Camera Lens Rental

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bigred

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
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East Coast
www.hillbillytrailcrew.com
Can anyone recommend a good, inexpensive source for renting Nikon DSLR lenses? I'm traveling next month and want a faster lens than I currently have, for photographing inside buildings, and think it would be cheaper to rent than buy that kind of glass.
Thanks!
 
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DiscoPhoto

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2012
2,581
76
Vermont
I was extremely happy with borrowlenses.com, rented about $4k worth of glass for a week for a couple hundred dollars.
 
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DiscoPhoto

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2012
2,581
76
Vermont
On the Canon system there is, with the 50 1.4's build quality being MUCH better than the 1.8, along with the USM AF. Not positive on the Nikkor glass.
 
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bigred

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
3,457
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East Coast
www.hillbillytrailcrew.com
Thanks!
Long shot - but does anyone have any Nikor glass that they want to trade something else for? I've got a pile of stuff that I was going to put on Ebay, but I'd rather just trade for something useful and cut out half of the process.
 
stevenr

stevenr

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Apr 19, 2004
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Cleveland, TN
web.mac.com
I have used lensrentals.com They are quick and a pleasure to do business with. If you want to talk one on one, they have real people willing to talk to you.

I'm a Canon guy myself so I cannot attest to some of the Nikon lenses, but the focal ranges that DiscoPhoto rec'd are exactly what I would give. Maybe 24-70 instead of 16-35.
 
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DiscoPhoto

Well-known member
Jul 23, 2012
2,581
76
Vermont
stevenr said:
I have used lensrentals.com They are quick and a pleasure to do business with. If you want to talk one on one, they have real people willing to talk to you.

I'm a Canon guy myself so I cannot attest to some of the Nikon lenses, but the focal ranges that DiscoPhoto rec'd are exactly what I would give. Maybe 24-70 instead of 16-35.
Click to expand...

Dependent on whether he's running full frame or aps-c crop, definitely. The 24-70 is great, I had the 2.8L for a while but I found it to stay in my bag quite a bit. I was thinking he'd like the 16-35 for interiors of buildings he was mentioning. You can't really do architecture photography with a crop sensor and 24mm, that's like a 36mm on a full frame.
 
Mike_Rupp

Mike_Rupp

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Mar 26, 2004
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Mercer Island, WA
The question is whether you have a dx or fx camera. I've taken plenty of pics in Italy using a D200 and a 18-200 lens. I'm assuming that you are going on vacation and will be sightseeing and taking pics. If so, the 18-200 is a wonderful lens. Having a wide zoom range will make for more interesting pictures than the added speed of the lens. Just bump up the ISO a bit while inside. Any of the newer Nikon dx cameras will have a better high ISO performance than my old D200 and even that camera was taking acceptable pictures.
 
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kk88rrc

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2007
1,187
3
Portland Maine
www.kevinkeithphoto.com
I too have good dealings with borrowlenses. I remember it taking a week or so to get approved into their system so don't procrastinate too much.

One lens?...... I would go with the 24-70 if you don't mind a big lens to carry around all day. Otherwise go with the 50 1.4 or the 35 1.4.

What body do you have?
 
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bigred

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2004
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1
East Coast
www.hillbillytrailcrew.com
kk88rrc said:
I too have good dealings with borrowlenses. I remember it taking a week or so to get approved into their system so don't procrastinate too much.

One lens?...... I would go with the 24-70 if you don't mind a big lens to carry around all day. Otherwise go with the 50 1.4 or the 35 1.4.

What body do you have?
Click to expand...

I've got a Nikon D80.
And an 18 - 135 but I think it only drops to 5.6
 
K

kk88rrc

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2007
1,187
3
Portland Maine
www.kevinkeithphoto.com
I'm not too familiar with theD80 or DX lenses.

I work with the D800 & D3x. The D800 is pretty awesome in low light. The higher ISO's are really nice. The German digi tech I work with starts complaining about noise above 1600 but I embrace noise as the new grain & like it at 3200. The files are hugh though.

The 1.4 lenses drop out of focus quickly.

If it's an important trip... maybe rent a body too.
 
Mike_Rupp

Mike_Rupp

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
3,604
0
Mercer Island, WA
bigred said:
I've got a Nikon D80.
And an 18 - 135 but I think it only drops to 5.6
Click to expand...

It's f3.5 on the low end of the zoom range. If you are inside, it's likely that you'll be at the low end of the range anyways.

I think if you brought a 50mm lens, you'd be downright mad at how tight the composure is on the dx camera body. Just set your 18-135 to 50mm and you'll get an idea what I'm talking about.

As far as I know, the D80 is similar to the D200 in terms of ISO performance. Like I wrote earlier, I'd be much happier using a VR wide zoom range lens as opposed to a 50mm prime if I'm walking around all day taking all different types of pictures.
 
Mike_Rupp

Mike_Rupp

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2004
3,604
0
Mercer Island, WA
Your 18-135 is f3.5 @ 18mm. Learn how to make manual changes to ISO and just experiment using higher ISO while inside.

I'll post up some pics later of stuff inside of museums with my 18-200.
 
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