PriceSCAN Blog

For example, back on 2/14/2005 we noted that the 8-megapixel Nikon Coolpix 8800 had dropped in price from around $1,000 last year to around $600. It's now fallen an additional 8% or more, and can be had from vendors for less than $550 (see graph below).

Time Period: 9/27/2004 through 6/6/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

The 8800 features 3264x2248 max resolution, 10x optical zoom, 4x digital zoom, CompactFlash storage, USB connectivity, movie capture and compact flash.

Meanwhile, for those looking for a single lens reflex model, there's the 8.2 megapixel Canon EOS 20D SLR . It's the most popular camera on PriceSCAN, and one which the NY Times notes is the choice of famed photojournalist David Burnett and many of his colleagues. It features 3504x2336 max res, CompactFlash storage, USB 2.0 connectivity and compact flash. As can be seen below, the lowest vendor price for this camera has fallen from about $1,500 back at the end of last summer to under $1,120 today, a drop of more than 25%.

Time Period: 8/23/2004 through 6/6/2005
Each tick mark represents one week
Red = High Price, Blue = Average Price, Green = Low Price

Actually, these are just two examples of the kind of sharp price declines we've seen in state of the art digital cameras over the last few months. Those who've been thinking of buying but were put off by high prices in the past would be well advised to take a second look at the market today. You might find what you want for a lot less.