Rent or own... times have changed, have you?

[legrevedotcom]

Today I hope you'll indulge on yet a little poll.

Mind you, I'm not asking what you "dream" about, or how an ideal world would be.... I'm simply asking, what do you do or have found yourself doing on the last 3-5 jobs.

Do you own?
Do you rent?
Or do you settle for "simple" optics...

Thank you for taking a moment to vote

 

[Grahamrobbins5]

Rent, haha these days gear is cheap and there are so many owners out there It drives the market rental value to the floor, so I just rent at the floor . Not to mention the storage and insurance on the gear I normally use would cost way to much.

I just rented an full Alexa package, with a full set of Cooke S4 glass for 2 grand for 3 days!.....That gear cost more than 180k, owning that kind of equipment is nuts if the rental companies have to rent for that cheap in order to stay competitive.

Graham

 

[Postmaster]

I have a small (but growing) production kit (camera, lights, tripod, and other bits) for my own projects.
When I do a job that needs the "heavy duty" stuff (HMIs, dolly, rails, crane, cineglass and expensive cameras),
ore special items I seldom use, I rent.

Most of the gear I have is not worth renting, cause renting it several times, cost as much as buying it.
In general, everything that costs over 5000 bucks, I rent it.

Frank

 

[Patryk_Rebisz]

Rent, haha these days gear is cheap and there are so many owners out there It drives the market rental value to the floor, so I just rent at the floor . Not to mention the storage and insurance on the gear I normally use would cost way to much.

I just rented an full Alexa package, with a full set of Cooke S4 glass for 2 grand for 3 days!.....That gear cost more than 180k, owning that kind of equipment is nuts if the rental companies have to rent for that cheap in order to stay competitive.

Graham

I assume u r in Cali - prices of film gear in Cali are outrageously cheap.

As for me there is tons of stuff that i own that paid for itself long time a go and a small number that hasn't (1.2 HMI i'm looking at you!).

 

[gonzo_entertainment]

Basic package (5D2, 5 light tungsten kit, basic grip gear), enough to shoot a simple setup, I own. Beyond that I rent.

 

[RickyC]

Im into owning equipment, so I rent out my grip truck, but I'm ALWAYS renting out more equipment. I've had many times I take a detour to a rental house to pick up HMIs and what not. If you are using it ALOT, buy it. If you only plan to use it a few times... rent it.

Its certainly cheaper to rent if you think about it... Way cheaper

 

[Gary Huff]

Basic package (5D2, 5 light tungsten kit, basic grip gear), enough to shoot a simple setup, I own. Beyond that I rent.

Yep, same here (except 60D and GH2 and 4 light tungsten kit). It's enough for simple projects and for interviews.

 

[stefancolson]

I've done well by owning a bit more gear than average (full steadicam and jib setups, decent small lighting/grip package, etc), but I lean heavily on rentals when there's a decent budget.

 

[gonzo_entertainment]

Depends a lot on what you're doing as well. I am primarily a writer/director/producer. We sometimes shoot on my camera, and I sometimes DP my own stuff (small projects for cash, commercial work), but none of that is my day job. This is all a second job/hobby so my camera will stay in the case for weeks on end sometimes.

 

[unadog]

I had a studio with more than $50K of high end equipment. I closed the studio and am slowly downsizing, keeping a smaller kit.

I am in a smallish college town. The nearest rental is more than 2 hours each way. There is no-one in the state who sells the Broncolor equipment that I used - Broncolor Mobil, Para 220, Para 170, Topas flash, HMI, Ianiro tungsten, etc.

So I invested and "rented" my own equipment on jobs at about 50% of the Calumet/etc. rate. That was the time of an $8,000 Canon 1DsII, etc. that rented at $350 a day (closed the studio about 5 years ago.)

Now everything in the industry has changed. Different strategies for different times.


Michael