The Geldpress team is going away for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We will return in early December for more insightful market commentary, and financial insights.  In the meantime, have a wonderful holiday shopping experience!  The economy needs you.

The black Friday holiday shopping starts this Friday, and you can expect some amazing deals, especially on electronics products.  But before you go spending your hard earned money on a new digital camera this holiday season, please consider the cost saving benefits of buying a high end used, or refurbished camera from Amazon.  Celebrate the recession by saving money on high end, but out of date electronics.  Here are two recommendations in two different price points:

Canon Powershot prosumer line – This is the line that Canon refers to as the “prosumer” category.  The first in the series was the Canon Powershot G1.  It came out around 2000, and retailed for $999.  But it was and still is an amazing camera, with a 3.2 megapixel sensor and automatic, and full manual controls.   The latest in the series is the Powershot G10, which retails for $435 on Amazon.  My personal favorite, and best bang for the buck is the Powershot G5.  It came out in 2003, and is a 5 megapixel full manual prosumer digital, with a remarkable f2.0-3.0 4x optical zoom lens.  Manual shutter speeds can be controlled from 1/2000 to 15 seconds.  There are also fully automatic or manual adjustments for white balance, ISO, metering, flash and continuous shooting.  And it can shoot close to 2 framers per second in continuous mode.  This is an out of date camera, but it’s easily worth the $150-$175 average used selling price on Amazon.

Canon Digital Rebel – The Rebel SLR was one of Canon’s best selling SLR cameras, and it was no surprise that the first digital version of the Rebel, the EOS 300D, was an instant success.  It came out in 2003 and originally sold for $899.  The latest in the Rebel line is the EOS Rebel XS, and it currently sells for $473 on Amazon.  But the original Rebel EOS 300D is still an amazing camera if you can find it at a decent price ($250-$275 is a great deal) from a used seller on Amazon.  It has a 6.3 megapixel sensor, has full automatic and full manual shooting modes, and can shoot an amazing 2.5 frames per second.