C300: C100 or C300 to buy ? which is easier to rent out on the side?

J

Jason Rae

Well-known member
So I am shooting with a C100 and a 70D. I have read on here that people have matched the footage but I have spent countless hours trying and I am done with that whole mess. I am just going to get another C100 with the exact lens and call that one a day.

The question is.... I want to rent the gear out when I am not using it so it will pay for itself. Do yall think a C300 would be easier to rent out to folks compared to two C100 for event shooting?

I know this is a pretty broad question and I might get some eye rolls for the experts on here, but I believe that gear sitting in a closet when your not using it is just silly, let it pay for itself.

So to land my plane here, what do you guys think would be easier or more in demand to rent out on the side, two C100s or one C300 with a C100 as a b cam.

Thanks for you help as always. :)
 
Who would you rent the camera to?

Would you ship the camera out to people in other places, or just rent the camera locally?

If just locally, then they are who you need to ask, your potential clients.

What if the camera gets damaged? I would make a strong bet that your insurance will not cover rentals.

Just a few things to consider.
 
David W. Jones said:
Who would you rent the camera to?

Would you ship the camera out to people in other places, or just rent the camera locally?

If just locally, then they are who you need to ask, your potential clients.

What if the camera gets damaged? I would make a strong bet that your insurance will not cover rentals.

Just a few things to consider.
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Great questions... I was thinking it would be to my local marketplace for sure. I would not be shipping the cameras at all. I was thinking to local event shooters in my area would be the ones. Also on that note, if they shoot events then its probably going to be c100s would be my guess. Thats what I need for my workflow so thats probably what I should get....lol I am here in SoCal and in my marketplace there is only one rental place and we have about 800k people. I talked with a wedding guy who said two c100s would rent like crazy if the price was good enough.

I just didn't know if the experts here could give input if they have a large demand or swing either way. :) but again my guess would be C100s.
 
The C100 would have a bigger market in a community where low-budget shooters are more than high-end ones. If vice versa, the C300 would have a bigger market. Depends on where you are really but both are extremely popular cameras for rental and will probably not go wrong either way. If you don't need the 60p, better evf, mpeg 50mpbs codec, I would say go with the cheaper C100, makes more sense financially.
 
Thanks for sharing that, i think the camera is so common that its going to be stuff to see it I can get it rented or not. I am just going to get another C100 because I will use it alot for work and try to rent to just pay for the gear. :) thanks for sharing
 
I work in a strong broadcast market. I get frequent calls for rentals on my C300. As a matter of fact, I had to get a friends to shoot with one day last week, because mine was out on a two day rental at the time. I'm not sure if you can give away a C100, here… But it all depends on YOUR market.
 
Run&Gun said:
I work in a strong broadcast market. I get frequent calls for rentals on my C300. As a matter of fact, I had to get a friends to shoot with one day last week, because mine was out on a two day rental at the time. I'm not sure if you can give away a C100, here… But it all depends on YOUR market.
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Yeah I kinda feel like the C100 is getting to a price point where alot of people have those already. But I dont have a big broadcast market and tons of low budget event shooters here so I will try out the C100. I just love the idea of renting out my gear to pay for the gear. Just a smart buisness decision.

I would ask, when you rent out your C300 what type of insurance do you have on that and how much does it cost, and where would you get it. Thanks
 
I don't know how much difference there is on the C100 vs 5D in look/ record quality for general shooting. Pricing is not that far away. If it were me id be concerned about other shooters buying the C100 I they are renting it that much. You can always drop the price of the C300 to C100 territory if necessary, you can never increase the quality of the c100 - without some external device - of the C100. The other features of the C300 already discussed are a big deal. I can see some many places where having the C300 over the C100 is going to be a benefit. Think slow mo, compositing, better overall record codec, better viewfinder option. If you're able to make the purchase of C300 and cover the cost with jobs you do go with the better camera. There maybe soon be too many C100's in your market.

