Casio Accepts Camera Trade-Ins

April 4, 2006 - Snapshooters who buy a Casio digital camera at a "participating authorized retailer" can trade in an old digital camera or camcorder for cash. The deadline for completing the trade-in is January 31, 2007. Buying a Casio Exilim EX-Z600 or EX-Z850 garners an extra $20, if the purchase is made before July 8, 2006.

Casio is serious about getting the old cameras. The trade-in website - http://exilim.casio.com/tradeup/index.html – includes a form that generates an estimate for the trade-in value of customers' cameras, and explains how to print out a prepaid shipping label to send in used cameras. Dealtree Services, Inc. is handling the trade-ins, the payments, and presumably auctioning off the old cameras.

Curious about how much your tired, old camera might bring in the trade-in market? So were we. The estimator doesn't list specific cameras, but it accepts brands, resolution, zoom range and several other parameters. A hypothetical 3-megapixel compact with a 3x zoom would knock down about $41. Last holiday season's popular Canon PowerShot A510 – something we tapped as a best buy – would bring about $91. Want to get rid of that heavy, clunky, black Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, and swap it for a slim, pocketable Exilim in a decorator color? The estimator accepts entries for Canon DSLRs with over 8 megapixels of resolution, and it says you'll get $411 for that tired, old beast - $431 if you buy the Z600 or Z850.