Today came across an article regarding camera and lens rental services. I was interesting to know why photographers borrow/hire photography gear in the first place. I can understand that some professional equipment is very expensive (eg. Red camera, underwater cameras and housing) and you might now need the gear for a long period of time. Anyway, there are plenty online businesses dedicated to camera and lens rental services. In this article I want to talk about those types of equipment rental services and see what are the leading websites in this category.
Rent or Buy?
There are several reasons why photographers decide to visit camera rental websites and borrow camera and lenses for a short period of time (well, in most cases).- Renting camera gear for a Short period of time / Special Events
I don't have a camera rental service, but from what I've read, many people decide to borrow camera gear (ex. Nikon, Canon, Olympus and RED cameras and lenses) because they need it for a short period of time It can be for occasions like weddings, vacations, important sport events, studio shooting, etc. The idea is to save money buy renting a somewhat expensive equipment that it will be used for a short period of time The alternative is to buy camera gear instead of renting it. Of course as an investment standpoint, you actually lose money because you stay with an equipment tat you don't need anymore.
It doesn't have to be one occasion like borrowing a camera and lens for a wedding, but can be for even a few weeks or more.
- Too expensive to buy / out of budget
In some cases, the camera gear is so expensive and you just can afford it, even if this is the perfect equipment to get the job done. Let's say that you need a RED ONE camera with lenses, stabilizer and accessories. The price for the RED ONE (body only with some accessories) will cost you around $25,000. Alternatively, you can rent a RED camera package (camera, lens, Mattebox, filters, RED Drive, Tripod, flash card reader, adaptors and more) for around $650 a day or $2000 for one week. They are more expensive and cheapr packages, depends on the RED camera gear that you need.
It can happen that the budget for a short film is low and buying a RED camera and equipment to shoot one short film is probably out of the question. That's when a camera rental service can really help in staying within the budget frame and achieving your business and creative goals. I gave the RED camera as an example, but it all depends on your budget and your photography needs.
- Testing before buying
There are many people who choose to rent gear (camera, lenses, extenders, flashes, etc.) in order to decide which equipment they should buy. Let's say that you want to buy the Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM Super Telephoto lens for your Canon SLR camera. The lens costs around $7,200 (New). Instead of buying the lens right away, you can test it by hiring it for three days for approx. $180.00 USD. After testing the lens for three days, you can decide whether to purchase it or not. In many cases, there is an option to test the lens in the camera store or maybe outside the store with someone with you, but it won't give you the full experience testing it for a few days with your type of shooting habits.
- For camera gear reviews
Another reason to rent camera gear is for camera reviews. Whether it's for print or for web publishing, it is a wise decision to borrow or rent camera and lenses than buy them just for an editorial review. You can search the Internet for "Canon lens hire" or "Nikon lens hire" and a wide range of lens hiring services will come up in the search engine results. Camerarent.co.uk has around 60 Canon and 20 Nikon lenses to choose from. Do Want to write your own editorial hands-on review on the Canon 300mm F4.0 L IS? - No problem, you can rent this lens at £30.00 for three days (the last time I've checked). You can choose from a large variety of photography gear like: Nikon and Canon SLR cameras and lenses, accessories (tripods, extenders flashes, underwater housing, stabilizers, backdrop, light meters, etc.) and even hire an Apple Mac Pro computer for video and photo editing. I was personally thinking of doing it myself.
- Quick Replacement
Let say that you have an important event to shoot. Just imagine what would happen if one of your lenses would suddenly stop functioning a day before the event itself. In this case you would probably take the lens to the repair-lab. It might take days until the lens is fixed. When you rent a lens and something goes wrong with it, n some cases and depends on the reasons the lens stopped funcitoning, you will have the chance to get it replaced by a new one straight away (also take the delivery time into account). Even so, the best thing to do is to have a backup lens and/or camera.
