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Dolce Moda Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #1 · Owning vs Renting Lighting This question goes out to the pros. In general, do you own your own lighting equipment? Or do you rent what is required for the job? (this includes all modifiers,flags ect) I find that there are many items that I would like to use for shoots that are prohibitively expensive ... but at the same time I would rather not have to learn how to use a given item during a shoot. What are your thoughts? What did you do for equipment when you were building your book? Oct 02, 2008 at 06:00 AM

shatterkiss Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #2 · Owning vs Renting Lighting I own enough lighting gear for test shoots and to cover the lowest-paying shoots I get with any regularity. I rent for anything that exceeds my current package, especially grip gear, or when I'm working in a well-served rental market and don't feel like schlepping my stuff across the country. With the current state of air travel it's often cheaper to rent on arrival than pay to have my gear shipped out. I've been functioning in that manner for years now, more or less since I started doing less journalistic shooting and more studio work. My kit has definitely grown and evolved in that time, but always with an eye towards portability: general-purpose accessories and modifers, lightweight and minimal grip, items that aren't rented as easily (a strong gel assortment), battery-powered packs and heads for shooting on the road. I live in a solid rental market, but frequently work in secondary and tertiary markets, so there are times I've flown with rental gear. Oct 02, 2008 at 01:32 PM

MIKE ben Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #3 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Not completely pro but I bought what I need to do the job. I know that I want to do protrait so bought WL 1600 x4 with accesories. Of course, the cameras / pro lenses had to be bought first. In hind sight; I should have thought about portability (like Shatterkiss wrote about). WL is definitely not very portable but doable. Edited on Oct 10, 2008 at 01:23 PM · View previous versions Oct 07, 2008 at 10:04 AM

j.curtis Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #4 · Owning vs Renting Lighting It depends. I own a fair amount of gear. If a job were to come up where I need certain lighting, modifiers,etc... and the chances of me ever needing them again are slim to none, then I would rent. If I think I will use it again then its a perfect opportunity to purchase. Like you mentioned, there are some serious draw backs to renting. The resale value of many photography items are pretty good. So it may be just as cost effective to purchase the item so you have it in advance then sell it after the shoot. Oct 07, 2008 at 01:23 PM

jjlphoto Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #5 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Sounds like the OP is just starting out. I would suggest renting to see what types of gear you prefer. Or try borrowing from others that you have a good relationship with. Then, as Simon suggested, assemble a package that satisfies just your basic needs. Oct 07, 2008 at 05:18 PM

TJ Asher Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #6 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Similar to what others have mentioned... I rented at first when I had nothing to get a feel for what I felt I needed/wanted. I bought as much as I felt I needed to do the jobs I normally do so I don't need to worry about renting on short notice or having to get gear at a specific time. My kit is fairly small. It is a good idea to see what your local rental house has and if possible, make your purchases to compliment what you can rent so that way everything fits everything else. No issues with incompatible modifiers/connectors. I did NOT do this and would do so if I were starting over. Oct 07, 2008 at 06:30 PM

shatterkiss Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #7 · Owning vs Renting Lighting TJ Asher wrote: I did NOT do this and would do so if I were starting over. Same here. I started with something cheap and very quickly outgrew it. I then upgraded to something less cheap, which I then proceeded to outgrow. After two or three more iterations I ended up with the basics of the kit I have now, but most of those iterations left me with useless gear that held only a small portion of its value for resale. I would have been much better off starting with a single more expensive light, renting additional when I needed it and slowly adding more gear from within the same system as I felt it was necessary. Oct 07, 2008 at 09:54 PM

EA6B Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #8 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Model XYZ calls me up about a new hair style, I got her covered. Company PNYZ calls me about shooting the new 2009 Arnage RL, I rent. E Oct 08, 2008 at 02:26 AM

mmurph Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #9 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Really depends on where you live. whether you have a studio, what kind of work you do. With the local photo shops closing, it is a 2 hour round trip to the nearest rental shop. No decent studios to rent either. Used to be an empty room at a photo store that they called a studio that you could rent, but ... Depends on the type of work you do too, I used to have a studio. Like Shatterkiss, I grew into high end equipment. Only way to get what I wanted was to buy it. I had a bad back, so I quit travelling. Also did not want to haul equipment around any more thanm I had to. So al in all it made sense to own. Closed my studio, downsizing equipment a bit. Not really working right now. But, I figure my lighting investment will be about $20K after I downsize and am working out of the house. I used to offer the basic equipment as part of the base contract with clients. Like a Canon 40D. If they wanted images that required my Canon 1DsII, I would add that to the billing at about 1/2 of the normal day rate from a rental outfit. Figured that was the best compromise that let me offer high end equip. The same with high end lighting. I have one piece that is $5K. I line item that with the client as specialized equipment and charge for it. Else I ain't bringing $20K of lighting equipment along. Where do you live? Where do you work? What specialty? Best, Michael Oct 08, 2008 at 10:15 AM

