2023's most-rented camera gear on Lensrental wasn't a camera or a lens

Good observation in that many rentals occur due to video work.

In the video world it's very common to rent gear, even at the highest levels.

As to memory cards, some cards are also expensive, esp the CFExpress-A cards that made the list.

"Can someone explain why anyone would rent more cards?"

Someone would rent more cards, when someone needs more cards.

I understand that if you are only trying the camera out or if you are an amateur. But If you are doing regular professional video work, it's part of the digital package you should be billing your clients for.

Regardless, Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.

You'll bill your clients if you get the job. If your quote on equipment is double the price of your competitors, because they rent the cards and you'd have to buy them, you may not get the job.

Sure, if you're shooting every week and you're always doing a 3 camera setup, it makes sense to buy the cards. But in that situation it also makes sense to buy the cameras.

It depends on the frequency of the shoots and type of your contracts.

If you are doing the occasional mini project (e.g. ad, short film, music video), then there is usually some downtime between projects but also have the ability to charge rentals to the production company/ grant, etc.

If you are shooting a wedding every week or two, then indeed buying makes more sense —and, arguably, you won't need CFExpress A to begin with.

It really depends on what exactly you do.

"What I understand is that pro's only hire lenses they seldom use"

In some cases yes.

But in many cases pro's are renting the exact same lenses (and cameras) they currently own, to use as another copy or backup, as the job dictates.

I don't get your point. A EF / F mount user sticking with R5/R6ii or Z8/Z9/Zf just have the cost of the body itself. All their lenses seamlessly compatible. If they switch to E mount, and repurchase equivalent lenses. It will cost them more.

Don't tell me adapt EF / F lenses onto Sony/Panasonic bodies. They are no where close as per my experience.

There is the real world, and there is the online world. In many cases they are not the same.

But in all fairness, I do think that Canon does get some love from reviewers.

But the comments of some promoters of a certain brand that starts with the letter "S" and ends with "Y", as well as the hype from their YouTube army, does sometimes create an impression.

The real world and the online world are never the same. A problem with cameras is that anyone with access to the internet is now a reviewer, which implies they have some expertise. So now, you have to judge not only the review, but the reviewer as well. It's not always obvious, so some guys add to their unbiased review "why you should trust me". Always good when somebody says I'm honest, just ask me.

@Thoughts R Us

"Canon does get some love from reviewers"...You think...?

You find it normal that the most radically innovative lens in recent years, by a mile, the RF 24-105 f/2.8, is receiving the kind of bleak coverage it is receiving?

Apparently, it does not even interest Chris and Jordan, down at Petapixel.

The way things are, I fear that when the RF AF tilt-shifts hit the market we will all miss it... ;)

@PhotoKhan: I get what you are saying. And yes, that 24-105 f2.8 is a masterpiece of a lens that deserves more coverage than it has gotten. If you read reports of those who have used it, the lens is simply stunning. It will be a big seller and a very popular lens.

ZZ: Please, those Tamron lenses listed are no comparison. It's not enough to just make a lens, or any product but you also have to consider the quality and performance. I give Tamron credit; they've come a long way. But please, they do not hold a candle to the Canon lens.

Let's face reality: Sony has probably created a bias online thanks to their aggressive marketing and courting of the online market and their influencers. That's a credit to Sony marketing. Many reviewers may not realize it, some willingly participate. There are some YouTubers that will literally praise anything Sony releases no matter what.

And if Sony had released a 24-105 f2.8 it would have been hailed as the greatest thing.

OK, you guys are apparently not aware how lens reviews are being done.
First of all: Petapixel (Chris and Jordan), DPreview and virtually every other online photo gear site or YouTuber would do anything to get their hands on an expensive high-end lens such as the aforementioned Canon 24-105mm f2.8.

But is Canon sending them over their gear?

Gerald Undone, a fairly popular camera reviewer on YouTube revealed how he got approached by Sony after posting a lengthy and very balanced review of the Sony A7iii back in the day and since then they regularly send him devices early on so he can publish his review spot on day 1 when NDAs got lifted.
Does Canon send its lenses to testing/reviewing sites just as fast as Sony does?
Think about that before constructing conspiracies of reviewers against poor Canon.

@Thoughts R Us

Hmmm, the Tamron has exceptional IQ, sharp wide open, and exceptional AF performance, focusing all but instantaneously. And of course, the usual weather sealing. Not sure what else you'd need.

And if you think Sony has created a bias, you're sorely mistaken. Canon is known for having the best marketing around. Whatever Sony is doing, so is Canon, and probably much more.

