Equipment rental company suggestions

crimbfighter · Jan 19, 2011

In June I will be shooting my girlfriends, friends wedding. I obviously don't own the equipment necessary to do the best job I can. As a result, I think I'm going to rent a D700, 70-200 and 24-70. And possibly one extra speedlight. I know it's 5 months out yet, but I need to start setting aside the $500 or so it will cost, and I'm guessing that's the season equipment rental peaks, probably for the same reason I need it, and I want to make sure I don't miss the boat on this one.

There are a lot of online rental companies, but I'm looking for recommendations based on personal experience. I know I have heard at least one person mention good results with lensrentals.com, but there are a bunch to potentially choose from. My main concern is receiving the equipment in good working order. Because I will likely only be renting for a week, I probably won't have time to send one back if it's faulty.

Any suggestions/experiences would be appreciated.

Robin Usagani · Jan 19, 2011

Thats a lot of money in rental. You also have to think about liability. If you break any of the thing you rented, you are liable.

Formatted · Jan 19, 2011

If you break any of the thing you rented, you are liable.

Depends on who you rent it from, I think most UK companies provide insurance in the day rate. Its only with things like super telephotos they don't cover the complete cost.

Make sure you read the fine print carefully.. Very carefully.

sierramister · Jan 19, 2011

Why not sell the D5K and a kit lens for $500, put $600 in and buy a D7K, and use your 35mm and rent a 70-200mm.

I know it's $200 more, but the $200 will get you some tangible results.

My concern is that navigating a camera takes some time to get used to. A few days might not be enough time to learn to use all of the settings on whim.

waynegz1 · Jan 19, 2011

sierramister said:
Why not sell the D5K and a kit lens for $500, put $600 in and buy a D7K, and use your 35mm and rent a 70-200mm.

I know it's $200 more, but the $200 will get you some tangible results.

My concern is that navigating a camera takes some time to get used to. A few days might not be enough time to learn to use all of the settings on whim.

This sounds like a good plan. That's the route that I would take.

Robin Usagani · Jan 19, 2011

OR.. get another photographer that is building his/her portfolio, buy another lens for your arsenal.. shoot with your D5000.

crimbfighter · Jan 19, 2011

All good suggestions. Perhaps I wasn't thinking of all my options.

As for the cost, this will pretty much be my girlfriends and my wedding present to them. So I can kinda justify the money. They are going cheap, über cheap, for their wedding, so I'm pretty much their only hope for photos. Schwettylens, you do make a good point with finding another photog, but this is in part a venture for me to better my own shooting. And an excuse to play with nicer toys... But still an idea I will toss around with the boss.

sierramister, you also make a good point. Yet another idea I will toss around. I was planning on making my alloted lens purchase this year in the form of a 50 f/1.4, but maybe I'll put that money towards the upgraded body. I also was trying to hold out on the upgraded body to wait for the D300s replacement, but maybe it will just be a good time to pull the trigger. Thanks for the suggestion.

So, even with these new ideas, I will likely end up having to still rent at least one lens. So we're back to the original question. Any thoughts on that one?

KmH · Jan 20, 2011

If you showed your location in your profile people could better suggest rental places. It does no good to recommend a place in the US if you live on the other side of planet Earth.

Renol · Jan 21, 2011

KmH said:
If you showed your location in your profile people could better suggest rental places. It does no good to recommend a place in the US if you live on the other side of planet Earth.

x2

If you're in the US however I can personally recommend lensprotogo.com. I've used them a couple times so far and can honestly say I'm happy with their service and plan to use them again. Nice part with them is they ship the lenses in pelican cases by UPS to you and offer insurance for the gear too.

But, if you're outside the US...

crimbfighter · Jan 21, 2011

KmH said:
If you showed your location in your profile people could better suggest rental places. It does no good to recommend a place in the US if you live on the other side of planet Earth.

Touché. Madison, WI. I probably ought to update that.

Renol said:
If you're in the US however I can personally recommend lensprotogo.com. I've used them a couple times so far and can honestly say I'm happy with their service and plan to use them again. Nice part with them is they ship the lenses in pelican cases by UPS to you and offer insurance for the gear too.

But, if you're outside the US...

Thanks for the info. I was looking at them more closely than the rest, primarily because of the insurance.