Lens hire

[peterb]

Do any of our photographic community use lens hire services?

I may need an ultra-wide angle lens for a holiday, not cheap glass!

There seem to be three or for main players,

Lenslocker,

http://www.lenslocker.co.uk/lens-hire.html

Lenspimp,

http://lenspimp.com

Lensesforhire

http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/search

And calumet.

https://calumetrental.co.uk/canon-1

Lens locker seems to be the best value for money, closely followed by Lenspimp.

Anyone used them or any other specialist?

[Saracen]

I've no experience of lens hire. It's an advantage of being a journalist that I can usually come up with a good reason to justify a loan from a manufacturer, or their PR company .... and then get paid for it by selling an article based on it.

Or, on one occasion, I found myself wanting a fisheye, and happened to be in Japan with Amateur Photographer's Technical Editor, who wanted a mid-range zoom. As I had one, and he had a Canon fisheye, we swapped for a couple of hours. Probably best not to depend on having a convenient photo-mag editor being available, though.

But it's very rare for me to want a lens for a short enough period that a rental makes economic sense. If a PR loan isn't on, my local camera shop has been known to indulge in a few hours "test", given that I usually buy after I test, if happy with it. If I want a lens for a trip, it's usually three weeks or more, and at that point, the rental eats so heavily into the purchase price that I'd rather buy. I can't think of ever wanting a short period rental, personally.

The only rental knowledge I have, and it's 3rd hand, is friends/colleagues that have used Calumet, and had good things to say. But, like I said, it's 3rd hand.

[ik9000]

my friend uses it to trial lenses before buying - often for a day or w/e only. He's been happy. Not sure who he uses but will ask him. Obviously like anything check the terms and potential pitfalls in the small print carefully.

what camera out of interest?

[TheAnimus]

It depends how long you are going on holiday for. But if it's more than a week, you might find it easier to just buy a second hand lens and sell it afterwards. Downside is you might decide not to sell it...

[peterb]

Thanks all. The camera is a Canon EOS 5d mk1.

The lens I'm looking at is the 14mm II USM which is around £1500 on Amazon, but for a couple of weeks hire is around £120 to £150. eBay had a couple at around £1000.

[kalniel]

It depends how long you are going on holiday for. But if it's more than a week, you might find it easier to just buy a second hand lens and sell it afterwards. Downside is you might decide not to sell it...

I was about to say exactly the same. And if there's a chance you might actually want to buy it then consumer contracts regulations evaluation period might be your friend if it's not too long.

[ik9000]

also check out the 16-35mm f4 IS and also the f2.8 II versions. Bit more range for a similar luggage weight.

http://www.canon.co.uk/for_home/prod...f_lenses/zoom/

Sigma do this lens 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/wid...5-56-dg-hsm-ii

Depending what you're trying to take you might not need a fast lens. My 10-18mm (on APS-C) f4-5.6 IS is fine. Not had a situation yet where I've needed it faster. Ok, it hits the min ISO/shutter speed in night shots, but I tend to want a longer exposure for those in most cases to help eliminate moving tourists! Will post some images tonight, if I can get my machine working again after that borked update.

[Guy]

I've used lenses for hire quite a few times. No complaints at all, slick service and they've usually got what you're after.

Once or twice to test a lens before purchase, the rest have been for a weeks holiday. In the end picked up a Canon 16-35 F4 at the end of this year. Cashback and sale prices ensured it was reasonable!
Also for the whole of feb they're half price. (From memory the actual hire period doesn't need to fall in this month, just the booking!)

[peterb]

The 16-35 L II USM look interesting, although still around £1000!

No urgency for this, so I'll have a bit of a think!