Renting older manual focus lens?

[jake337]

I will be going to California at the end of the month for 9 days. I would like to rent a wide angle lens. Cheaper the better but high quality is a must! This is why I would like to know if anyone knows shops that rent older AI, AIS lens. I really would like to try to get my hands on a 15mm or 18mm f3.5 ais for the trip.

Am I just dreaming? Does no one rent these older lens?

The other options I'm looking into are:

Tokina 11-16 f2.8 pro dx
Tokina 16-28 f2.8 pro fx
Nikon 14mm f2.8 af ed
Zeiss 18mm f3.5 distagon zf
nikon 24mm f1.4 afs

I am also thinking about nikons 24mm f3.5 PC-E but I haven't confirmed if all movements work on my D90.

 

[bratkinson]

I'm going to guess that the older, manual focus lenses are probably no longer available for rental.

I suspect that the 'call' for such lenses is very limited and thus, the 'payback' or 'profit' derived from having them available to rent is exceeded by the 'cost' or 'lost opportunity' that having it on hand. In a department store, stuff that doesn't sell fast is put on a closeout sale (even at a loss, if needed) to get their investment $$ back and put it into a revenue-producing item or items. Lens rental businesses are no different...they need 'performing assets', too.

 

[tirediron]

Any reputable lens rental company is only going to rent relatively current, higher quality lenses because those are what most people want and because they can be quickly and easily repaired by Nikon when they get damaged. If you want some of the more esoteric lenses, my suggestion would be to ask around local camera clubs and see if anyone has one that they might be willing to rent... if you don't belong to, or know anyone in the clubs it might be a tough sell, but it can't hurt to ask. Put an advert up on Craig's List.