- For Backup
Another good reason to borrow or rent a camera-gear is for backup purposes. Many professional photographers do buy secondary/backup equipment in case of lens or camera failure. Most of them carry a backup camera, which is in most cases a less expensive model than their primary one, but not always. Some pro photographers even carry a duplicate camera model as a backup. Even so, not everyone can afford himself buying backup photography gear. This is where they turn to camera rental services. If you have an important event, just call the camera rental services and rent a backup digital camera or lens. If something bad happens, you can always use your backup gear and continue shooting.
Camera & Lens Rental Websites
There are several large camera & lens rental websites. Every one of them allows you to choose from a large variety of photo gear. In most cases the rental price is calculated in days. You can a discount price if you borrow the equipment for a longer period of time (Week, month, etc.). In order to make it simple, the prices are arranged into three main pricing categories: Day (Weekend), Weekly and Monthly. When you rent the equipment for one month, you might find that you pay a lot less, somewhere around 40%-70% discount compared to the daily rate. For example: elysianpicture.com has the "RED Full Camera Package" for $850/Day. If you hire this package for on month, you'll pay only $8,500.In those websites you can find a long list of available photography gear: Pro Digital SLR cameras (mostly Canon and Nikon) and lenses, lighting equipment, studio equipment, HD video cameras (camcorders), projectors, camera sliders, tripods, computers and laptops and so on.
Now for the some popular camera rental websites...
Borrowlenses.com - Borrow lenses dot com specialized in camera gear by mail ("Camera gear rental by mail" is their slogan). You can choose from a large range of photo gear: Canon, Nikon and Sony DSLR cameras and lenses (wide angle, telephoto, macro & TS-E, fisheye, etc.), video cameras and audio equipment, camera bags, lighting (ex. strobes, lightmeters), camera bags and computers. BorrowLenses.com online store is one of the largest photography gear and lens rental stores in the US. It is well known for its excellent customer service and flexible custom rental periods. If you live in San Francisco Bay area, you can pick up the gear yourself by visiting their local stores instead of delivery by FedEx. Highly recommended service!
- Hollywood - 431 S. Fairfax Ave. , Los Angeles, CA 9003
- Playa del Rey - 12636 Beatrice St. , Los Angeles, CA 9006
- Pasadena - 41 E. Walnut St. , Pasadena, CA 9110
- Santa Ana - 3309b S. Bristol St. , Santa Ana, Ca 9270
- Santa Barbara - 614 Chapala St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Some of the equipment that you can rent:
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III, Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Nikon D3x, Nikon D3s, Phase One Digital camera Backs (eg. Phase One P65+), Alpha cameras, Macintosh computers, film SLR cameras, Leica cameras and lenses, Redrock accessories, Mamiya Medium-format camera and lenses, strobes and RED ONE cameras and accessories.
AdoramaRentals.com (ARC) - probably one of the most trusted names in the photo business industry. Adorama has their own rental department apart from their online retail store (www.adorama.com). On their website you can find hire medium-format cameras, large-format cameras, custom digital carts, lighting equipment, audio accessories, digital backs, reflectors, stands and many other useful photo-gear. You can even connect to ARC Rental using the ARC rental app for Apple iPhone mobile phone. They have 4 rental pick up and return times: Day rate, Day bonus rate, Full week rate and 3 day weekend. Every equipment is tested prior to sending it to the customer. You can find more information on prices via their "Download" category. The pricing is well organized (First day, Additional day, 3 Day Weekend and Full Week). You can also find packages which are a collection of several related products under a discount price.
lensrentals.com - a lens rental company, specialized in borrowing camera lenses, lighting equipment, tripods from the leading manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Sony, Zeiss, Leica, Hasselblad and more). You can choose from thousands of lenses, including Four-Thirds lenses and Teleconverters, 35mm cameras and adapters.
* These are some of the most popular camera and lens rental online stores. Of course there are many others which I didn't include in the list, like: ProPhotoRental.com, TryBuyLens.com, CameraRent.co.uk and others.
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