Ever needed a lens but have been unable to afford it? In this post Peter Carey explores how you can have them – by renting lenses.
I admit it. I like to dream about owning many, many lenses. It seems I can always conjure up at least one photo to justify purchasing any given lens. But when it comes right down to it, I’m not a big fan of tying all my money up in glass that sits for months and months at a time. Sure, having a 600mm pro lens would have been great for a friend’s soccer game, but that would be over $5000 sitting in the corner in my house, collecting dust on the box right now.
So what to do to get my niche lens fix while still maintaining the ability to keep food in the kitchen?  Rent!
I used to live near Seattle, Washington and there has always been a great local shop which rents out a wide variety of lenses. But now that I have moved further away, it’s a royal pain to head into the city for that one lens, and then to turn around a week later to return it. And that’s where the joy of the internet and FedEx come in.
Most lens rental sites allow borrowing for a week, month or more. Rates vary from site to site as well as shipping costs. What I have found most convenient is the ability to have the lens shipped to a remote location if I happen to be shooting a wedding on the East Coast. As long as there is someone to sign for the package, I’m set. Returns are equally as easy with most shops including a prepaid shipping sticker. Just wrap the lens back in the packaging it arrived in, slap the label on the outside and drop it at the appropriate shipping counter.
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