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Should you buy, or rent, your camera lens? It\u2019s a difficult decision, but not impossible to make. Here are a few reasons why many pros and amateurs are opting for renting over buying and what to look for before you make a final decision.<\/p>\nShould you buy, or rent, your camera lens? It\u2019s a difficult decision, but not impossible to make. Here are a few reasons why many pros and amateurs are opting for renting over buying and what to look for before you make a final decision.<\/p>\n
Renting Lets You Try Before You Buy<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a pretty good pro-am photographer. You\u2019ve spent a lot of time shooting portraits, and now you\u2019re looking for something different. Maybe you want to shoot weddings, or action scenes, or still life, or complex nature scenes or something else entirely.<\/p>\n A good lens rental company can open up a host of opportunities for you without you having to commit to anything.<\/p>\n If you only have experience with a particular kind of lens, rentals help you \u201cbranch out\u201d and discover new lenses or new ways to use lenses you might be familiar with but haven\u2019t had enough shoot time with.<\/p>\n Why You Might Not Need A Piece Of Equipment<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes, it\u2019s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that you need a particular piece of equipment. For example, you\u2019re going to a wedding shoot, and you need a wide angle lens for that wedding party shot.<\/p>\n But, what if most of your shots are done with a macro or a normal 35mm lens? Here\u2019s where a rental lens comes in handy. You simply rent one out for the wedding, return it, and you\u2019re only out the rental costs.<\/p>\n Buying a lens, in this scenario, simply doesn\u2019t pay. You might not even make back your purchase price from the fee, depending on the lens you purchased.<\/p>\n You Might Not Have The Money<\/strong><\/p>\n It can be embarrassing to admit, but maybe you don\u2019t have the money right now. When you\u2019re first starting out, usually the only way you can get your hands on nice equipment is to rent it. That\u2019s OK. It gives you time to experiment without making commitments and without going into serious debt.<\/p>\n And, that kind of self-exploration can help you find your \u201cvoice\u201d so to speak.<\/p>\n But, if you\u2019re broke, this might be the only way to pick yourself up by your own bootstraps.<\/p>\n The Shoot Is Dangerous<\/strong><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say you\u2019re going to be shooting on the beach, or in a gorge, or somewhere else where you wouldn\u2019t want to risk your own lens being damaged. Take a rental. Sure, the rental company might make you pay for the cost of the damage, but that\u2019s only if you don\u2019t pick up the insurance with the lens rental – which you absolutely should do.<\/p>\n Lens rental insurance works like any other insurance. It protects you in case something catastrophic happens to that $1,000 or $5,000 lens.<\/p>\n Since you probably don\u2019t want to buy a new lens, or maybe you can\u2019t afford to, renting for extreme shoots makes the most sense. It\u2019s also the cheapest option in this context.<\/p>\n You Just Don\u2019t Know What You\u2019re Doing<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s OK to admit it.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re doing with a particular lens, why spend thousands of dollars on one? With a rental, you\u2019re only paying for the use for the day or weekend, at most. Sure, some companies let you rent for weeks before they make you buy the thing.<\/p>\n But, normally, if you want to play around with something, you can do that inside of a weekend.<\/p>\n For example, let\u2019s say you want to try your hand at a fisheye lens. This is a lens that many photographers, even professionals, regard as a toy or a joke lens. But, some professionals have learned the secret to capturing amazing photographs with them.<\/p>\n Did you know that some photographers don\u2019t even use the viewfinder on a fisheye lens? For action shots, you might just have a strap and autofocus or \u201cservo\u201d mode on. But, in the majority of \u201cstaged\u201d shots, you\u2019ll need to use an angle finder.<\/p>\n You\u2019d play around with this lens for several days before you figured that out.<\/p>\n Another trick when using fisheye lenses is to use an aperature priority of F5.6-8, ISO 100. And, make sure you shoot really close to the subject maintaining about a one foot distance for portrait shots.<\/p>\n But, what if you\u2019re looking for basic lens practice? Renting a lens is ideal for this sort of thing. You can practice manual focusing, zooming, aperture control, ISO, and shutter button control. Some lenses also have image stabilization settings that you need to become familiar with – both on and off a tripod.<\/p>\n Matthew Bruce is the founder and CEO of\u00a0 Resolution Rentals, a professional film\/video and photography production house. They are committed to equipping their clients with the video and\u00a0 audiovisual tools they need, anytime, anywhere throughout the USA. Currently, Matthew is studying at Harvard Kennedy School for a Master of Public Policy degree.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Should you buy, or rent, your camera lens? It\u2019s a difficult decision, but not impossible to make. Here are a few reasons why many pros and amateurs are opting for renting over buying and what to look for before you make a final decision. Renting Lets You Try Before You Buy Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-2"],"yoast_head":"\n