Friday's Featured Resource- Lens Rentals

When I was planning my trip to Rwanda this last spring, I was so excited to finally be taking a camera that could go the distance.  I knew from my prior experiences in South Africa that I needed a "real" camera and the right lenses to have any chance at all at capturing the magic of such an expansive and exotic place.   When you get the one chance of your lifetime to gather the Cape of Good Hope in your lens, you really don't want to be wielding your adorable Elph.  Trust me.

But.  All I had in the canvas backpack that doubles as camera bag was my Canon Rebel XTi and one really nice portrait lens. That's it.  I considered buying another lens, but with all my other travel expenses, I couldn't even fathom taking on one more purchase.  Especially when my trip was funded in large part by my blog readers.

So.  What to do?

Lucky for me, I had my favorite shutter sister on my speed dial, so I called that girl up and asked her to advise.  Do I bite the bullet, find a credit card that has $600-1000 left on it for the lens I really needed for this trip or suck it up and stick to those amazing children's faces?

Neither, my sage sister replied.  Rent a lens, my friend.

Rent a lens???  I had never heard of such a thing, but there I was one hour later, exchanging email with the incredibly kind Roger from Lens Rentals, an very friendly and efficient Nashville based internet company with a big heart and all the help and advice I needed.  For roughly $100, I could not only rent the $1000 lens of my dreams for a few weeks, but I could take it to Africa worry-free because of LensRentals extremely reasonable insurance program.  Roger then talked me into the perfect lens for me (a wide angle for shots like the one above) and I had it fedexed to my house in plenty of time for my trip.  Return postage and cushy packaging included.  Easy as pie.

Have you ever rented a lens before?  If so, tell us your favorite resources and lens to rent in the comments below.  If not, give Roger a try and let him know this shutter sister sent you.

Comments

[Lan]

i have never rented a lens before, didn't know it was possible. i just have a handy dandy point/shoot digital buddy. i liked your story alot today, and the picture is breathtaking. the story behind this post is just amazing.

[darlene]

i haven't rented a lens before though i did know it was possible but i do have that particular lens and love love love it :)

[Stacy]

I have rented a lens before and it was such a great experience. I think I rented from LensRentals.com. I would definitely suggest renting that expensive lens before you buy it and try it out for a few weeks. Then you will know whether or not that lens is a good one to buy for your needs. The lens I rented was an 18-200mm VR Nikkor and it worked so well for my vacation. There are a few issues with it, but now I know what to expect from it. Next I want to rent a wide-angle and try that on for size. It really helps in the decision.

[Naomi]

I have not rented *yet*, but plan to before buying my next lens! Thanks for the referral to Lens Rentals ... helps to be "in the know"!!

[jag]

Who knew?! I am learning so much here... about the breadth and depth of photography. Thank you ALL (contributors AND commentors!) for being so generous with your words and images.

These days, I'm feeling so scattered with my pictures. They're all over the place - literally and figuratively! My "filing" is a mess and I probably don't even know half of what I have. :-) I need to let that be OK today and trust the the patterns will emerge and - one day - I will be organized! But, just between you & me, I won't hold my breath... :-)

Merci beaucoup!!

[deezee]

Great tip. I've looked into rental lens before, but never at such a low price.

[renee @ FIMBY]

What a great idea. Who knew? Obviously someone did. Thanks for sharing this tip.

[tracey]

I love renting lenses. It's really cool to get to try them out beforre you buy. And, for work! I often rent back up equiptment when I need it too as well. I have a local lab that rents which is so convenient but this site is an amazing resource to have available. Thanks Jen!

[vivienne]

yes! amidst all my in-depth research about which lenses i plan to buy i realized that i needed to have it in my hands to really know if it jived with my needs (this felt like a really adult decision, rather than just running out and buying it). and i've done this a few times now.

in my city (vancouver, bc) there are some great shops (beau photo and leo's cameras) that rent any lens you can imagine and here's my tip... a lot of rental places (or camera stores) aren't open on sundays or in the case of one shop, is not open all weekend. thus, there are super weekend deals on rentals (since you can't bring it back to them until monday anyways) essentially getting the whole weekend for the price of one day! i highly recommend checking if your local camera rental shop has this situation!

[Leah]

I love the concept, I just wish more places had Olympus and other 4/3 compatible lenses. I know it's not one of the big 2, but I seriously haven't found ANYWHERE that rents 4/3 stuff. If anyone knows of anyplace that does, let me know. :)

[camerashymomma]

i also love the concept but have never personally rented a lens. what a great idea though for testing out a lens before purchase, or for use for a specific purpose like a wedding or a trip to Africa.

one of my flickr contacts runs a lens rental company out of new england. they are a husband wife duo. their company is: http://www.ziplens.com/

[Kacey]

I looked into renting from our local camera shop and it was SO expensive. Like just go ahead and buy the lens expensive! Later I heard about online rentals. I think I might just try out some lenses I've had my eye on.

[elizabeth]

Oh my gosh! I had no idea it was even possible to rent a lens. I've been wishing I had a wide-angle for an upcoming trip but thought I would have to do without. Thanks so much for sharing! I am off to check these links out.

[KiHo]

I have never rented from an online rental store, but I have rented lenses and studio lights from a few retail stores. I have rented some long glass a few times from Cals Camera in Newport Beach California. I thought the rental experience was a great way for me to test drive lenses without having to fork out a great amount of coin.

However, now I am looking to rent another large piece of glass 200-400mm f/4.0 zoom. All the local retail stores are booked or don’t carry it in their rental department. Looks like I will have to go online this time.

Rental is $100.00 - $150.00 per day. Seems a little pricey, no? Considering this lens is $5,700.00 off the shelf. I consider the rental cost a great bargain.

HINT: (Rent on a Friday, most places charge you one day rental for the weekend. You get three days for the price of one)

[Todd - ShutterStud]

Try www.eastcoastlensrental.com They are out of Charlotte, NC but ship all over the US. The process was simple and very upfront. I am a Pentax user and found their selection to have what I needed. They also have some good lighting options and Pocket Wizards. I'm not sure if many of you use Pocket Wizards but once you do you will wonder why you didn't jump on the bandwagon earlier.

[Mark]

This is for the above poster. Its pretty obvious that you are posting messages all over message boards and are related to the business you listed. Why dont you just post a friendly saying letting us all know that you are in business. You have already been called out on a couple message boards with the "self promotional" advertising. Here is one in particular. http://digital-photography-school.com/blog/where-to-rent-a-lens-online/ Darren, the owner deleted your previous 3 comments that were all done by you with different names. Not a good way to promote a business as that is false advertising.

[camps bay]

So, I, too, same with Lan who commented on here, am amazed at what you have mentioned on renting a lens, I haven't tried doing that either. Also, well, it is cool to be bringing high-quality cameras with us on special travels, but we have to be very careful for theft, I had mine stolen when we traveled for or honeymoon, it was just so sad to lose all the wonderful memories on our wedding day. Too bad!
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