Does Current Cashback on 600D in the UK indicate end of line?

[21tones]

Hi everyone. I'm just getting back into SLR photography after many years away, and came across this interesting forum. I used to use FD stuff and film. How things have changed on the SLR front! I was thinking of getting a 600D and superzoom lens to get started again. Other posts here suggest that the 600D is likely to be replaced in early 2012. Does the current £50 cashback offer on that model in the UK seem to reinforce that idea? I don't want to buy something that becomes (relatively) outdated within a few weeks!
Any thoughts?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Canon has been offering discounts and cashback on many items, every few months a new set of discounnts is offered, so a cashback does not signal a repolacement model.

The low end Rebels are usually upgraded approximately once a year.  They usually have minor changes, mostly issued so that new buyers who want the latest and greatest will go for it.  Its unlikely, however, that a new model will have anything that a existing 600D owner would want to upgrade for, you usually need to wait for 3 years or so to see any significant changes that have crept in over time.

[tt]

The xxxD model line is pretty constant in it's last few updates - once a year, around February. Which is a better sign than the current cashback.
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/cameras/Canon_rumours.html#canon_age_chart
The 650D is likely to be near full price, out in a month or so, and with DIGIC 5 (see the Powershot G1 X just launched). They go down about £10 from list price - so around December January, there's a decent discount at shops eg for the 600D at the moment.
Whilst the 600D has the flip out screen over the 550D, they're a similar sensor, screen, same MP, and DIGIC IV.
I'd imagine the 650D improvements might mainly be the sensor/DIGIC - which will bring better noise reduction (in the same way the G1 X is being promoted to be better than the 7D currently)

[spam]

The xxxD model line is pretty constant in it's last few updates - once a year, around February.

Canon often upgrade the xxxD models in February as tt wrote, and the changes are usually minor. It's difficult to predict what they'll do this year though. Tsunami and flood damage might have forced Canon to change their plans, and they might also want to introduce the new Digic V processor in a higher level body than the xxxD (it's already in the D1X though).

Anyway, if you're not in a hurry then wait and see. The upgrade might be bigger than usual with a new image processor available, but it might also be postponed. If you need the camera now get the 600D, it's a good model.

[tt]

DIGIC V is already being demoed in point and shoots like the G1 X, and other Canon P&S - the  S100 and the SX40 HS.

Both the S100 and the SX40 HS with DIGIC V are on sale in Jessops in the UK for about £440 - so the DIGIC V is in cameras on sale already, with the G1 X coming out soon too.  Though I'd agree that the launch this year could be affected (like the current 60D production it seems) it hasn't stopped the first few cameras with a DIGIC V coming out (There are different versions of the DIGIC V processor afaik though (eg at the very least the 1D X has 2 of the DIGIC V+).

It's a weird transitionary period when the new processor is in lower end models, whilst we await the xxxD refresh in a month presumably, and the 7D/5D MkII refresh in a few more months.
As mentioned - you've got a decent reduction on the price of the 600D at this stage, and the cashback offer.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The lower noise seen in digic IV models is due to its ability to perform better NR on jpeg images.  If you use RAW, and edit on a pc, you get better NR yet due to the computing power.  So any changes or improvements in the actual raw output are the thing to look for, unless you always plan to shoot jpeg.

[21tones]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. Fortunately, I'm not in a desperate rush to buy. I've still got all my 35mm SLR kit and am getting back into it shooting film. I was just shocked how expensive it is for film and processing! Someone has kindly offered to lend me their old 400D with a 17-85 on it. This is great for getting my head around digital ways of thinking. I've got a sneaking suspicion I may want to go full-frame now that the old love for photography is back. However, I do really like the lightness of plastic camera bodies and lenses as someone whose first love is landscape.
Presumably, the 600D won't increase in price again when a new model comes out so there is benefit in waiting.
Canon gear has always seemed to suit me better than Nikon and I felt the same way when comparing the 600D with the 5100. But seeing my substantial investment in Canon 35mm stuff - numerous bodies, L lenses etc now unusable in the digital context - I am a bit miffed at the way Canon has changed it's lens mounts so many times.
I don't really want to go APS-C and then change again.....

[squarebox]

I don't really want to go APS-C and then change again.....

Well the EF-S and EF mounts are probably here for awhile... well at least until those wireless lens come out that canon just patented.

The whole EF-S line is brand new and is probably here to stay.  If you are worried about going FF later on just make sure you buy EF lens as they work in both.  Makes it easy to get back into photography on the cheap and splurge alter for the better body