What does it cost for a rental - Lens & DSLR

Photobug

Over the past two years lots of people have recommended that people consider renting a lens or DSLR to confirm if they want to buy that lens or DSLR or if you need that gear for a special photo shoot.

So I wondered how expensive some of the Nikon gear was so I did some research and here are my findings. Note these prices do not include shipping or insurance and all rates are for 6 days. Rentals are from 3 days to over a month. Daily rate is higher for short term, the longer the rental the lower the daily rate. All these are Nikon unless noted.

D810 $151/6 days Note shipping was only $25 A 3 day rental was $101.
D800 $132
D4s $291
Sigma 50mm 1.4 DS HSM $59
14-24 2.8 $106
17-55 2.8 DX $71
200 F2 $216
200 F4 $91
200-400 $249
80-400 F4/5.6 $116
400 2.8 G $327
400 2.8 $425
500 F4 $306
600 F4 $356
800 F5.6 $611
Tamron 150-600 $65 (preorder)
Tamron 200-500 $59

Based upon these prices, if you are concerned about buying and not liking the gear, it's worth renting to "kick-the-rubber" before buying.

These prices are from Lensrental.com. There are lots of places out there and I bet the cost is similar at all of them.

proudgeek

I have rented from these guys on a few occasions and in one case have purchased a lens from their rental pool. I give them very high marks. Stuff always shows up on time, they're never out of the stuff you want, and their gear is in impeccable condition. Very highly recommend.

Msmoto

For sure, LensRental is good. At RentMe, one can get the 800mm f/5.6 for seven days for $666. ) http://www.borrowlenses.com/category/nikon

tcole1983

I think renting a lens is very practical. I think renting a body can be a good idea to try before you dive. I think renting a lens for certain occasions is plenty doable. Lenses don't have a learning curve or anything. Bodies can have a pretty big learning curve...so probably renting one for an event or vacation might be a bad idea as you would spend the whole time fumbling with trying to learn how it works. This was a reason I was hesitant to rent a body to shoot an upcoming wedding. I would however not think twice about renting a lens for such an occasion.

Vipmediastar_JZ

If you have business insurance you can add such company to the list of insuree and you save yourself the insurance fee.

There used to be local ones in Chicago and there is probably just one left that I know of. Depending on what it is it is cheaper to rent online the body's and the lens at the local one.

Photobug

Excellent @proudgeek. I have only used a local company for lens rentals. Will have to check out their rental pool. I may have to rent that D800 for the Labor Day weekend.

@tcole1983: you raise an excellent point about no learning curve with a lens but there is with a DSLR. If you have the time you can read the online manual to help prepare for renting the DSLR. I see they supply the manual or a cheatsheet to help the user.