Daily deal – Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera + 18-55mm lens + 4GB memory card for $392

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is a great way to get one step closer to professional style photography.

This Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera is one of the cheapest dSLR kits on the market at the moment, and at $392 for the camera, basic lens and a free 4GB memory card, it is a true steal. It is on sale at Abe’s of Maine, one of the most reliable online camera vendors in the country.

Sure, the camera is “only” 6.1 megapixels, and the lens will be in need of an upgrade once you get a hang of being a pro, but it will certainly produce better results than most point and click cameras.

As with most SLR’s, the camera will usually end up being the cheapest part of your investment. Once you start dropping money on extra batteries, a bag, more lenses and a ton of memory cards you’ll be feeling like a (poor) pro before you know it!

I’ll also admit that I suck at making photos. As a geek, I purchased a dSLR quite early on, and the lack of an “idiot button” forced me back to my trusty point and shoot camera after just a few days. Thankfully our own Karen Walrond has posted a nice collection of educational articles and some handy tips on how to make great photos.

The Nikon D40 kit comes with the camera itself, a basic 18-55mm lens, a battery with charger and video/USB cables. The deal includes a free 4GB memory card. To get the price down to $392, you’ll need to add a couple of promotional codes; when you start the checkout process make sure to add “NKDS50” and “LOYALTY10”, and you’ll magically see the price go down to $391.95. Shipping is free, and sales tax is only collected in NJ.

Eye-Fi wireless memory card adds support for Youtube video uploads

by Scott Carmichael on

To me, the best travel gadgets are those that continue to get better, the longer you use them. The Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card is such a device.

Eye-Fi was recently featured as one of our top 25 travel technology products of 2008 thanks to its ability to upload photos directly from your camera to a large number of photo hosting sites (or your home PC), any time you are in range of a wireless network. In 2008 Eye-Fi added options for wireless hotspot access (through the Wayport network), as well as photo Geotagging.

The newest feature for 2009 enables the card to directly upload video clips from your camera to Youtube.

No word yet on when the new feature will actually be available, but Eye-Fi VP of business development Ziv Gillat let us know that the card would even support uploads of HD video like that made with the new Nikon D90 (and the Kodak Zi6 we recently reviewed).

Being able to shoot some video on your next vacation, and have the clips appear automatically on Youtube without any interaction is a brilliant solution, and a fantastic addition to the card. Just remember to swap out the Eye-Fi card for a normal card if you plan to shoot some steamy video in the boudoir…

Daily deal – Sanyo VPC-E2 waterproof digital camcorder for $199

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for the Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 digital camcorder. This 8 megapixel camera has all the features you’d expect from a digital video camera, including a swiveling screen, a 2.5″ LCD screen, up to 8 hours of video (on an 8GB card) and the ability to capture video in 60 frames per second in VGA resolution.

What makes this camera different, is the ability to work underwater – and not just “splashes of water”. The VPC-E2 is waterproof enough to work in up to 5 feet of water for 30 minutes. Of course, this does not make it your next best diving buddy, but you should be able to film some nice clips of your kids diving, or of the underwater environment on your next vacation.

The VPC-E2 comes complete with a rechargable battery pack, charger, Adobe Premiere Elements 4.0 (for video editing), a soft case and a hand strap.

The camera is on sale at Amazon.com for just $199, making it one of the cheapest true underwater video cameras on the market.

Daily deal – 8GB SDHC memory card for $12.49

by Scott Carmichael on

Good morning readers! If you are reading this, you clearly made it through New Years Eve without too much damage. I’ll post quietly just in case your head isn’t quite with us yet. First of all, a very happy New Year to you all!

My daily deal for today is for an 8GB SD memory card from Newegg. 8GB is enough for about 3000 photos on most cameras, and the card is suitable for high speed transfers, which is perfect if your camera can shoot HD video.

The card is on sale for just $12.49, and ships for free. Memory cards are the one thing that did not go up (and down again) in price in 2008, and the price of these 8GB cards has plummeted in the past 12 months. My guess is that this spot next year will be advertising cheap 32GB cards.

Before you click “purchase”, please be sure to check whether your camera (or other device) is compatible with the new SDHC format. Virtually all cameras made in 2008 will be fine, but it pays to be sure, as not everything will be capable of working with this card.

Daily deal – Kodak Easyshare C813 8MP digital camera for $69.99

by Scott Carmichael on

Did Santa bring what you asked for this year? If not, and you ended up with a reindeer sweater and a gift card to a bankrupt store, then this deal from Bestbuy might be just what the doctor ordered.

The Kodak Easyshare C813 digital camera has a 3X optical zoom, and takes photos in 8 Megapixels. The camera runs off ordinary AA batteries.

As is often the case nowadays, the great price is only available when you buy the camera in pink. Apparently manufacturers make a lot of pink cameras, but fail to realize that not everyone wants to be seen walking down the street with such a bright color.

Included in the box is the camera itself, a USB cable, AA batteries, a wrist strap and a camera insert for Kodak photo printers/docks. There is no memory card in the box, but the camera does come with 10MB of internal memory, enough for about 3 photos, so be sure to purchase a memory card!

To make the deal even hotter, Bestbuy will throw in a free 2GB USB flash drive and the camera is eligable for their $20 bag/card promotion, where you can buy a camera bag and a 4GB SD card for just $20.

The camera is available online and can be ordered for instore pickup at your local Bestbuy.