Rent or BUY Cine Lenses and cameras? 3/3/2022, 12:00:00 AM

Buy or rent camera gear and lenses??

Renting versus buying gear will always be a particular case, based on your needs. In some cases, if you have the money and enough work to make it a profitable inversion, it might be a better investment to buy equipment, especially the accessories commonly used on sets. This will not only cut costs in the long term, but it will save you a ton of time at the rental house.

Cinema glass can be VERY expensive. A set of Cooke lenses or a Canon K35´s could buy your dream´s supercar or even a house (furnished). Many people in the industry think that cinema lenses are meant to be rented, and if you were to invest in anything, it would be lenses. They will have a longer shelf life compared to a camera (less obsolescence) and are much more versatile. There are some useful and quality lenses for less 10k (LAOWA or DZO are great examples), specially for filmmakers or even small producers.

Every year (if not every month) there are new cameras in the market, resulted from technology acceleration and enhancing development phases to satisfy consumers demands. So, there are many people buying, and other selling almost new gear. If you´re thinking in having your own camera, you also have to check our marketplace…

 The only way to keep up with this fast pace in having the latest camera of the market is by rentals, but, by the way, there are cameras for renting only (Panavision, ALEXA 65 or IMAX). In that case you don’t have a choice but to rent.  Also, if you want a high-end cinema camera it will be more logical to rent instead of buying an ARRI ALEXA LF.

 The obsoletion is less relevant in lenses (owners of a K35 set will know what are we talking about…). Good lenses are not obsolete, since the technology of optics does not change as fast as the technology of sensors, which means that a good lens can stay relevant and useful for decades. Even old lenses can produce stunning images. Although you can buy lenses, cinema lenses, specially anamorphic might be pretty expensive, so, depending on your particular case sometimes will be better to rent, and others, to invest... What do you think?

By the way, if you have a set of Leitz M-0.8, contact us, because we want to BUY one! hahaha