Renting Leica equipment?

[ron_gregorio]

I read from a previous thread (Tim Kame's) that one can rent/borrow a Leica. Where can one rent M bodies and lenses in the US or other places?

[john_collier]

My local dealer will rent anything that they have onhand used.

Hefty deposit, of course, usually the full purchase price of the

item (i.e. credit card imprint). Demo items can be briefly

borrowed for short periods such as overnight or the weekend

(same credit card imprint routine). The use of demo items

implies an interest in purchase so if you do not purchase

anything, expect the willingness to lend out demo equipment to

disappear. I recently need a 28 for a project I was doing, the

dealer lent me a used one for free but I have spent a small

fortune there this year!

 

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Cheers

 

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John

[silverfish1]

Leica Product Demos with Factory Reps seem to travel from dealer to

dealer and offer a limited hands on opportunity to evaluate the

equipment. Often the equipment that shows up at the accompanying

free check-ups can be educational as it offers a chance to see what

is really out there in use as well. But rental for anything less than

a really extended period is not going to be enough time to really get

to know the equipment. You pays your money and you takes your chances.

[andrew_schank]

I have found a great source for "renting" equipment that sometimes

doesn't cost a penny: Ebay. (and I don't mean buying something,

using it, and returning it for a refund) If you can establish

yourself as an honest user with a dozen or so positive feedbacks at

least, you can buy and sell used leica and other desireable photo

equipment for about the same amount you paid for them. The few bucks

that go to ebay are what I consider "a rental" fee. I actually

bought a few Nikon and Leica pieces I wanted to try out or had a

short term use for, and even sold them later at a profit. Sure beats

the heck out of the old days where you took a 25% hit on consignment

fees from camera stores, or worse yet, a 50% or more loss by selling

outright to KEH or someone like them. Of course, it is still best to

be careful who you deal with on ebay, and stay away from sellers with

goose eggs next to their names, and you need to have a bit of working

capital in order to "rent" things this way.

[steve_lehuray1]

I have occasionally wondered this question myself. A few months ago I

was asked to do some photography at the German Embassy of a music

recital. Figuering this was a big deal I thought I might need some

modern M6's and fast lenses rather than my old M2's. In the end I went

with my old stuff and the B&W pictures turned out fine (surprisingly

with all the Germans at this event not one comment on the two Leicas I

was using). If I had known of a Leica rental place I probably would

have called and rented. I would think New York with all of its

advertising agencies and magazines, therfore many pro photographers

must have camera rental facilities. As far as John Collier's point

about having to put down a deposit equal to the value of the Leica or

equipment rented, I would like to offer a comparison with motion

picture camera rental (16mm/35mm). Occasionaly I am called on to shoot

some film project and usually it is low budget so I will use my very

old Eclair NPR 16mm. Once in awhile the budget will call for a more

state of the art camera so i will rent an Aaton or Arriflex for 2 or 3

days. I have an account with a couple camera rental places so my daily

rental will be in the $800-$1000 a day range, depending on what bits

and pieces I order. So the surprising point that I am trying to make

about John's point is that the replacement value (hang on to your hat)

is in the $150,000 range for a 16mm camera. It seems to me that a still

camera rental business for Leicas, Hasselblads, Cannons, etc, etc could

be a good business.

[d._chan1]

Lens & Repro, Tamarkin, and probably more places in NYC rents them.

If you can't pick it up and need it sent to you, it's a minimum one

week rental plus shipping. A portion of the fee can be applied to a

purchase of a new one. They are on the web if you need more info.

[msitaraman]

Steve:

 

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That's because all the Germans <i>expected</i> that you would be

using a Leica ;-)

[ron_gregorio]

Thanks for the info everyone.