Where can I hire a 2nd camera body?
Discussion
Fixation or Calumet ?
http://www.fixationuk.com/Fixation/Rental.html
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/services/rental....
No experience of both but Fixation as the name implies are primarily an authorised repair centre so I imagine there equipment might be better maintained ?
http://www.fixationuk.com/Fixation/Rental.html
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/eng/services/rental....
No experience of both but Fixation as the name implies are primarily an authorised repair centre so I imagine there equipment might be better maintained ?
I've not used these guys, but I have spoken to them before and they were an absolute pleasure to deal with: http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/
//dean said:
I've not used these guys, but I have spoken to them before and they were an absolute pleasure to deal with: http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/
Used them and would recommend. Only ever heard good things about them.Chicken Chaser said:
Fixation no good as first rental has to be in person. Calumet - £50 for the cheapest Canon body?
I think camera equipment rental is very expensive full stop......looking at Fixation's website you pay approximately 10% of RRP to hire a lens for a week. Now given these lenses in good condition are worth 70%+ of RRP after a year and margins on new camera gear are something like 30% it seems like a great business to me!Beardy10 said:
I think camera equipment rental is very expensive full stop......looking at Fixation's website you pay approximately 10% of RRP to hire a lens for a week. Now given these lenses in good condition are worth 70%+ of RRP after a year and margins on new camera gear are something like 30% it seems like a great business to me!
Look at it the other way, would you lend your kit to strangers for 10% of its value?I sure as hell wouldn't, seeing people's approach to hire cars I wouldn't think everyone will cherish hired cameras like they would their own kit.
markmullen said:
Beardy10 said:
I think camera equipment rental is very expensive full stop......looking at Fixation's website you pay approximately 10% of RRP to hire a lens for a week. Now given these lenses in good condition are worth 70%+ of RRP after a year and margins on new camera gear are something like 30% it seems like a great business to me!
Look at it the other way, would you lend your kit to strangers for 10% of its value?I sure as hell wouldn't, seeing people's approach to hire cars I wouldn't think everyone will cherish hired cameras like they would their own kit.
As someone who's been in the business for a while (own Hireacamera.com), thought I'd try and clear up a few points.
Renting lenses is a pretty lousy way to make money if truth be told. Yes, they may be worth 70% of their original value after 3 years so you'd figure it's a licence to make money but you do need to bear a few things in mind.
Regardless of the depreciation of an item, anything that is hired out has fixed costs attached to its order - we have to pay staff to take and process your order, check the equipment is correct before packing it, ensure it's safe arrival, organise collection and then check the equipment before its next departure. All of this is assuming that nothing is damaged and/or missing which obviously affects loss of hire and further admin. Factor into that regular servicing and it's clear to see that it's not all straight income by any means.
Sure, they may depreciate slowly but that makes no difference if you're barely covering your underlying costs (and this is before rent, marketing, rates, etc.....). It's completely true to say we make absolutely nothing on single day lens hires - we count on longer hires to balance things out.
Bodies are clearly more expensive per pound of original value not only because they depreciate rapidly and have a shorter working life but also because they require extras (such as batteries), take a considerable amount longer to check (the joy of sensor cleaning!) and are more prone to failure.
Certainly the business hasn't made me rich yet but we love what we do and I do get to play every now and then with new kit! Feel free to give us a shout if we can help.
Cheers
Guy
Renting lenses is a pretty lousy way to make money if truth be told. Yes, they may be worth 70% of their original value after 3 years so you'd figure it's a licence to make money but you do need to bear a few things in mind.
Regardless of the depreciation of an item, anything that is hired out has fixed costs attached to its order - we have to pay staff to take and process your order, check the equipment is correct before packing it, ensure it's safe arrival, organise collection and then check the equipment before its next departure. All of this is assuming that nothing is damaged and/or missing which obviously affects loss of hire and further admin. Factor into that regular servicing and it's clear to see that it's not all straight income by any means.
Sure, they may depreciate slowly but that makes no difference if you're barely covering your underlying costs (and this is before rent, marketing, rates, etc.....). It's completely true to say we make absolutely nothing on single day lens hires - we count on longer hires to balance things out.
Bodies are clearly more expensive per pound of original value not only because they depreciate rapidly and have a shorter working life but also because they require extras (such as batteries), take a considerable amount longer to check (the joy of sensor cleaning!) and are more prone to failure.
Certainly the business hasn't made me rich yet but we love what we do and I do get to play every now and then with new kit! Feel free to give us a shout if we can help.
Cheers
Guy
We use Citylink - we send out on pre-12 service to arrive day before hire. That way, on very rare occasions where they have mis-sorted or equipment arrives damaged, we can still get something to you pre-9 for day of hire. Collection is all day I'm afraid (can't do timed collections) but we're happy to pick up from an office or friend or you're free to drop into Citylink.
ttylink the bounders! The very same people that left over £2k's worth of camera gear with some builders working on an empty house down the road and signed for it themselves. Took me a couple of weeks to recover the kit. I will never use the bProblem is courier company only as good as the driver and there are some bad ones out there and they move from company to company. We've tried nearly all of them and so far Citylink has proved better than most. That's not to say they are perfect - I'm fighting with them over £5k's worth of damage at the moment (we've had over £15k damage in last 6 months) and we may well move if management don't pay up. Our lives would be very much less stressful and profitable if we could only find a company that did what it promised....... One can dream :-)
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