Will CES make the price of this camera drop?

November 30, 2008 1:47 PM

Does it make sense to wait until after CES to buy a new video camera?

I've got my eye on the Canon HF100, which has been hovering around the $500-$550 mark for the past few months. It appears to have been released in March, 2008 at an MSRP of $899.

Would it make sense to wait until after CES (January) to buy this? Is there any way to tell whether Canon will be releasing newer, similar models at CES? And if so, would that make the price of this camera go down?

I'm not really in any rush to buy, but if the price is going to stay the same for a while I might as well buy it now. I'd like to own the camera by mid February regardless.

posted by nitsuj to Shopping (2 answers total)

CES is typically when new products are announced. They usually take a month or three to hit the store shelves. So you wouldn't see price drops at all until about then. And with cameras, they don't drop quite the level you'd want them to just because a new model appears. I say hunt around for a good holiday deal, but I wouldn't expect too much shift over just a month or two. Prices will always drop as new products come out, so if you wait all of 8 months, sure, it'll be cheaper, but is it worth it to you?
posted by disillusioned at 2:14 PM on November 30, 2008

Somewhat echoing disillusioned: The $500 range for such a camera is pretty much the low end of what I'd expect to find. Even if a next-gen camera comes along, most retailers would probably send their stock back to the manufacturer rather than lower the price for some kind of blow-out. Plus you have to consider what value there is for you in having the camera now rather than in 2-3 months.

If you can, use a credit card with some kind of price-matching service. If you buy the camera and find a better price within a few months, you may be able to recoup the different. AFAIK, most CC companies offer this service for a small yearly fee - they make their profit from the people who sign up and never use the service, of course.
posted by chudmonkey at 2:20 PM on November 30, 2008