Lens rental?

[rhynetc]

I want to rent a Nikkor 80-400 for a trip to Alaska in June.  What company should I use?

[Two23]

I always use ebay for that.


Kent in SD

[chez]

Buy used...sell when done. Cheapest form of rental.

[NancyP]

Rentals are good for trying out equipment or for short projects requiring specialty equipment. If you are going to photograph one product at 4X magnification, during one week or less, and never expect to do so again, yes, rent a specialized macro lens. If you are considering buying one of 3 possible $8,000.00 to $12,000.00 super-telephoto lenses, and want to get a feel for what you can handle, rent! Better to find out that you can't handle the 12 pound lens comfortably before you buy the thing. If you are considering moving up to medium format, rent these expensive to very expensive cameras (and lenses). A week's rental with full shipping and insurance seems to be approximately 10% of the purchase price of the item.

[Scott Hein]

I have used Lens Rentals (https://www.lensrentals.com/) several times and have been happy with the service.  The equipment has always arrived on time or early (in fact I am waiting for a delivery from them as I write this).  In one case I couldn't get a lens to calibrate/fine-tune properly on one of my bodies and they sent me a replacement overnight for no extra charge.  I most often use them to try out lenses and camera bodies prior to purchase, but would also use them if I needed exotic glass for a trip.

[stever]

The problem with buying used is finding what you want and knowing what you're getting.  I also have had good service from lensrentals.com - they inspect all lenses after return. I think you'll find more expensive lenses rent for less than 10% of new per week.  If you buy from a dealer like Adorama or BH and sell it back to them their buy price is about 30% of sell price.

[chez]

The problem with buying used is finding what you want and knowing what you're getting.  I also have had good service from lensrentals.com - they inspect all lenses after return. I think you'll find more expensive lenses rent for less than 10% of new per week.  If you buy from a dealer like Adorama or BH and sell it back to them their buy price is about 30% of sell price.

Yes if you leave it to the last minute, then renting is probably the way to go...but if you planned out in advance your gear needs, I find buying used and selling at a later time only costs maybe 5%, most times even less, and sometimes I have sold equipment for more than what I bought it for. The really nice thing about buying used is that you can buy it enough time ahead of when you need it so that you can understand how to beat use the equipment. This is especially important for cameras, but I also think knowing how a lens behaves under different light conditions is very important. The worst thing you can do is rent equipment you’ve never used before and jump right into a shoot.

[nemophoto]

Ditto on lensrentals.com. I've used them for about three or more years. You can depend on the equipment being well maintained and working properly 99% of the time. I think their rental prices are very competitive and usually better maintained than places like Adorama. Just make sure you get the lens in enough time to test it fully before your trip.

I disagree with the "buy used then sell". It's much harder to sell sometimes in the end. And you have no idea how the equipment has been maintained. I believe in ownership first, rental second, but when I do rent, this is the place to go.

[hogloff]

I was planning on doing a Safari in Tanzania after some other project and looked into renting the gear for the Safari. I was wanting a Nikon D500 with grip and the Nikon 200-500 lens. To rent this equipment from Lensrentals it would have cost me $650 plus shipping. To purchase the equipment used would have cost me $2250. I figure I could sell the equipment when I return at a 10% loss ( $225 ) quite easily as this stuff moves quite fast. So rather than laying out $650 for rental, I can purchase the equipment and resell for say $225...much better deal I would think. The other thing with buying used is you can use that equipment for some time to get used to all the particulars with any new camera...whereas with the rental, how much extra rental time would you really pay for to get used to the new equipment.

I've bought most of my gear used without any issues. Deal with reputable people and save yourself some bucks.

[Two23]

Yes if you leave it to the last minute, then renting is probably the way to go...but if you planned out in advance your gear needs, I find buying used and selling at a later time only costs maybe 5%, most times even less, and sometimes I have sold equipment for more than what I bought it for. The really nice thing about buying used is that you can buy it enough time ahead of when you need it so that you can understand how to beat use the equipment.

This has been my strategy, and it has always worked well without exception.  By planning months in advance I can pick off something at the lower range of price, and then resell and get at least average price.  I'm just careful to keep it in same condition as I bought it, but that would be true if you rented too.


Kent in SD