I recently rented a camera lens from Borrow Lenses (@BorrowLenses) in San Francisco through their rental-by-mail program. [1] Here’s an overview of the process and my rental experience; for anyone looking to rent photography equipment, and specifically camera lenses, I highly recommend checking out Borrow Lenses.
Overhead, Audubon Park, New Orleans, LA
The above photo was taken with a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM lens on my Canon EOS 7D DSLR. The photo doesn’t truly show the beauty of the lens; but moreso, it says nothing about how easy it was to rent this lens from Borrow Lenses.
The process:
- Visit the website, peruse and select a lens. In my case, I selected the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM lens, which I wanted to use for an upcoming shoot.
- Select the length of time you want to rent the lens and select whether or not you want to purchase additional insurance. It’s important to note that if you’re renting by mail, the rental period does not start until the day the lens is delivered, and the end of the rental period is the day you need to mail it back (not the day Borrow Lenses has to receive it). The shipping cost covers receiving and sending the lens, therefore your return shipment is already paid.
- The checkout process is painless. Log in or create a new account, enter your shipping, billing and payment details, and then select a shipping method and a delivery date. The option to select a delivery date is very key: it allows renters to a) reserve lenses far in advance and b) focus on when they need to get the lens, not when they should have lens sent.
- Once the order is placed, you’ll receive an order confirmation email (your receipt), a second order confirmation email with (to confirm that Borrow Lenses has scheduled your order), and then a shipping confirmation email when your order is sent.
- The lens comes in a highly padded non-descript brown box. The unboxing experience makes the rest of the process pretty clear: there is a giant “stop and read this” instruction sheet which details the first things you should do once you receive the lens (check it out, make sure it’s the right lens, that it’s not broken, etc.), and additional sheets which explain in perfect detail how and when to return the lens.
- Shoot, enjoy, be merry; and then be sad, as you have to return the lens. Use the same box, follow the simple instructions, use the requested mailing service, get a receipt to show that you’ve mailed the lens back, and then go home and figure out how you can buy the lens.
- Borrow Lenses sends an email to confirm that the order is complete when they’ve received the lens, and provides two links to public sites (Reseller Ratings and Yelp) to provide feedback.
Borrow Lenses is also very easy to contact and connect with: in addition to their website (which clearly lists their phone number, address and hours of operation), Borrow Lenses is on Twitter (@BorrowLenses) and Facebook, and actively responds to questions in both communities.
In short, if you’re interested in renting equipment for a shoot or for testing a lens before you buy it (I’m trying to decide between the above Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II USM lens, the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom and the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM ELD SLD Aspherical Super Wide Angle Lens), I highly recommend using Borrow Lenses.
Now I just have to figure out which lens I want to try next :)
[1] Note: I must note that this rental from Borrow Lenses was complimentary. That said, I stand behind my recommendation, the process was easy and Borrow Lenses is a quality, well-known source for photography equipment rentals.
[2] Rental period starts from day of first FedEx delivery attempt, not the day you actually receive it. Since it requires signature for delivery, be sure to send the lens to somewhere that someone can sign for it.
