@not_left_handed Hi Dawn, I rented frequently when I started doing paid work because I didn't own any "professional" glass at the time. I still rent lenses for vacations. For most "jobs", I rented locally just for convenience sake. Most lenses ranged $35-50 per day. They were not covered by any rental insurance, meaning if I broke em, I bought em. So I had to put down a deposit (via credit card) for the full retail value of the lens because of that. But using the good glass was absolutely worth it.
I mentioned I rent for vacation. For that I rent online from a place called Aperturent. http://aperturent.com They have a couple of locations now, I have actually been to the one in Atlanta, GA. It's a great operation. You go online, pick the lens and rental period. They will ship the lens to you with full packaging and paperwork for easy return shipping. Two great benefits they have over everyone else: 1) no deposit required -- unless that has recently changed but that would surprise me, and 2) for a nominal fee you can add in rental insurance...which I always take advantage of. That way, if I drop the lens...oops, oh well, but not my problem! :) This might be a good option if you don't have availability locally or reasonable prices. For a wedding I'd probably do the three day rental having it shipped a day or two before the wedding to make sure it arrived on time. I've rented from them at least a half-dozen times, probably more, and I've never had the lens arrive late, but for a wedding...
There are quite a few places to rent lenses online, I haven't really heard any horror stories about any of them, but I will say that all the other ones I looked at they just seemed to fall short of Aperturent in some regard so I've stuck with them.
I haven't, but a lot of people I know use this place and like it. They all live on the west coast, so it may not be as convient if you live on the East Coast https://www.borrowlenses.com
I rented the Canon 100-400 L from a local camera store a few years back for an Air Show. Cost me $60 for the weekend (lucked out, as I needed it on a day they were closed, so they didn't charge me for the extra weekend day) ... Best idea ever, especially since it would have cost me $2500 to buy, and being so large, I doubt I would use it very often. Worked great for that particular event though.
I've not rented lenses before and I'm not in the US so I can't help there, but I would say that depending on the lens you want to rent and how familiar you are with that particular lens/type of lens/different lenses in general, I would definitely recommend getting it a few days early and plan an outing with it a day or two before the event. In my experience it can take a little while to get used to a new lens, especially anything with a wider aperture than what you're used to.
One of my mates suggested that I rent a gopro from Fat Lama
for when I go on holiday to Hainan, China in a couple of weeks and I do underwater shots etc etc (I don’t do enough exciting stuff to justify buying one :D). The problem is I don’t really know which of them on there is the best to get. I’m not by any means good at video editing or anything like that, it’ll just be for me and my mates to watch and maybe youtube. Do any of them on there look suitable? (Apologies if this question gets asked a lot!)
Cheers!
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I mentioned I rent for vacation. For that I rent online from a place called Aperturent. http://aperturent.com They have a couple of locations now, I have actually been to the one in Atlanta, GA. It's a great operation. You go online, pick the lens and rental period. They will ship the lens to you with full packaging and paperwork for easy return shipping. Two great benefits they have over everyone else: 1) no deposit required -- unless that has recently changed but that would surprise me, and 2) for a nominal fee you can add in rental insurance...which I always take advantage of. That way, if I drop the lens...oops, oh well, but not my problem! :) This might be a good option if you don't have availability locally or reasonable prices. For a wedding I'd probably do the three day rental having it shipped a day or two before the wedding to make sure it arrived on time. I've rented from them at least a half-dozen times, probably more, and I've never had the lens arrive late, but for a wedding...
There are quite a few places to rent lenses online, I haven't really heard any horror stories about any of them, but I will say that all the other ones I looked at they just seemed to fall short of Aperturent in some regard so I've stuck with them.
Hope that helps!
Joe
https://www.borrowlenses.com
Wondering if you could help me out -
One of my mates suggested that I rent a gopro from Fat Lama
for when I go on holiday to Hainan, China in a couple of weeks and I do underwater shots etc etc (I don’t do enough exciting stuff to justify buying one :D). The problem is I don’t really know which of them on there is the best to get. I’m not by any means good at video editing or anything like that, it’ll just be for me and my mates to watch and maybe youtube. Do any of them on there look suitable? (Apologies if this question gets asked a lot!)
Cheers!