I might have inadvertently started a small fad over there though. It was the first time renting from them, and my boyfriend and I in the past have had so much rotten luck with other rental companies that we wanted to test them to see if they paid attention to their orders. Well, in the shipping directions we asked them to draw a one-eared bunny playing the banjo on the side of the shipping box. A few days later in came our lens and our drawn bunny from Meg. Now, I’m afraid they get requests like mine quite often now. Sorry Meg. (>.<)

True story… scout's honor. Now, that's customer service. :)

Just saying, look up used prices on ebay, and if they’re close to new prices, compare rental costs to the total cost of ownership for just buying new and selling used. Also consider buying used and then selling–which might cost you zero (and some people turn a profit this way).

That’s why renting make sense.  I have access to the equipment without the acquisition cost. I do miss out on depreciation.  But it makes pricing easier since I know exactly how much the costs are.

More importantly, the money I would have spent buying can be spent on something much much much more important…..Marketing.

I’ve discovered one added benefit.

I don’t need to worry about the airlines and TSA loosing or stealing my equipment.  If I’m traveling to an assignment, I just have the rental company drop ship the equipment to the hotel.

I recommend the guys at http://www.borrowlenses.com/