Vacation Question 2: Would You Rent a Camera?

[Suhit Gupta]

Continuing the question series - here is Question 2:

Question 1 had to do with what kind of camera would you use on vacation. While I was thinking about this issue while on vacation, I noticed that there was a booth advertising cameras for rent. It occured to me that I have seen such camera rental places at most large points of interest, especially the larger and more popular ones. I guess this question applies mainly to DSLRs (though please feel free to talk about Point and Shoot cameras as well). Cameras these days can be quite expensive. The DSLR bodies are certainly expensive but it is actually the lenses that can really put a dent in your wallet.

Of course there is the issue of one actually carrying all that heavy equipment in one's luggage. Plus, I tend to be quite paranoid about my electronic equipment so I tent to carry it on which makes the bags that I personally carry around quite heavy. So here is my question - do you guys ever rent cameras? What about camera equipment? Waterproof casing comes to mind first in that regard since it is something that is quite expensive and is one that people use relatively rarely.

[Jason Dunn]

Myself, I wouldn't rent a camera because I'd be concerned about learning the new equipment rather than focusing on my photography or the vacation itself. Hell, I'm still learning how to use my D200 properly. ;-) Renting an underwater enclosure is another matter though - I think I'd do that if I had the opportunity to do so...

[ianbjor]

I might consider renting a camera as a test drive... i.e. to try out that Canon EOS 5D and see if I could "live" with it before plunking down the big bucks.

But Jason makes a good point - how much time would you spend getting acquainted with the hardware instead of enjoying a vacation?

[Vincent Ferrari]

I wouldn't rent a camera because I would worry, as Jason noted, about learning a new box while trying to have a good time and catch good moments. I have, on the other hand, rented lenses on numerous occasions from Ziplens.com (a GREAT place btw and very accomodating) but that's the extent I'd be willing to go with it.

[Suhit Gupta]

But don't you think this would be a good option for someone who has a point and shoot only and wants to take photographs of an event for which a DSLR is perfect (an air show for example)?

Suhit

[Vincent Ferrari]

Unless you already know how to work the camera you're going to use, not really... The learning curve with DSLR's tends to be ridiculous unless you have some experience, although an airshow presents an interesting quandry because you probably aren't going to get a whole lot out of a P&S either...

:?

[cameron]

I rent equipment all the time - but only equipment that I'm either familiar with or that I know I have the time to become familiar with it.

However - this generally isn't for vacation - but for those days when I need something (like a 400 2.8L IS) lens and can never seem to justify dropping the $6k to buy one :wink:

I could see that if you decided you didn't want to take your equipment (not wanting to lug around the 5D on the trains/planes/etc) renting one when I got somewhere however.

[Kris Kumar]

Quite frankly I didn't know that digital cameras were available for rent. :oops: Cool idea. I wouldn't mind renting a point n shoot if I forget my DSLR at home, but would never rent out a DSLR during vacation.

I think it makes sense to rent it out to get a feel for the camera - the menus and the controls, the overall ease of use, weight, grip etc. But I might not use the rental to decide on the quality of the shots. I would rely on a site like dpreview.com to tell me the quality of the shots and comparisons.

As for renting for an airshow photography - I think airshow photography is the toughest drill after baby/kid photography. :) Renting will only annoy me.

[Jason Dunn]

I should also add that I've always found rental prices to be expensive. I was thinking about renting the Nikon D200 before I bought it, and it memory serves it was going to cost me about $150 a day for the camera and the 18-200 lens...to me, paying that much for 24 hours with a camera is grossly overpriced. I hardly rent anything actually. ;-)