The Black Friday deal: $900 as a kit with an 18-55mm stabilized zoom lens, a 75-300mm zoom lens, an 8GB SDHC card, and a gadget bag.
Price when released: $900 as a kit with an 18-55mm stabilized zoom lens.
This is yet another bundle that throws in everything but the kitchen sink, this time in a play for Canon DSLR fans. The 1080p-shooting, 18-megapixel Rebel T2i is one of the best-performing entry-level DSLRs we tested in 2010, and the extra lens, memory card, and bag included with the kit make the temptation even stronger.
Nikon Coolpix P100 | Full review
The merchant: Best Buy
The Black Friday deal: $400 as a bundle with an extra battery, an 8GB SDHC card, and a camera bag.
Price when released: $400 for the camera only.
We love the manual controls, exposure quality, adjustable LCD screen, and well-stabilized 26X optical zoom lens (26mm to a 678mm) of the Nikon Coolpix P100. This deal adds quite a bit of extra booty for the camera's $400 price: a roomy 8GB SDHC card, a camera bag, and an extra battery that should come in handy, given the P100's good-but-not-great battery life of 250 shots per charge.
Kodak EasyShare Z950 | Full review
The merchant: Office Max
The Black Friday deal: $130
Price when released: $250
If you're not ready to make the leap to a DSLR or a complex interchangeable-lens camera, the pocketable Kodak Z950 with its 10X optical zoom lens is a phenomenal option for experimenting with manual controls. The camera serves up sharp, vibrant colors and earned one of the best overall scores for image quality of any point-and-shoot camera we've tested to date. It's a steal at $130: you'll be hard-pressed to find a more versatile, better-performing pocket camera for the price.
Kodak EasyShare M580 | Full review
The merchant: Sam's Club
The Black Friday deal: $100
Price when released: $170
