Some wedding photographers offer a package that includes an iPad pre-loaded with images from that special day.

It’s a simple, yet brilliant way to get both bride and (especially) groom more excited about the album — while assuring their photos won’t lie forgotten in a dusty album years later.

The digital trend is catching on, said Pennsylvania-based photographer Daniel Lanton, who bundles the iPad with engagement photos. Lanton said in an interview with Tampa Bay Online that the iPad it adds a bit more immediacy to the images, as well as a sort of permanence in a new digital age:

“I just foresee a time when the wedding album becomes non-existent or continues falling away … Now I’m selling more iPads with bound albums. I sold six in the first week.”

Another photographer, Florida-based Stephen Yanni said that future grooms light up when they see the iPad package:

“If I’m presenting photo packages to a bride and groom, I can tell you when the guy sees that iPad, he sits up, and gets excited for the first time in the whole wedding-planning process.”

Of course, if you plan on actually taking the iPad with you everywhere you go, it’s a good idea to also keep a physical photo album somewhere, even if it’s in the darkest recesses of a closet. Hard copies may fade and collect dust, but they  are much less likely to have a data failure, break, or get stolen.

(via Tampa Bay Online)

This past month Canon Canada ran a promotion where each purchase over $200 CAD came with a free collectible Canon Lens Travel Mug.

Not to be outdone, Canon HongKong is now offering a special collectible of its own: the EOS Digital SLR 50th Anniversary Stamp Box Set. The value of these collectible items are roughly in the same range (~$37), but the printers this promotion applies to are far more expensive than $200 CAD, with the cheaper one being $565.

These stamps were released last year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Canon single lens reflex cameras, and contains 20 stamps that each display one of Canon’s 20 SLR cameras made since 1959.

Supposedly only 3,000 of the box sets will ever be made, but it looks like they’re having a hard time getting rid of them at HK$280 (~$36), since they’re being bundled with pro printers now. If you happen to live in Hong Kong or know someone there, you can still purchase the stamps by themselves.

Update: If you’re outside Hong Kong and dying to get your hands on one of these sets, you can currently find some being sold on eBay.

Camera bodies are probably the most difficult piece of photo equipment to sell, since new bodies and technology are released very frequently. They lack the longevity of lenses and depreciate over time.

We’ve posted a few previous tips about buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget, but now we’ll shift gears to the seller’s standpoint.

1. Think local — really local.

Selling your own camera gear can feel a little like selling an old project car.  It’s easy to become sentimentally attached, and you want to make sure it goes into good hands.

Before posting your gear advertisements anywhere, see if anyone in your immediate social circle is interested in buying. Co-workers or fellow students tend to be a good bet.  When I was working at my college paper, a lot of photo department staff would sell gear to each other, with the comforting reassurance that their equipment would be put to good use. There is also an added level of trust within colleagues, since they already know you and you’ll spend less time having to convince them that what you’re selling is in good condition.

Craigslist, when used with caution, is also a good way to find local buyers. Be wary of scams, though — a lot of falsely interested “buyers” might email you with a strange proposal. I’ve gotten a few generic emails from people interested in “the item,” offer a higher payment via PayPal, and then ask you to ship it to some remote relative in Africa. Yeah, right.

If you do find a real, local buyer on craigslist, do be careful. Propose to meet in a safe, public place during the day, and bring a friend or two along for added security. Cash is always most reliable, as well. It might be a good idea to meet near your bank, so you can safely stow your cash after you’ve made a sale.

2. Advertise the basics.

You don’t need to go into detail about small wear and tear that you notice, or anything beyond the camera’s model and maybe highlight some important technical specifications like megapixels and frames per second.

It is helpful to post a link with more detailed camera specs, either from the manufacturer’s site or dpreview.com, for the buyer’s convenience.

But the bottom line is to cut to the chase and don’t let your advert be hunkered down by unnecessary details.

Just tell them, it’s a Nikon D200. 10 megapixels. 5 fps. Excellent condition. Body specs here.

The less you tell prospective, but serious buyers, the more they might want to respond to your ad with questions. Once you begin a discussion with them, that’s your chance to answer more detailed questions they might have.

3. Don’t include more than you have to in the box.

Naturally, you’ll need to include a battery, charger, and other accessories that came with the camera body, but avoid including interchangeable accessories that you might use in the future.

Michael mentioned in his gear on a student budget post that he made the mistake of including a high-end B&W filter with a lens he sold, but later realized he still needed it.

Hang on to those memory cards and filters.

4. On the other hand, you’ll have a better chance of selling it if you bundle it with a lens.

Though this is a bit of a contradiction to the previous tip, but buyers will be much more interested in purchasing a used body if it comes with a lens.

You probably will not make as much back on the resell, but if the market is dry and people just aren’t interested, a lens can add a great deal of buyer incentive.

However, whether you need to include a lens or not really depends on what kind of camera body you are selling.

If you are selling a professional body, chances are, your buyers will be pros as well, and are likely to have their own lenses. In this case, there’s no need to include a lens.

If you are selling a lower-end DSLR, like a Nikon D40 or a Canon Rebel, prospective buyers are probably newer to photography, and will likely be looking for a bundle kit.

There’s really no need to K.I.T. with your kit lens, especially if you’re selling the body it came with. Ask yourself: are you really likely to attach that plastic 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 on your brand new D3x? Probably not.

Selling kit lenses alone is pretty pointless as well; brand new, they’re worth less than $150.

Instead, include it with the body you’ve got up for sale, and readjust your price. Be sure to check the street value of your bundle on eBay and craigslist.

5. Include your own photos of your gear on your advertisement.

If you provide photos with your advertisement, people are more likely to click on your posting. Additionally, if those photos are noticeably different from the standard manufacturer’s product shots, they can add to a feeling of authenticity and openness on the seller’s side. Also, when you post attractive product photos, the photos can imply your own skill as a photographer, and can give you more clout as a camera seller.

Conclusion

Understand the buyer’s standpoint when selling. Check out Michael’s posts on buying used DSLR gear and buying pro camera gear on a student budget.  Don’t sell yourself short, but be aware that you may need to make some concessions in order to make your gear marketable.

Finally, if you’ve got any additional tips on selling gear, feel free to share it with us!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a giveaway here on PetaPixel. At one time I was doing roughly a giveaway a week. The last one we had here was when we gave away SmugMug accounts.

This week, I’m giving away five (5) Photoshop Bundles by Topaz Labs, each worth $179. The software is available for both Windows and Mac.

If you haven’t heard of Topaz Labs before, check out the different products included in this bundle, or poke around on Google for reviews. They’ve gotten some pretty positive feedback from photographers recently.

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is to answer the following question:

What is your greatest fear?

Yeah… It’s a pretty open ended question.

There are two ways to respond and enter the contest, and you can use both methods to double your chances:

1. Leave your response as a comment on this PetaPixel.com post
2. Tweet your response, and include the following link to this post anywhere in the tweet: http://j.mp/pptpl

   As long as the link appears somewhere in your tweet, you will automatically be entered in the contest. You don’t even need to include @petapixel.

The deadline for this giveaway is Saturday, October 24th, 2009. I’ll be randomly selecting the five winners using random.org.

Good luck!