It’s almost Black Friday (which has kind of spilled over onto Thanksgiving night now), and that means there are tons of great deals out there on cameras and accessories! Here’s a breakdown of (mostly) in-store deals from various national retailers on photography gear. I’ve divided it into individual products and categories rather than by store, because many retailers have the same things on sale.

This information is based on the in-store deal circulars. Some of these deals may be available online, but most aren’t. You’ll have to do your own research on that. All information is provided as-is. I may have made mistakes. Some of these might not even be very good deals; I simply didn’t check to compare against normal prices.

Cameras

Canon T3

The Canon T3 is easily the most discounted camera this Black Friday. Just about every store has it on sale. This leads me to believe Canon is probably discontinuing the camera, and Canon and the stores are using Black Friday to clear out inventory.

Note that this is the Canon T3, not the T3i (though the T3i is on sale some places also).

  • Walmart (starting Friday 5am) – With 18-55mm lens, 4GB SD card, Canon camera bag, coupon for free faux canvas print from Walmart: $449
  • Kmart (Thursday-Saturday) – With 18-55mm lens and 8GB SD card: $449.99. With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, and 8GB SD card: $499.98.
  • Target (starting Thursday 9pm) – With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, 4GB SD card, camera bag: $499.99. (It appears this one may be available online all day Thursday too.)
  • Best Buy (starting Midnight Friday) – With 18-55mm lens, 8GB SD card: $449.99. They also say “save big” on the 75-300mm lens with the purchase of the T3, but don’t say the price. It’s safe to assume it’ll probably be $50.
  • Staples (starting Friday 5am) – With 18-55mm lens, 8GB SD card: $449.99
  • Radioshack (starting Friday 6am) – With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, SD card: $499.99. (Note: they offer a deal on the camera online, but it doesn’t include the 75-300mm lens!)
  • Sears (starting Thursday 8pm) – With 18-55mm lens and 8GB SD card: $449.99. With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, and 8GB SD card: $499.98.
  • Sam’s Club (starting Friday 7am) – With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens, camera bag, 4GB SD card: $499. (Also available online, must be Sam’s Club member.)

Canon T3i

While we’re on the subject of Canon T3 cameras, the better T3i is also on sale at a few places this Black Friday. This camera is only one model behind in its particular product line.

  • Best Buy (starting Midnight Friday) – With 18-55mm lens: $599.99. With 18-55mm lens, 55-250mm lens, bag, 16GB class 10 SD card: $779.96.
  • Sears (starting Thursday 8pm) – With 18-55mm lens: $599.99. With 18-55mm lens, 75-300mm lens: $649.98.

Nikon D3000

Let’s move into the Nikon side of things. There’s a much greater variety of Nikon DSLRs on sale on Black Friday, but they’re spread out across different stores.

  • Walmart (starting Thursday 10pm) – With 18-55(?)mm lens, 55-200mm lens, 8GB SD card, and instructional DVDs: $449.
  • Best Buy (starting Midnight Friday) – With 18-55mm lens, 55-200mm lens, 8GB SD card, camera bag, and instructional DVDs: $449.99

Nikon D3100

  • Sam’s Club (starting Friday 7am) – With 18-55mm lens, 55-200mm lens, camera bag, 16GB SD card, instructional DVDs: $629. (Also available online, must be Sam’s Club member.)
  • Staples (starting Friday 5am) – With normally included lens, free 8GB SD card: $449.99.

Nikon D7000

  • Best Buy (starting Midnight Friday) – With 18-105mm lens: $999.99. With 18-105mm lens, 55-200mm lens, camera bag, 32GB class 10 SD card: $1249.96.

Accessories

SD Cards

To be honest, almost every place has SD cards on sale for Black Friday. Most of them are priced at 8GB for $5, 16GB for $10. However, most of these cards are either class 4 or class 6. To get the optimal performance out of a DSLR, especially when shooting in RAW format, you need a class 10 card. That’s why Best Buy wins in my book for SD cards on Black Friday. Here’s what they’ve got:

  • SanDisk 8GB Class 10 (SD or microSD): $6.99
  • SanDisk 16GB Class 10 (SD or microSD): $9.99
  • SanDisk 32GB Class 10 (SD or microSD): $17.99

These can also be great if you have an Android smartphone, because these deals include the class 10 microSD cards, which can give you a lot more space for apps on your phone!

Tripods

A couple of places have tripods on sale.

  • Walmart (starting Thursday 10pm) – Sunpak Tripod with 19-52 inch range and a panhead: $10.
  • Costco (online only, must be Costco member) – Dolica 60 inch tripod with ball head: $79.99