Lens Rental Advice

[JoeW]

I've got a couple of trips coming up. Some of the people going with me (including one to Africa) have asked for advice on Lens Rental. What places/sources do you recommend for lens rental (other than your local camera store)? And any other advice on lens rental you'd care to offer?

And yes, I searched through threads but there is a lot of very old stuff and I assume that businesses may have changed over the pandemic.

Thanks in advance.

 

[slat]

I have had good service from Lensrentals.com - Rent Lenses and Cameras from Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Sony, Leica, and more. I have rented from them a couple of times. Both times the lens arrived a day early which I appreciated cause it gave my time to familiarize myself with the lens. They made everything very easy. I would rent from them again when the need arises.

 

[Sharpshooterr]

I've got a couple of trips coming up. Some of the people going with me (including one to Africa) have asked for advice on Lens Rental. What places/sources do you recommend for lens rental (other than your local camera store)? And any other advice on lens rental you'd care to offer?

And yes, I searched through threads but there is a lot of very old stuff and I assume that businesses may have changed over the pandemic.

Thanks in advance.

Joe, my advice is probably as old as what you have been reading.
I've only rented once and it was a small lens to use for a wedding. You're probably looking for something longer if it's for Africa.
I used LensRentals, they're probably the most used rental company.
My advice would be to look for a good used older lens and just buy it outright and use it as you need it then sell it if you have no more use for it.
Example: if you shoot Canon you could rent a 100-400 mkll for 21 days for $270 including shipping(I looked it up). You could buy an older mkl lens for about $600 then sell it for $550 and be $200 ahead.
Just something to think about as opposed to renting! Good luck
SS

 

[Strodav]

Lensrental.com is the place to go. You might want to look at buying used, in which case go to keh.com . Since you'll be flying, you are going to want to minimize the amount of gear you are taking and avoid bulky and heavy stuff, so it's going to take a bit of research to choose the right glass. Don't forget spare batteries and plenty of mem cards. You may want to play a bit with your choices before taking them on a big shoot, so getting them early is a good idea.

 

[JoeW]

Thanks for the replies and I appreciate the advice on LensRentals and especially that of buying used and then selling.

I'm actually in good shape for lens. And when I've been to Africa, I absolutely agree with the advice of weight and the amount of glass you take with you (you aren't swapping lens in the field). But like I said, I've got some people tagging along who need lens (and I'm a Nikon shooter, they're Canon--so we can't share what I've got).

Thanks again!

 

[smithrion]

I'm actually in good shape for lens. is there any site available where I can see the lens test or comparison?

 

[Strodav]

I'm actually in good shape for lens. is there any site link available where I can see the lens test or comparison?

If you are looking for lens reviews, I start with DxOMark.com, but they don't always list some of the glass I am interested in. Another good source is PCMag.com. I also trust Ken Rockwell for his reviews and I frequent DPReview.com