Should I wait till next year to buy a camera?
 

Circuit City if filing for bankruptcy.
Circuit City Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - Companies * US * News * Story - CNBC.com

Luxury retailers are also getting slammed.
luxury retailers - Google News


Even lobster is cheap.
Lobster prices at 20-year low - News

I talked to one guy in Maine who told me he eats lobster once a week since it is cheaper than hamburger and the lobster industry has been advertising to encouarge more people to buy.

With all of this going on should I wait to buy for a new camera next year in order to get a better deal?

Depends on your situation - there's ALWAYS a "better deal" out there somewhere... you can wait forever if that's what yu're holding out for. Technology items by their very nature become better and cheaper as time passes.

Figure out what your use of the camera is, what your budget is, and go shopping - prices are pretty soft already... if new is too much buy a gently used unit.

General rule - you cannot shoot video with a camera you do not have...

buyers axiom - the thing you just bought just went on sale somewhere else... for less...

The rule of technology - the cool new latest greatest gadget you just bought is already obsolete or superseded by a new improved version, or a competing toy...

Wisdom... if you have a use for something, buy it, don't look back, enjoy it...

HTH!

Dave's right. If there's a camera out there that will work for you, get it. If not, don't and wait for one that is.

If you're asking for advise on how the current economic slump will effect camera prices, well a Ouija board will give you as good answers. I spend too much time listening to "market pundits" and no two of them seem to agree. It's so bad that some of them will disagree... with themselves!

Meanwhile I have to run across the border for some lobster.

My position as a working pro is:
Will a new camera allow me to do things I can't do currently and if it can, can I pay for it with the work it generates in 6 - 12 months?

If the answer is yes and I'm not currently "poor" (ie. waiting for cheques from clients), I buy.

If the answer is no, I wait.

In terms of consumer gear (for me, my still cameras), it really is more about how much do I want it, can I use it immediately and am I "poor" (see above).

Gear doesn't appreciate in value, gear doesn't go up in purchase price and gear eventually becomes obsolete.

Just like the stock market (a bad example THESE days, but I'm talking HISTORICALLY...), buy on fundamentals. Might you get it cheaper? Sure. Could you have used it in the interim? Probably. You know yourself better than I do; which is more important: having and using a new camera or paying as little as reasonably possible?

One other point to ponder. I read somewhere that Sony will probably raise their prices 10% in December due to the value of the dollar and the economic instability we are experiencing.

I just stopped on my way home at one of the CC stores closing (they are closing almost all of them in my area). In a way I'm glad they are going... they always had higher prices. Best Buy must be in seventh heaven.

If you think you can get fantastic deals, well... you're not. The discount is only 5-15%. That may change as time goes on, they just started today - but by the time prices drop, the good stuff will be all gone.