their prior policies, it seems to me that the 'why' is a reasonable question.

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May 8, 2017 13:24:54   #
camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.
 
Nikon is a reputable and well respected company. If you ask me I would say that their SP model of 1957 began to displace Leica as the first choice in rangefinder cameras at the time. The Nikon F of 1959 became a legend and it was arguably the most used camera by professionals in the 50's and 60's.
Most recently they had financial issues due to poor judgement. They intended to market cameras with fixed lenses, perhaps to compete with mirrorless cameras, I do not really know and that failed.
They have periodic promotions like any other manufacturer and the D3400 is in a promotion right now. The price obviously is a bargain.
Their professionals and high end amateur cameras are doing well and so are their lenses. They have not paid attention to the development of a good mirrorless camera, Canon has done the same, and they could be paying the price.
I do not expect Nikon to disappear rather to re-structure and emerge as strong as they have been in the past. Nikon quality is still there.

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May 8, 2017 14:00:43   #
MtnMan Loc: ID
 
IMHO the package likely has two issues.

First, no one should buy the D3400 because the dodos at Nikon took out the internal sensor cleaner. Get the d3300 instead.

Second the 70-300 mm lens is likely not VR. The picture Nikon uses is deceptive in that the other lens has VR but they cover where the VR would be on the 70-300. You want VR on a 300mm lens. The cost dif is only $50.

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May 9, 2017 08:40:14   #
JCam Loc: MD Eastern Shore
 
camerapapi & MtnMan,

Thank you both for the sensible answers to my question!

Even as a Canon shooter, I really didn't expect all the _ _ _ _ I got when I was only questioning the price, not Nikon's quality, but in retrospect maybe I should have. Disparaging answers seem to be a spreading and unnecessary virus here on the UHH and much more has been appearing recently (:<((

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