Lens Rental

A

Ayinde

New member
I'm looking to rent lenses for an upcoming project (cinema lenses preferably). I'll be shooting on the mkIII. I wanted to know what the reliable websites I can rent from are?

Thanks!
 
I really would recommend against renting things from websites.

Don't forget that rental houses are there for support too and not just the rental. What happens when you rent a set of CP.2's and the aperture ring starts sticking? Or something else you rent starts going south? If you rent it from a website, you're going to be on your own. You'll have to wait until they can ship something out and on a short shoot you could finish the project before you even get a replacement. If you rent it from a local house you can send a PA down with the gear in question and have a replacement quickly. The best thing is you can go down and ask this same question, then they can actually show you all your different options and let you know the pros and cons of each.

I wouldn't be surprised if these websites are a bit cheaper than the local houses, but just remember what you're paying for.
 
RyanT said:
I really would recommend against renting things from websites.

Don't forget that rental houses are there for support too and not just the rental. What happens when you rent a set of CP.2's and the aperture ring starts sticking? Or something else you rent starts going south? If you rent it from a website, you're going to be on your own. You'll have to wait until they can ship something out and on a short shoot you could finish the project before you even get a replacement. If you rent it from a local house you can send a PA down with the gear in question and have a replacement quickly. The best thing is you can go down and ask this same question, then they can actually show you all your different options and let you know the pros and cons of each.

I wouldn't be surprised if these websites are a bit cheaper than the local houses, but just remember what you're paying for.
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Altough that is a good point, my thing is shipping. I've shipped my cine lenses around enough to know that something *likely* won't happen, but from EVERY lens issues I've ever had... I think 90% of the time the issue has come from someone improperly shipping the lenses. Whether it be from letting a lens case bounce around the back of a truck (always but a sound blanket under the lens case and secure it during transport) or through UPS, FedEx, USPS or even the TSA and their rough baggage handling, it seems that is my concern. I can only imagine the issues checked or unchecked these online lens companies have to endure. Likely they don't notice many of the issues. I doubt they have a lens tech check every lens every time.

I could be wrong.

I just think about owning a lens company that would ship all of our lenses, and it makes me real nervous feeling.

It's not easy to ship expensive and exacting glass instruments without issues somewhere down the line. Ya know?
 
I rented some very nice Zeiss lenses from borrowlenses and had absolutely no problem. However this was done because there was no rental house in the city we were in. If at all possible, dealing directly with a rental house is preferable to minimize shipping accidents, but I think the websites are a great option if no rental house is nearby.
 
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