Anyone ever rented a lens from Calumet? They are considerably cheaper than lensrentals.com and was wondering if anyone had good experience, bad experience, or otherwise with them. I am going to Yellowstone in a week for the second time and to me it worth it to have the 500 + 1.4 TC vs. my 300 + 1.4 TC. Any input is appreciated.
Rico
Thanks for the reply Sunny. Yes I did compare the rates and i mentioned above that they were considerable cheaper than lensrentals. Im a firm believer of you get what you pay for though so I was wondering if others had troubles with them. Any problems with Calumet? A search of this website turned up nothing.
I have rented from my local Calumet store about two weeks ago and last year. I have called in advance and reserved the lens I wanted (70-200 2.8 IS + 2x TC), picked it up after 3 on Friday and returned before 5 PM on Sunday. I could have kept it until Monday but it had to be returned before 3 PM. I did not need it any longer than Sunday afternoon so I returned it when it was more convenient for me. It was very reasonably price and as always great service. I have had very good experience with renting lenses from Calumet. I have also bought few things from them over the years also.
reduramax wrote:
Thanks for the reply Sunny. Yes I did compare the rates and i mentioned above that they were considerable cheaper than lensrentals. Im a firm believer of you get what you pay for though so I was wondering if others had troubles with them. Any problems with Calumet? A search of this website turned up nothing.
no i didn't have problem for the lens i was renting..BUT...since you want a long lens they may not have it in stock, i wanted to get a 500/600 last june however they said the copy they had was shipped to chicago for rental.
Since you're leaving next week, your best choice would be to go with lensrental, i think the guy from lensrental posts on FM.
the only thing I didn't like about Calumet is that they bill you for the full replacement cost of whatever you're renting, then a couple days after you're done renting it they credit you back. I really didn't like being out all that money, it may be different if you've got insurance that covers rental gear though. Lens Rentals offers insurance with the stuff, plus they ship it to wherever you're at, and are just great folks to deal with.
I've rented thrice from lensrentals so far and every single time, it was a pleasant experience. They're very quick at communcation (email only in my case), and they have a wide selection of gear. I also like their uncluttered, fast website with a personal review for most lenses (short as they are). Never rented from Calumet though.
I rent from Calumet all the time - never had any problems. Yes, you need a credit card that can handle the preauthorization for the full price of the item you're renting, although I've never actually seen the preauth on my cards and I'm not sure if my local Calumet actually does it.
I think you also get half off the rental if you end up buying the item you rented from Calumet.
I have rented from Calumet from time to time, the lenses are well serviced and sharp. Usually on a big lens purchase I will rent for a weekend before deciding to buy and Calumet refund 50% of the rental price against the actual purchase.
borrowlenses = no credit card deposit/pre-authorization, just FYI.
I did rent a 70-200 VR and dropped it (R-Strap damn it!!). They were very cool and professional. They'll send me the bill from Nikon (hopefully black rapid will split it w/ me).
I've rented from Calumet in San Diego, and they were great. They were very flexible and gave me some free rental days over a holiday period. Lensrentals.com is also very good. I just rented a 100-400 from them for 10 days, and the lens arrived a day early. Their insurance is also pretty cheap...
In the San Francisco Bay Area, I've rented from Calumet, and also from Adolph Gasser and Borrowlenses.com. All were fine for service, but Borrow Lenses has the best and newest equipment, so they're my guys for rentals now. OTOH, I like buying used stuff and odd items at Calumet. Staff seems well-informed and helpful, and lots of working pros are there to chime in with their opinions. Kinda fun, actually.
