With competition coming from Canon, Sony, Fujifilm, and more, it seems that Nikon is doing whatever it can to keep buyers walking in the door. This includes a new trade-up program, which offers photographers savings when purchasing the Nikon D780.
The Nikon D780 is Nikon’s recently-released DSLR update to the Nikon D750; it features a 24.5-megapixel full-frame sensor, 7 frames-per-second continuous shooting (12 fps silent shooting), a tilting touchscreen, 4K video at 30p, and more.
While the trade-up program hasn’t yet begun, Nikon claims that you’ll be able to hand in “any working camera” when purchasing the Nikon D780. And that they’ll take $300 off the price of the D780, plus the “value of your trade-in.”
How will the trade-in value be calculated?
We can’t say for certain, but a similar deal has been offered on Nikon’s Z50/Z6/Z7 mirrorless lineup, promising trade-in value plus savings on a Nikon mirrorless model. To calculate the trade-in value, you’ll need to enter your camera model and condition. Nikon’s trade-in estimator will spit out a quote, and you’ll be able to claim the offered trade-in value (assuming that you’ve described your camera model and condition accurately).
If you’d like to test out your current camera on the trade-in value calculator, you can enter your camera model here.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the trade-in values are on-par with current used marketplaces (e.g., eBay), so unless you don’t want to spend time selling off your own gear, it may make sense to just purchase the D780 (or the mirrorless bodies) separately and sell your gear elsewhere.
Now, Nikon does promise savings in the form of $300 off the D780. But a quick look at the parallel Nikon offer for the Z6 and Z7 shows that this “instant savings” simply makes the price competitive with an Amazon offering. For instance, Nikon supposedly drops $600 off the Z7 price of $3399.95 USD, taking it down to $2799.95 USD; compare this to Amazon’s current offer of $2796.95 USD, and your enthusiasm for these “instant savings” will immediately wane.
Regardless, we won’t know for certain until the D780 trade-up program officially debuts on February 3rd. It’s worth a look, especially if you’re looking to sell off your old camera without much hassle. Note that if you’ve already purchased the D780, you should still be able to grab the deal when it drops.
