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Try before you buy: Rent glass!

rentglass.jpgA good way to get to grips with camera equipment is to go out and rent some. Here in the UK, I’ve found Calumet Photo to be an invaluable source of expensive glass on a temporary basis (they also have a presence in Germany, Holland, and the US), but I just stumbled across a brand new concept: On-line lens rental!

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It is such an obvious thing to do, but I guess it’s like Columbus’ egg - you have to think about it first. Of course, you can’t keep a good idea to yourself for very long, so when I started to look for it, I actually found two companies that do on-line camera equipment rental - One of them is Ziplens, and the other is the unimaginatively named RentGlass.

As far as I can tell, they both only cater for the US market, but hey - it’s a brilliant idea, and I bet it’s only a matter of time before the concept goes around the planet.



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This entry is © Haje Jan Kamps / Photocritic.org, and was posted on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Try before you buy: Rent glass!”

  1. Jason Says:
    #1 - September 23rd, 2006 at 01:02

    I used RentGlass to rent a stupid expensive lens before I purchased it. I would recommend them.

  2. Andrew Ferguson Says:
    #2 - September 23rd, 2006 at 01:47

    Hahaha, it seems that we’re of the same mind.

    I was about 1/4 done an article on the same thing with my own experiences renting equipment locally mixed in :P

    Idea thief! :P

  3. Brian Larter Says:
    #3 - September 23rd, 2006 at 20:42

    Both Andrew and my self have discussed this topic in detail before. I am so sad that there is nothing like this out here on the east coast of Canada.

  4. Ren Says:
    #4 - September 24th, 2006 at 00:43

    Unfortunately renting stuff over here just isn’t worth the money you pay. May as well buy the bloody things outright for what they ask you in rental costs.

  5. Paul Says:
    #5 - September 24th, 2006 at 17:34

    The only place that rented lenses in Ottawa, Canada discontinued their rental program last fall. Stupid.

  6. jeff Says:
    #6 - October 19th, 2006 at 02:31

    I used photolensrental.com…

    Excellent service, quick ship, quality lenses. I rented the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8L USM for a week…awesome lens. I just switched over from Olympus to a Canon 350D just because of the availability of rental glass!

  7. BorrowLenses.com Says:
    #7 - December 6th, 2007 at 00:29

    Pardon the shameless plug, but we rent Canon and Nikon lenses, camera bodies, accessories, filters, etc. as well. Please check us out at http://www.BorrowLenses.com.

    Thanks!

  8. TryAndBuyLens.com Says:
    #8 - December 22nd, 2007 at 04:57

    Hello.
    Here is the best New England’s online photo lens rental company! :)
    Please visit our site. Low prices and excellent service!

    http://www.TryAndBuyLens.com

  9. GlassAndGear.com Says:
    #9 - January 31st, 2008 at 20:38

    We’re one of the newer rental sites on the block, having opened late last summer but we provide low prices and excellent service. We ship all of our gear in Pelican cases to ensure its safe arrival. You can visit us at http://www.glassandgear.com.

  10. Todd Says:
    #10 - April 21st, 2008 at 02:42

    Canadian photographers will be interested in Lens Lenders for camera lens rentals.

    http://www.lenslenders.com/

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