Topic: should i buy this? (canon S2 IS)

[oniontaper]

this seems like a good deal, but i'm not real sure as i'm a total photo newbie.

my plan was to buy the camera @ the lowest price i've been able to find (439.00 btw)  and upgrade memory, lens's, carry bag, tripod, etc.... down the road. (seems like it could add up)

but here i have found it as a all in one package on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/CANON-PowerShot-S2-IS-1500-Advance-Kit-NEW_W0QQitemZ7545328844QQcategoryZ48539QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

can anyone offer any insight on this please? would you buy, or be sceptic of the 'too good to be true theory?'

tia
Jesse

[dmonterisi]

i'd be wary of these package deals on ebay.  they cram a bunch of mediocre accessories in that you may not really need and are relatively low quality in order to increase the price.  also, alot of these sketchy merchants on ebay sell gray market gear that may have trouble being warranted through canon.  further, they often break stuff out of its package and sell you refurbished gear without telling you.  investigate the seller before puchasing anything like this.

i have never used the S2 IS, but it gets excellent reviews, and for its price point supposedly has excellent image quality and the lens is supposed to be a substantial step above regular P&S cameras.  bear in mind, that they are not actually selling you wide-angle or telephoto lenses.  they are adapters that screw onto the outside of the lens and change the perspective of the lens.  at least this is my understanding.