Canon 5D Mark II: Adorama

Within a hour of having read on 1001 Noisy Cameras that Adorama had the Canon 5D Mark II in stock, I sauntered rather skeptically down there to investigate the report with my VISA card in my back pocket.

As I expected, the somewhat condescending (note: condescension arising from the knowledge that he had an item that many people wanted) salesman flashed his gleaming canines, and told me they had run out of stock, but he had a bunch of the Canon 5D Mark II in kit form for the grand amount of $3499...and he even showed me the box...as if that would tempt me.

As they say in Alaska, thanks but no thanks. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that lens, its price point is reasonable...but I just don't need it...and this brings me to why Canon dropped the ball in marketing this camera.

In my opinion, Canon missed the holiday buying spree by about 3 weeks. In the long run, it may not lose sales volume because of this, but many photographers now wonder why the camera was uncharacteristically late. Was that caused by some unresolved tech problem, like the black spots?

The other is the illogicality of its bundling the Canon 5D Mark II with a lens in kit form. The large majority of its buyers are professional working and serious photographers with little interest in adding another lens to their original inventory. Selling the camera in kit form is aimed at first-time buyers, and that's why these are now unsold at some retailers. Is Canon trying to get rid of its EF 24-105L Image Stabilized Lens by bundling it with a best selling camera?

I just don't get it.

Note: Another thing I don't get: The price of a BP-E6 battery grip for the 5D II is about $380, and an extra LP-E6 battery costs $80...a total of $460. That's more expensive than an EOS Digital Rebel XTi body!

Yep...I'm in a bad mood.