Client yesterday asked me if I would be interested to take his c100 on a trade in. He thought it would work well but is getting out... Shooting on Sony FS 700 for that level of production.
 
Check with your local rental agencies if they would like to keep your camera when you are not using it. That is a good way to break into the market if you are not sure about the rental business.

I don't know about your market. I shoot with a C300 and only rent out to productions where I am hired to shoot ie. I bring my equipment as a DP and quote a price accordingly. I shoot everywhere in India. For me it is a hassle to rent out the camera to someone, keep track, ensure that the stuff is working fine etc etc. For example if a wire connecting the LCD is damaged you pay some 200 odd usd. Who will bear that? Will your insurance cover problems in rentals?

If you rent out then you should act like a true rental agency ie. provide equipment even when you are shooting with your cameras. So when a customer asks you something he/she should be satisfied ie provided with equipment even if that is rented out from somewhere else. That will ensure that you have a good reputation. However, that is a difficult task.

When you provide a camera and it breaks down for some reason. Then you need to provide a replacement. It is not an easy task. So if you want, you can test the waters by tying up with a rental agency. Then you can decide if you want to do it directly or not. The challenge is there are may be too many C100s in your market and many shooters already tied up with rental agencies or renting directly. So how do you compete. If you have a C300, then C300 plus C100 as a combined A camera-B camera deal can work for productions. Lowering the rate can be an option at times. There is no right answer. So better to check with rental agencies as to what is rented out in your market most of the time.
 
You can't rent a C100.

You can't keep a C300 in stock.

The C300 is a professional camera, HDSDI/timecode sync, high quality viewfinder, etc. For serious work (or so the pros tell me), the C100 is WAY below the AF100, it is considered a bad joke.

That said, it has a nice image. But renting will be a LOT harder.
 
The C300 is still the hottest rental camera here in LA with it's quote holding around $400-450 to start....2 1/2 years since it came out!......if you can afford to get one, the C300 is the camera to have for rentals.

Jim Martin
 
groveChuck said:
Hardly. I have both and the C100 is significantly superior.
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The genlock/HDSDI interface is superior, too?

The AF100 is a low end professional camera; C100 high end consumer. Pros will laugh a C100 off a gig but an AF100 or Scarlet will be at home on the highest end corporate work. This according to people who are working on stuff way out of my league. I'm sure the C300 would be at home there, too (and know the F55 is getting some traction), but I think the guy telling me this is a Scarlet lover lol.

That said, I prefer the image on the C100 to the Scarlet, F55, and AF100. :)

But it's what the market with bear...

If you want to rent it, get a C300! Yes I have had rental offers too on the C100, but most of them time people are just asking to borrow it lol.
 
Jim Martin said:
The C300 is still the hottest rental camera here in LA with it's quote holding around $400-450 to start....2 1/2 years since it came out!......if you can afford to get one, the C300 is the camera to have for rentals.

Jim Martin
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Jim,
Thanks for the input on this very much. I think I am going to break my teeth a bit on a second C100 just because I will use the heck out it personally. The one thing I did was call some low budget type wedding video guys in my market and gave them a smoking deal on two C100s and throwing in my GH4. So they can shoot a whole wedding with my gear. I did this for 450 bucks for all of it for the weekend. I also including my Ninja Blade. Anyway I made some calls and booked it out for three events within a few days and already getting some calls. I think my market is super low out here...LOL Also no way I am driving out to LA to rent my gear at all. :) So I will keep this post updated maybe it will help someone else. I just want to pay for the gear and who knows maybe get some new gear if it goes well. As always your a big help... I bought a Xf100 and a 5Dmark III from you over at Film Tools and you were great!
 
Policar said:
The genlock/HDSDI interface is superior, too?

The AF100 is a low end professional camera; C100 high end consumer. Pros will laugh a C100 off a gig but an AF100 or Scarlet will be at home on the highest end corporate work. This according to people who are working on stuff way out of my league. I'm sure the C300 would be at home there, too (and know the F55 is getting some traction), but I think the guy telling me this is a Scarlet lover lol.

