Biggest Black Friday camera deals for 2019: $400 off Sony, $500 off Canon, plus Nikon, GoPro and more – CNET

This story is part of Holiday Gift Guide 2019, your source for the season’s best gifts and deals, hand-picked by the experts at CNET.

There’s nothing like a holiday to remind you that your phone might not be up to scratch when it comes to taking great family photos. Black Friday is technically tomorrow, but we’re already well into the flood of incredible deals on cameras and photography gear. You’ll find plenty of Sony deals this Black Friday, but if you can’t wait there’s a A6000 dual-lens kit, which is available today. Panasonic’s discounts run until Dec. 25, so you’ve got a bit more time to snag those deals (great for the pre-Christmas rush too).

We’re seeing multiple revolving Black Friday discounts on top-end brands including Canon, Panasonic, Sony, Nikon and GoPro, on everything from high-end bodies to point-and-shoots. Best Buy has revealed the largest number of Black Friday camera deals, with Walmart and Target trailing further behind. 

And the discount cycle of individual manufacturers means while some of the good deals have been released early, many remain a mystery. For instance, Canon’s released just a handful, all on full-frame gear like the EOS 5D Mark IV and EOS 6D Mark II DSLRs and EOS R and EOS RP mirrorless (these two for the first time since they shipped, so we’ll probably see better discounts next year), though you’ll find a lot of retailer sales on its entry-level models now. If you’ve been waiting to pick one of those up, now’s a good time. We’ve seen lower prices on the older DSLRs, though.

Thanks to aggressive pricing around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there’s never been a better time to kit yourself out with an entry-level-to-midrange DSLR or mirrorless camera.

We’re tracking the best deals that are available now and coming soon, and laying them out below, so check back often.

Jump to: Black Friday camera deals AVAILABLE NOW

Jump to: Black Friday camera deals COMING SOON

Best Black Friday camera deals — available now

Any newbie downsizing from a DSLR or upgrading from a phone will find this a great mirrorless interchangeable-lens model. Providing the image quality and performance you expect when graduating from a smartphone, the A6000 may be several generations old, but that just means it’s inexpensive. And there are usually plenty of bundle deals to choose from this time of year, with especially good ones around Black Friday. The A6000’s current descendant, the A6400, has a much-upgraded autofocus system and improved image processing, but it’s also more than $1,000 with a basic kit lens. And after all these years, people buying the A6000 still rave about it.

Read our Sony A6000 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

It’s easy to go for the cheaper models when it comes to general photography, but shooting fast-moving subjects such as sports and wildlife still requires a little more outlay. The Nikon D7500 takes great shots and is a terrific DSLR for the enthusiast action photographer. And at just under $1,000 for a dual-lens kit with the (admittedly meh) AF-P DX 18-55mm VR and 70-300mm VR lenses, you’ve got all you need to start out with. If you prefer to buy a better lens separately, at just under $800 the body is a nice deal as well.

Read our Nikon D7500 preview.

Sarah Tew/CNET

If you can afford to buy something a little better than the dirt-cheap options — the Nikon D3500 and the Canon EOS Rebel T6 — it’s worth it. And this is the best of the DSLR step-ups, which is a great deal paired with the 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses.

Read our Nikon D5600 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Sony’s last-generation full-frame mirrorless is a fantastic deal as a kit for less than $1,000, especially since even the older A7 isn’t that cheap. The A7 II adds in-body image stabilization and improved autofocus over the earlier model, which makes a big difference.

Read Sony A7 II preview.

A relatively fast f2.8-f4 lens makes this 25-400mm zoom camera stand out for the money. It’s a little old (from 2015), but it still offers everything you’d expect from a 2019 model, including 4K video and a 1-inch sensor.

Read Panasonic Lumix FZ1000 review.

Lori Grunin/CNET

This camera is a popular mirrorless for vloggers, and this upcoming low price includes a mount adapter so you can expand the range of lenses available to use with it from the meager selection of Canon M mount options.

Read our Canon EOS M50 preview.

Sarah Tew / CNET

Panasonic hasn’t listed any Black Friday-specific deals, but its seasonal discounts are in full swing. The Micro Four Thirds G7 makes a terrific alternative to an entry-level DSLR — the sensor is smaller but the image quality is still good and the camera is more compact — especially for this price for a kit with the 14-42mm, f3.5-5.6 II and 45-150mm, F4.0-5.6 lenses, which have equivalent field of views to a 28-84mm and 90-300mm on a full frame.

This deal was previously listed for $498, but even though it’s edged up by $30, this is still a big saving. We’ll update here if we see any more price changes.

Read our Panasonic Lumix G7 review.

Nikon

Target is offering a great deal on the D3500 with the 18-55mm and 70-300mm lenses as one of its early Black Friday doorbusters. The D3500 is essentially identical to the D3400 it replaced.

Read our Nikon D3400 review.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Canon’s step-up dSLR from the cheap T6 or T7 is worth it for the better autofocus and video performance. This Best Buy doorbuster price for a kit with the EF-S 18-55mm IS STM and 55-250mm IS II lenses also includes a bag and a SanDisk 32GB Memory Card as well.

Read our Canon EOS Rebel T7i review.

Sarah Tew

The D750 is an older model, but it’s still a terrifc full-frame DSLR if you’re in the market for one, especially now that it’s under $1,000.

Read our Nikon D750 review.

Joshua Goldman/CNET

When moving at high speeds, nothing beats an action camera for sharing the most breathless moments. The latest version of this excellent little action cam got rid of the separate mounting frame, improved on its already-terrific image stabilization and made it easier to create better-looking videos. For the Black Friday weekend, it’s down to $350 at a variety of places, including Best Buy and Target.

Read our GoPro Hero8 Black preview.

More picks coming soon.


Now playing:
Watch this:

How to get great deals on Black Friday



1:08

Originally published earlier this month; updated with new products and information.

source: cnet.com