Besides, if Sony launched a 24-105/2.8 GM, it would be considerably smaller and lighter than Canon's version, without sacrificing any quality or performance. Their lens lineup from the past 5-6 years proves that without a shadow of a doubt.

@ottonis: you simply reinforce my point. I never said there was some conspiracy, only that Sony had cultivated YouTubers so that in many cases, whether they realize it or not, there is a Sony bias. I understand how that happened.

ZZ: first, I guarantee you the Canon outperforms the Tamron. Second, please...Canon is good at marketing, but Sony is a larger company with a movie studio...they know marketing.

As for if Sony launched a 24-105 f2.8 and its size....well, let's see them do it first. Because right now the Canon is the smallest of its kind as well as the best. You can't shoot with a Sony lens that does not exist, although I do suppose it does weigh zero kg!

In fact I hereby challenge Sony: create that 24-105 f2.8!

@TAU
When you say "Sony cultivated Youtubers", then don't forget that a reviewer can only review a lens he was provided by the lens maker. That's why lens and camera makers have review samples that they send around to all kind of reviewers.
Now, if Canon does NOT send their wonderful 24-105mm f/2.8 lens to reviewers, how can they write or make reviews about it?
If a competitor sends their own lenses, you say there is a bias, because reviewers talk more about products of company A than about company B. But how is that Company A's fault, when company B is too ignorant in order to distribute review samples?
That's why I think that "bias" is not the most suitable word here. What we have here is just a consequence of a company not wanting their own gear to be reviewed.

Canon L lenses are in the same price range as Sony GM and Nikon S-line lenses.

Canon L lenses are popular. Lot's of people use Canon, lot's of pro's use Canon...so there are a lot of rentals of Canon gear.

And yes, non-L RF lenses are very affordable but for what they cost they are high performers and represent great value.

???? I'm pretty sure with Z8, 2024 results wil favour Nikon more

Well people who are obsessed over specs in a camera body will put most of their budget into the body and then stick cheap lenses on it. I've lost count how many such people I've met. There are even those who are surprised that the lens I'm using cost more than the body itself.

But with rentals i think a majority of them are superteles that costs as much as a used car? If a person really needs to rent a 24-70 2.8 then he's definitely the type of person i just described.

As Mike mentioned that's not how this works. Many lenses and bodies are rented by pro's who actually rent the same lenses and bodies they already own, but want more of them to use in the field for a project and/or backup. That is one reason why a 24-70 f2.8 lens ends up being a popular rental.

Many people also rent gear to try it out before purchasing.

So while it's hard to say with total certainty, usually there is a positive correlation between what is rented and what is owned, esp with the bread and butter stuff like a 24-70 lens.

@EXkurogane: I own a 24-70/2.8 lens, but if I was doing a high profile assignment, I would totally rent another one to have a backup.
Also, as TRU said, if I wanted to buy a lens in a certain range, I might rent a few to compare them before buying.

@M Lenson: I love car analogies as much as the next guy, but putting weak tyres on a racing car is asking for trouble, not really comparable.
If anything, it's the other way around: Having an average car and researching the best possible tyres, paying through the nose for them to get maybe 5% more performance.
But like all analogies, this one isn't perfect.

I also suspect that the rental market is weighted towards video shooters, another market which Nikon totally misjudged despite being first to market with a video-capable DSLR.

EF lenses are still quite popular for adapting to mirrorless mount cameras, for both stills and video.

"Is M4/3 a dead format?"

Panasonic still develops the G and GH series, but it's a far cry from the MFT heyday.

It's possible that more people own MFT for day to day stuff, but rent when they have special requirement.

(like owning a compact car, but renting an SUV for vacation)

Don't kid yourself; the DSLR is dead. Yes, there are still a lot of them out there, but as far as any new one being developed and produced? Nope.

If 5D IV is so old, so bad or only rented just because people's old 5D IV is dead, why would they still go with 5D IV and not with a newer camera?

Husband80 if I have a big job and I want to rent a backup camera, I'm gonna rent something I know.

Yep. I mean 5D IV is probably THE most popular DSLR used professionally. 1DX’s are more specialty tools…. And a pro with one or two 5D mark anything’s are most likely to want to rent the most similar camera as a backup…. So this isn’t surprising at all…

DSLR's are still used by many proffessionals & amatuers because despite the mirrorless "revolution" they are still highly competent cameras capable of capturing great images and the lenses available for them, especially the pro ones, are still excellent.
The switch from DSLR to MILC is not like the switch from film to digital, which was the true revolution.
Its been 10+ years and could be another 5 years at least before those last DSLR's are phased out to the point of insignificance. The lenses will stay around even longer.

