Refurbished Canon Camera kits with a full one year Canon warranty.
Yes, you can get a quality, name brand Canon DLSR with two lenses for under $500 at Canon USA. If you only want one lens the kit is less than $350. I found these particular specials this morning.
They are refurbished items directly from Canon USA and they come with a full one year Canon USA warranty, the same as you get when buying a new Canon camera or lens. To get the one year warranty you must buy refurbished items at the official Canon USA web site (links below).
I get emails on a regular basis that read something like this: “My daughter signed up for a photography class this coming semester at college and she needs a DSLR and lens. My budget is about $500-600 and I have been looking at prices. I can’t find a camera and lens that I can afford. Can you help me?”
I always respond by saying: Go to Canon USA and look at refurbished cameras and lenses. There is almost always a camera and lens combo you can get in the $400 to $600 range.
A refurbished camera or lens is an item that has been returned to Canon for any reason. Sometimes someone just changed their mind and returned a new item that works just fine. Whatever the reason for the return, Canon professional factory techs check out the item and makes sure it meets all the specs of a brand new item, and then it is sold as a “refurb”.
Caution: Other sites sell Canon “refurbished” items but the equipment may not be checked out by Canon’s factory techs, and you won’t get a one year warranty from Canon. I do not recommend buying Canon refurbs from any place other than Canon USA.
If you buy the two lens special, you get two lenses that cover a very nice focal length range. One lens is a moderate wide angle to short telephoto lens (18-55mm) that makes a great all around lens. The other lens has a nice telephoto lens range (75-300) that lets you capture more distant subjects like sporting events and wildlife. This two lens combination will serve any photographer well. If a photographer decides they want to pursue super wide angle photography, they can always get a super wide angle lens later, giving them a nice, three lens kit.
There is one small catch. Refurbished items come and go quickly. The camera and lens combo that is available today might be gone tomorrow. If the combo you want isn’t available today, check back every day until it is available and then grab it while you can. Prices change over time too.
These are obviously not Canon’s top of the line, high dollar models, but they are good quality cameras and lenses. They are capable of creating excellent images. Teaching photography since 1995 has taught me a lot of things, and one of them is that poor image quality is almost always the result of poor photographic technique, and not from having less expensive equipment. Photographers should worry more about their skills and fuss a lot less about buying expensive equipment.
Almost all professional photographers start out using less expensive equipment. Like them, you can always upgrade later when you need to.
Posted November 17, 2023. Revised and updated December 6, 2024.
Links
Canon Refurbished Cameras and Lenses – including DLSR and lens combos
The two specials in the graphic at the top of this article:
Refurbished Canon T7 and EFS 18-55mm lens
Refurbished Canon T7 with EF-S 18-55 and 75-30mm lenses
The above two links (and prices) are good as of the date of this article (November 17, 2023). But refurbished items come and go quickly. The prices and availability may change, and these links may not work in the future. You can always check out other refurbished items.
This article is part of the buyer’s guide series that covers the best of everything photographic: Buyer’s Guide: Recommendations For The Best Photography Equipment, Software, Books, Magazines, DVDs, Online Photo Labs and More