That said, I prefer the image on the C100 to the Scarlet, F55, and AF100. :)

But it's what the market with bear...

If you want to rent it, get a C300! Yes I have had rental offers too on the C100, but most of them time people are just asking to borrow it lol.
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I have heard this about every. Single. Camera. that's not the Red Epic Dragon or the Alexa.

It's just bias, and people who don't know any better buying into what biased users say.

Remember, we're living in a world where they used DSLR's for some shots in The Avengers. No pro is laughing off ANY tool if it can be useful.
 
Policar said:
The genlock/HDSDI interface is superior, too?

The AF100 is a low end professional camera; C100 high end consumer. Pros will laugh a C100 off a gig but an AF100 or Scarlet will be at home on the highest end corporate work. This according to people who are working on stuff way out of my league. I'm sure the C300 would be at home there, too (and know the F55 is getting some traction), but I think the guy telling me this is a Scarlet lover lol.

That said, I prefer the image on the C100 to the Scarlet, F55, and AF100. :)

But it's what the market with bear...

If you want to rent it, get a C300! Yes I have had rental offers too on the C100, but most of them time people are just asking to borrow it lol.
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That must a LA thing because I promise you no one is laughing off a C100 in my area. I understand what your saying for sure because your market is full amazing cameras and tons of places to rent them close by. But where I am at, I called about ten wedding shooters all over the area this week and all of them shoot on DSLR. So for them this is a huge step up, now if I lived in LA hands down your right C300. But remember that C100 is a bad ass little camera, I shoot tons of videos on a weekly basis on that thing and its like it can do no wrong. We moved up from a 5D Mark III and it was the best thing I have ever done camera wise... it was like I didnt know what I was missing. LOL
 
Here's a UK perspective:

People who like the C100, buy it.

People who like the C300 rent it until they get to a point where they may as well own it and rent it out.

The C100 is almost pocket money for the professional corporate/event shooter - why would they rent? That's just money down the drain. They've chosen their platform, their day rate includes the camera and it becomes an income generator very quickly.

The C300 is just enough to keep the professional broadcast shooter on their toes, but what of the F5 or C500? How about the F55 or the C500? What about Alexa? Best bet: sit on the fence and rent.

A UK survey announced that the C300 was the most rented camera in the UK market.

The C300 just about climbs over the F5 because of the success of the 5D Mk2 in the video world. That bought a lot of L-glass into the market, which the C300 handles with aplomb and the F5 struggles with. The latter prefers Nikon mount or PL mount, and that puts it in a different camp. Even within the UK market the F5 is popular in the London/Southeast market but is overshadowed by the F55 in the far more film based Southwest and Northern markets. The C300 is universally seen as the 'Mid to High End Corporate' and 'Baseline Broadcast Docco' camera, and whilst that may not be the sexiest marketing line, it's a huge market.

The C100 rental market is best left to the specialists. The people who want to rent a C100 may not know how the bigger game works, may not have the most secure lines of credit or insurance, or have the financial acumen to realise that if the C100 is your tool, you should own it not rent it. It is YOUR camera (insert Rifleman's Creed "there are many like it but this one is mine" speech).

The C300 rental market is absolutely sound as the proverbial pound. A C300 with the right goodies in the ubiquitous Peli 1510 will create an orderly queue of renters who will not question deposits, who usually have corporate insurance or will take your in-house insurance offer (you need to sort that) for 'emergency' hires. But then remember that your camera is no longer YOUR camera, it's a cash cow, a beast of burden, not your prize pet.

I've been through this, and decided, whilst I could buy a C300 and rent it, I had to own my own C100. And rent a C300 or another C100 when I have to.
 
interesting thread. some nice perspectives and insights. though one thing that should be mentioned when talking about the price of the c300 being prohibitive to some, is the darn nice financing offers canon has given. tempted me quite a bit but have stuck with my c100
 
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