While Nikon did make the D780 as a "Z6 in a D750 body" D850 users are simply pointed to the Z8, and if necessary, the FTZ adapter.

Canon skipped the intermediate step.

If Pentax stops making dSLRs, it's the end of the road.

Interestingly enough, on the LensRentals blog there is an article by a photographer for spaceflight.com, and he wrote about documenting the launch of the SpaceX Starship in Dec of this year...and he used the Canon 5D IV!

So yes DSLRs are still very viable tools.

Are there any new DSLRs being developed from the major brands? Nope.

Which means that DSLRs will slowly disappear from the market.

"Which means that DSLRs will slowly disappear from the market."

The key word there being slowly.

Slowly, then suddenly.

I suspect if Canon did make a 5D V then it would probably sell quite well because EF lenses are so cheap and easy to get on the used market and even new they are pretty well priced now. They may work well with mirrorless, but never quite the same as native. Lots of people out there with a Canon DSLR as their bread and butter camera who just want something familiar with a few updates, either because their existing camera is getting a bit battered or they want a second body. Battery life and simplicity of an OVF are also still real advantages.

Clearly not going to happen though.

The TLR is definitely dead.
However, I use mine quite a bit.

Each year in DPR comments:
"DSLR is not dead."
Almost no DSLRS are produced anymore.
And almost no one who buys a new camera buys a DSLR.

But of course that doesn't change the fact that DSLRs aren't dead, right.
And of course you can't use DSLR lenses on mirrorless cameras, right.

"I guess that a 5D Mark V would actually sell after all..."
Exactly. Because it sells so well, it is no longer produced. Yes of course. All manufacturers prefer to produce products that no one buys.

And that's why you can get DSLR used almost for free, because everyone really wants them.
And the fact that you can rent a DSLR is much cheaper than a modern camera doesn't matter.

And we all know that any 15 year old DSLR is much better than modern cameras.
But all professionals don't buy what is really good, they buy the modern cameras just because they are hyped on Tik Tok.

LOL.....

Professionals use equipment they feel they can reply on to get the job done. This might well be a known quantity DSLR that they have known for a good long time and trust. If they buy new kit they will be influenced by what kit they currently have that they can use with the new camera (note most mirrorless cameras feature adapters that allow use of legacy lenses) and issues of reliability.
The attraction of mirrorless kit to professionals is not based on hype, it is based on the reliability of solid state electronics.. fewer moving parts means less to go wrong.

Dostoyevsky is dead, but we still read his books

The difference between dead and dying is apparently too subtle for many to grasp.

Nah. From a usage point it's dying. From a production point, it's dead. Then again, in my house it's been dead for years. YMMV.

No one here is saying DSLRs can’t be used to take amazing images…

None of that changes the fact that the new camera market has moved onto newer/better technologies that obsolete DSLR downsides like micro AF adjustments and shutter shock and enable more advanced capabilities like subject recognition/tracking and eye focus.

Yes, F1, that ver challenging sport where massive cars go around and around in highly predictable lines over and over again.

@Pantunes, nope that's not F1. That's US sport cars racing 🤣
Sorry...

Yep, with over 40 laps on the race alone, how could a photographer possibly predict where the cars were going to be?

Actually it describes F1 too. The racing line is the racing line and it doesn’t vary much. Even if it’s not an oval track….

@PLShutterbug, If one of those in-cabin devices catches fire it'll be noticed immediately and remediated. Now imagine that fire happening in the cargo hold of the plane. This is why USPS will no longer ship Li-ion batteries by air except those embedded in brand-new devices.

I think both Canon and Nikon have released revisions of the same battery. No idea what is different inside them.

I've owned six Sony bodies which use the same battery, and all three of the bodies I use today use it. Not sure how many bodies in total use it:

all the A7R bodies from III
all the A9 bodies
the A1
the A6600 and A6700

I don't know about the A7S bodies or the A7 bodies

That's my point - they made new versions.

@AlephNull

Every Sony FF body since 2017 uses the same Z battery. Even the A7Cs. Extremely convenient.

"For the week of December 19-25, 2021, the Alpha 7 IV had the highest single-week sales of any mirrorless interchangeable lens camera line in the last four years"

Then also look at who is Number 1 and 2 currently in sales.

Fortunately, as a Nikon shooter, whether or not my preferred gear is being rented or purchased more than a competing brand's gear has absolutely no bearing on my decision to continue shooting with Nikon's gear. That decision has everything to do with the fact that what Nikon has brought - and continues to bring - to market ticks all of my boxes as a photographer.

I couldn't care less about the fact that there are many more working professionals out there who have different needs that are best met by other brands.