jjlphoto Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #10 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Just as an FYI, in the film and video arena, everything (including space) is rented, marked up, and billed to the client. EVERYTHING. No one owns a stick of gear. Photographers have been getting the short end of the stick for years. Oct 08, 2008 at 01:22 PM

cwebster Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #11 · Owning vs Renting Lighting jjlphoto: actually the video guys are the ones getting the stick. The day rate for a video camera operator here in Silicon Valley is only about $400-600. I get twice that as a photographer. The video guy gets rental on his gear, but has a much larger investment in gear... his tripod costs more than my camera body. Around here, the video money is all in the equipment rentals, not the day rates. <Chas> Oct 08, 2008 at 03:40 PM

marks. Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #12 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Maybe that's a way to go: build a small but upgradeable system that covers your basics. Develop a style and find the lightformers that work for you. That's your main kit (and can be very small). I personally like umbrellas, Octabanks and Softlighter, that's what i first rented and tested, then purchased (along with a couple of light stands, c-stands flags and cases). I set out with the Profoto Acute system for the low entry pricing and all adapters would work with the Pro-7 series, what i rent all the time for jobs, with the Acute as a backup. At some point you'll might outgrow the Acute system and plunk down serious money for a Pro-7 setup, maybe a 7b, whatever you need. And with time you'll see how much you personally really need (Maybe 2-3 Acutes are fully sufficient). The main thing, equipment doesn't really make you money, jobs do, so advertise. But also either bill the equipment back to your clients or calculate the potential rental cost into your day/creative fees. Oct 08, 2008 at 06:45 PM

mmurph Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #13 · Owning vs Renting Lighting The Acute are probably a good choice as a base system for most people. Others start out with Speedotron, Dynalite, etc. and wind up migrating to Profoto anyway, as Simon mentioned. Not all, but many. Personally, I fell in love with the digital controls and full asymmetry on the Broncolor. Big bucks, but great lights. Profoto are just as good though, at least at the high end, and much more popular/common in the US. Best, Michael Oct 09, 2008 at 12:05 AM

Thats Fresh Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #14 · Owning vs Renting Lighting i have enough gear that stays in the studio and another set that i use for travel. all the heads/cables fit in a pelican as well as the stands and modifiers in a long pelican case. all the bodies/lenses/flashes stay with me on board. i havent had a shoot where i was short on gear. i feel with all the gear i have i should be able to complete a shoot. if not, ill end up shipping the rest of the large items. Oct 10, 2008 at 01:15 PM

MIKE ben Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #15 · Owning vs Renting Lighting shatterkiss wrote: TJ Asher wrote: I did NOT do this and would do so if I were starting over. Same here. I started with something cheap and very quickly outgrew it. I then upgraded to something less cheap, which I then proceeded to outgrow. After two or three more iterations I ended up with the basics of the kit I have now, but most of those iterations left me with useless gear that held only a small portion of its value for resale. I would have been much better off starting with a single more expensive light, renting additional when I needed it and slowly adding more gear from within the same system as I felt it was necessary. I would definitely buy something with a good resale value (name brand) so that when you outgrow it, you can resell. So I concur with Shatterkiss. Oct 10, 2008 at 01:26 PM

Gomez Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #16 · Owning vs Renting Lighting My situation is a little different than most of the replies on this topic. I move pretty often, due to the military. When I lived in Omaha, I did not use strobes other than strobist. That was all I need as I basically shot sports in a gym and skateboarding. Knowing that I would go overseas again. I knew I would then be shooting portraits @ events or in a home studio. I was unsure about rental shops and using unfamiliar gear. I started looking on ebay for a small system to maintain my basic needs. Well I found a Speedotron Brownline 400 and 2 M90's for $125. Two years later and I still have them. I have made nearly $10,000 with this basic gear not to mention personal projects. I have upgraded the lights to M11 for a quarter of the price brand new. I would love to upgrade to a higher end product or brand. It just depends on my needs and the luck I have on buying. As I am going to Germany next. Aside from buying a BMW, kitchen knives and a clock. Oct 10, 2008 at 09:12 PM

Thats Fresh Offline Image Upload: Off p.1 #17 · Owning vs Renting Lighting Gomez wrote: ...As I am going to Germany next. Aside from buying a BMW... its better be an E46 (= Oct 13, 2008 at 07:47 PM

ericevans Offline Image Upload: On p.1 #18 · Owning vs Renting Lighting I own my lighting . Always have and always will . I don't have the time to run down things when I need them , I just grab them and go . If I have a big shoot I will sometimes rent a lighting package so I can do the setups faster . Out of town shoots I transport my gear as well and will add rental gear from time to time . If I need HMI lighting I rent but am looking into buying those as well . Oct 15, 2008 at 09:37 PM

Jonathan H Offline Buy and Sell: On p.1 #19 · Owning vs Renting Lighting This usually does the trick for me.... it would make me exceptionally happy to get booked for jobs where I didn't own enough lighting. Oct 15, 2008 at 10:56 PM

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