planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

Last week (7/24-30) I had my first experience renting anything. I used Lensrentals.com because they and Borrowlenses.com were within a couple $ and several hogs recommended them. I rented a Sony 70-400 G2 - first use of a white lens - and (after seeing a sale and getting it retroactively applied) I added an a77ii so I could compare it to my a77/Tamron 17-50 2.8 that I brought with me. When I got the box from the FedEx office in Oshkosh and brought it back I noticed (I'd previously seen an e-mailed invoice) that in addition to foam on all sides, both the camera body and the lens came in it's own case- like the kind you'd buy at B&H. the camera included one battery and a charger and the lens had a tripod collar. Total for both, including insurance, taxes and shipping, less sale discount, was $215.02. I was very pleased with the performance of each (got some of my best pics ever). Swapping lenses and bodies, each seemed to give me faster focus and/or sharper images. When I got back and went over my pics (downloaded them nightly and posted some here) with a more critical eye I saw that there was a sensor smudge in the upper right corner of each pic, though usually easily croppable or erasable in PSE. After notifying LR of the issue they thanked me and issued a $50 credit towards my account :). I guess I need to rent again from them so I don't waste it!

OddJobber Loc: Portland, OR

How long was the rental period?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

One week, The lens was considerably more than the body.

rjaywallace Loc: Wisconsin

I contacted Lensrentals to rent a camera and lens for one week - not cheap, but a tiny fraction of of what it would have cost me to purchase both and far more cost efficient. The gear arrived well packaged in a box and also within the same sort of camera case that you describe. The only other thing I had to provide was an SD card. I have since purchased the camera and and several lenses. I'm saving up to buy the lens I rented. I was extremely pleased with cust. service from Lensrentals. I am not an employee, an investor, or related to anyone on their team. Strictly a 3rd-party endorsement.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I've noticed some people have fliker/whatever links by their signatures. how do you do that. I tried in profile, but it didn't show up. I probably did something wrong. Never mind...I just figured it out 2 seconds ago.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I'll be saving up, myself for one or the other.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

oops...hitting paste was the wrong thing to do...got someone elses FB page (don't know how that happened!!! will try again

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I've rented a copy of the EF 500 f/4L II the past few summers for the annual Chicago Air & Water Show. I'd love to own a $9,000 lens, wouldn't we all ... ? Renting is a better play for just an annual 3-day use ... I own the camera, extenders, tripod and Gimbal head. The lens fills in the gap for the airshow.

Fotoserj Loc: St calixte Qc Ca

Wish we had such service north of the border, LR don't ship to Canada

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

I've never used a gimbal. I tried using a monopod with a ballhead, but I just ended up picking up the whole thing because I couldn't get the ballhead to arch up high enough. after the first hour or so I just gave up on the MP and just hand-held the rest of the week even though it was fairly heavy, compared to my Tamron 70-300. I finally got my FB photo page up in my signature, but I had to get rid of most everything else.

wdross Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado

I'm renting an Olympus 12mm-100mm f4 lense from LensRentals.com for a trip to Germany for two weeks. It good to hear that you had a good experience. I'll let everyone know how my experience was after I get back from Germany in September.

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

I haven't used lensrental--or any other competitor. Just to say regarding cost: they are costed well below what the local rental shops charge. For example: A Nikon 810 kit for a week is $450; at Lens Rental it's $149.00. it may be that the accessories differ--but can't be that much.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I'm with you on hand-holding. It somewhat depends on your position and the action in the airshow. And I guess, the equipment. In Chicago the majority of the action is in front of me and over Lake Michigan and at relatively the same height. The large and heavy 500 lens is mounted on the gimbal. But, if that was my only set-up, I too would be rather frustrated. I have a second camera and a 100-400 lens hand-held for the entire 360-degree view. The tripod and lens with 2x extender to 1000mm works well for the prop-planes. The jets and the parachute teams work better with the freedom of handholding.

planepics Loc: St. Louis burbs, but originally Chicago burbs

1000mm??? You must be able to see the pimples on their noses at that magnification! I had to throw out some pics because I had too much oomph and the plane(s) overflowed out of the frame. One reason I love the 12 FPS on the Sony :) Each day that the Blue Angels flew I took over 1.6k pics! Check out my FB pics of the show and tell me what you think. I still have plenty to post. Can you delete the pics if you find better ones (i.e. blue sky and puffy clouds? I'd only been to the CAWS once, with a friend who used a wheelchair. After the show we went to, I think, the Lincoln Park Zoo. I kind of miss going to the Cubs games. Never seen a Bulls game or the Chicago Fire (soccer).