2nd
Renting lenses
I’m a big fan of the lens rental. My local shops (Samy’s, Calumet) have rental departments, of course, but I steer clear because they are way out of my budget. So where do I rent? Online!
There are 3 places I’ve rented from online and they’ve all been great (twice leading to a purchase because I loved the lens so much). If you’re interested in new gear, I highly recommend renting first; it’s so worth it to shell out a little bit of money to be able to try the equipment the way you’ll actually be using it, instead of at the counter in a shop where it’s a few minutes tops.
Lens Pro to Go
http://www.lensprotogo.com
Justin recommended LPtG to me early last year, he’d rented a 70-200 f/2.8 and had only good things to say about the experience top to bottom. I’m always down for good customer service, so when it came time to go to Washington, D.C. last year, I turned to LPtG to rent a 17-55 f/2.8.
Paul, the owner and responder of almost all the emails into LPtG, is friendly and helpful and he stocks what I like to call The Big Guns. The 2.8 zooms and 1.4 primes for Nikon, and the L Series lenses for Canon. He ships in Pelican cases, too, so you need not worry about the safety of your rental (in either direction).
The 2 lenses that I’ve rented from LPtG are the:
- 17-55 f/2.8G (DX) (Nikon specs)
I rented it to have a zoom that’s good in low light for shooting Honor by August at IOTA in Arlington, VA. It was, in a word, perfect for it. I was able to get nice wide shots when I wanted to (even from right in front of the stage) and still get in closer for portraits when the mood struck.
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10.5mm f/2.8G Fisheye (Nikon Specs)
The fisheye just sounded like a lot of fun and it was great out in Death Valley. I don’t think it’s a lens I would use very often, the fisheye can be disorienting, but for certain applications, it’s fantastic. There’s one photo I got with it that made the rental and the trip to DV totally worth it:
ZipLens
http://www.ziplens.com
I stumbled on to ZipLens through a Flickr friend (although I don’t remember who exactly) a little more than a year ago and I’ve rented a handful of lenses from them. ZipLens has good prices, comparable to LPtG, and a really nice selection.
So far, I’ve rented 2 lenses from ZipLens:
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60mm f/2.8D Micro (Nikon specs)
I have great affection for macro photography (Nikon calls it “micro”) and while my own macro photos tend to revolve around flowers (I can see you’re shocked), shooting anything macro is totally fun. The 60 is also a nice portrait lens, although not so different from a 50mm that you’d notice.
Additionally, the short-ish focal length means you have to/can get right up on what you’re shooting. While this is fun, it can be inhibiting if you’re trying to get a close-up of a bug. For that, you might want to jump to the longer macros (Nikon also makes a 105mm f/2.8 Micro and Tamron makes a 90mm macro that I hear wonderful things about).
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Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (Sigma specs)
My friend Cindy has a 30mm and the fact that it opens up so very wide caught my attention quite early. The 30mm exploits the crop factor on digital SLRs nicely, so you end up with a great lens for portraits, landscapes, etc.
I wasn’t taken with it immediately for 1 reason: its auto focus is a bit slow on my camera. In the end, though, it turns out I really really enjoy the 30mm. It’s a solid lens, definitely not what you want if you’re looking for a “light” lens. But it performs excellently in low light and produces really smooth out-of-focus areas (bokeh).
Rent Glass
http://www.rentglass.com/
My friend Ingrid pointed me toward Rent Glass; they’ve got a good selection and really prices. And they ship quite quickly. I’ve only rented one lens from them so far, but after I returned it, I turned around and bought my own. (Yay for renting!)
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20mm f/2.8D (Nikon specs)
I don’t know about you, but I love wide angle lenses: getting so much in the frame without having to cross the street or leave the room is almost endlessly useful. Getting up close to your subject with a wide angle is just as fun; what’s more with its 2.8 maximum aperture, the depth of field out of this lens is wonderful.
If you’re thinking about a wide angle lens, but you don’t want a heavy zoom (my Tokina 12-24mm is not something you can just throw around), I highly recommend the 20mm (Canon makes one, too).
So there you have it. This certainly isn’t an exhaustive list of places to rent from, but they’re the ones I know and trust.
Happy renting!