Happy Friday! Just wanted to give a quick reminder to our readers about the Nikon “buy together and save” instant rebates that are expiring tomorrow (04/27/2013). While these deals are not as good as the previous instant rebates on Nikon lenses, you can still save up to $550 when buying a DSLR with a lens and/or a speedlight. The newly released Nikon D7100 (see our Nikon D7100 coverage), which has already been discounted by $100 for the 18-105mm kit, is also included in this program. From what I am getting told, these rebates will not be extended further, probably not till the end of the year.
The rebates include the following cameras:
- Nikon D7100
- Nikon D600
- Nikon D7000
- Nikon D3100
- Nikon D3200
- Nikon D5100
- Nikon D90
- Nikon D800/D800E
- Nikon D4
For DX cameras, the following lenses and speedlights are included in the rebate:
- Nikon 18-200mm DX VR II
- Nikon 70-300mm VR
- Nikon 28-300mm VR
- Nikon 55-300mm DX VR
- Nikon 24-85mm VR
- Nikon 55-200mm DX VR
- Nikon 85mm f/3.5G DX VR
- Nikon 18-105mm DX VR
- Nikon SB-910 Speedlight
- Nikon SB-700 Speedlight
For FX cameras, the list is the same, minus all the DX lenses.
Click here to access the current rebates at B&H.
I am working heavily on reviewing the Nikon D7100 DSLR and the new Nikon 80-400mm VR. I did not want to post a review without testing at least two samples of each, to see if there are any potential QA issues. The Nikon D7100 is very solid – both units I tested are excellent, with no AF issues, dust or oil problems. I sure hope that all the negative publicity Nikon received lately made Nikon realize that they need to do a better job. My only gripe is Live View – it is too laggy and I hate the fact that I cannot select a fine area to focus on when zooming in. Other than that, the D7100 sure looks like a winner. Definitely the best DX camera I have handled to date. I will post some ISO comparisons between the D7100, D7000 and D800 in 1.5x crop mode (this one was requested by several readers) later today.
As for the 80-400mm VR, I will be doing some in-depth analysis this weekend. The first sample I received seems like it has issues on the long end at 400mm – it looks rather soft to me. Once I review the Imatest results, I will know for sure where the problem is. Either way, a second unit is on its way and I hope to test it fairly soon as well. I sure hope that my first sample was bad, because I love everything else about the lens. AF is very fast, comparable to AF speed on professional lenses and it handles great for its size. I know that many of our readers have been asking for a review of the 80-400mm VR, but I do want to make sure that I study the lens thoroughly before I post my opinion about it.
On top of this, I will be updating some existing lens reviews with some Imatest data. The Nikon 24-120mm VR and 16-35mm VR data will also be posted, all tested on the Nikon D800E.
As you can see, we have our hands full at the moment, so stay tuned for some exciting stuff!
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