$250 GL2 Rebate 7/21 to 9/30
 

That blows.......I missed it by like 1 week. I think I bought it July 7th.

Interesting. Makes you wonder if the GL2's about to be superceded. The only times I recall Canon offerring rebates is when they wanted to clear the retail pipes for a new model.

That's exactly what is about to happen. Something new is on the way. Canon announced a few weeks ago that it would be supporting the HDV standard. That should be enough writing on the wall.

Yea, but how much is it gonna cost.... An arm and a leg???

Probably more than the XL1S.

I can't wait till they announce a rebate on the XL-1s, which will mean a new camera will be coming soon. I've had my XL-1 for two years, I'm holding out on getting a new camera until the new XL-2(or whatever it's called) comes out.

But it might be a while so maybe getting a used GL-2 once the new GL-3 are out might be in order. At least by then they will be a little cheaper in price.

It's hard to believe that canon is getting ready to dump the gl2...the camera is barely one year into its product cycle. Of course, who knows really what canon has in mind...but perhaps there is another reason for the rebate....sales are slow and they need to move some inventory. I'm pretty sure that canon, at least once, offered a similar rebate on the gl-1, long before the camera was replaced (I did a search came up two promotions, an earlier $100 rebate in Jan 2002, and a free software offer in 2001, but I think there was another rebate earlier)....anyway, my guess is that the gl2 will be around for a year or two more.

Of course...speculation is speculation, and mine is no more accurate than those above. Canon did replace its D60 after only 1 year, but rumour was that this had to do with production issues.

The only person around here who might know anything is Chris....and he wouldn't tell us if he did.

Barry

thanks very much for posting this. I almost ordered by GL2 last week, but decided to wait until Tuesday when it will appear on NEXT month's Amex bill!!

thanks again for the heads up.

My guess is that the rebate is prelude to a price reduction. After 9/30, the list price will be $250 less. It's a pretty common technique; Nikon does it a lot.

I wouldn't get too excited about a new camera yet, as Barry said it's less than a year old. As barry also said it's most likely to make it more attractive compared to the JVC and Panasonic offerings that have newer technology. I wouldn't expect to see a new GL until at least this time next year, especially with the rumored XL-2 on the way.

Dealers prefer rebates to price reductions. It makes their gross sales, etc. look better. Sony offered some price reductions a while back and this may be in response to Sony's actions. However, isn't there a big CES show in August? If they were going to show something for the holiday season, all this is timing right.

I wish I had time to wait for the next GL with hopefully a better 16:9 mode but I instead got a PDX10 for $1850 from B&H.

Such rebates can be good indicators of end-of-life for a product, but they should never be viewed as a guarantee that the process is actually happening... as pointed out earlier, sometimes rebates merely signal a change in list price. Don't assume anything.

The GL1 rebate was $100 from Jan-Mar 2002, and $250 from Apr-Jun 2002.

The Rebate also allows delers to clear out old price stock if there is a price drop planned. Easier perhaps than giving dealers credit for stock on hand and the issue auditing when units were sold relative to the price drop. It also make the GL2 more attractive relative to the VX2000 and PDX10.

Another factor with rebates is that a rather high percentage of rebate coupons are never turned in, although not likely among the folks frequenting this board.

Canon's past practice has been to keep models in the line for ~3 years. It may be that Canon will position the GL2 as the #3 product in the line, with a HD unit above the GL2 a bit above the old GL2 price point.