Don't buy this from us.

A funny thing happens when you go shopping for this camera. Just about everybody seems to be selling it for the same price. Every big retailer, every Amazon marketplace seller, every camera store. The invisible hand of the market has done some precision work on this one, huh?

Not really. Canon requires authorized dealers to stick to their Minimum Advertised Price (MAP). So if you want a Canon camera - and you should; we love them, many of us own Canons - you’re usually going to have to pay that price for it.

Hey, wait, isn’t that illegal price-fixing? The Supreme Court said no in their 2007 decision Leegin v. PSKS, a 5-4 verdict that The Consumerist characterized as “screwing consumers”.

But while we get it, and we basically agree with the minority opinion on that one, you could call it price-fixing for a good cause. MAP pricing prevents the Amazons and Wal-Marts of the world from using their sheer gigantic bulk to squash mom-and-pop camera stores. If Canon wants to encourage their customers to buy their products from knowledgeable camera sales staff, and to try their cameras out in person, MAP pricing is (unfortunately) the most potent tool to keep those local camera stores alive. We wish more people would just patronize their local businesses for their superior service and because it’s just more enjoyable, but pricing is power.

Of course, Canon can try to cut off the supply to unauthorized dealers, but they can’t completely prevent anyone from selling a Canon camera at any price. All they can control is that word “authorized”. The power of “authorized” is such that it actually matters to a lot of consumers to know that Canon stands fully behind the camera you buy from that dealer.

And no wonder, when most of the stores willing to “break MAP” are skeezy creeps like Abe’s of Maine, notorious for offering TVs and hey, look, Canon cameras at ridiculously low prices, then calling you up on the phone to tell you, oops, that model is sold out, or it’s not for consumers, or it’s a Brazilian model that isn’t compatible with US electricity. (Seriously, this last one happened to somebody on our staff.) But good news, they can sell you another model for just a few (hundred) bucks more! It says all you need to know about Abe’s of Maine that they’re actually based in New Jersey.

So if you want a great DSLR for anybody looking to upgrade to a real camera with full manual controls, buy this Canon EOS Rebel T5 one of the following ways, in descending order of how good each idea is:

1. Go to a local camera store and pay MAP price. You’ll get to see it and hold it. You’ll get to talk to some nice, smart people. You’ll know where to turn for advice if you start getting more and more into photography. Because it’s an authorized reseller, everything will be cool between you and Canon. And you’ll be helping keep your town vibrant and prosperous. Hooray for you.
2. Buy it here from us today. It’s cheaper. You’ll get the camera. If you get any static from Canon, we’ll back up the warranty for a year. Just don’t ask us which F-Stop or ISO setting is right for shooting your moonlit pug.
3. Buy it from Amazon for MAP price. High price plus no expert advice plus helping a heartless megacorporation suck the lifeblood from your neighborhood.
4. Buy it from Abe’s of “Maine”. Or at least buy a personal phone call from Pauly the Knuckle, a legitimate businessman who’s real sorry he can’t let you have a Canon EOS Rebel T5 at that price, but he’d be happy to sell you another very similar camera for a few C-notes more, if you know what’s good for you. Remember, he knows where you live.
5. Learn to draw and spend your money on crayons. You could get really nice crayons for this price.

We’ll break MAP for those of you willing to walk on the wild side. But if you’re going to pay full price for the “authorized” label, pay it to somebody who cares about cameras and about your community. Like we said, if Meh were on the Supreme Court, we’d have voted differently. At this point, though, we say: if this be price-fixing, let’s make the most of it.