To rent or to buy is kind of the eternal question when it comes to film gear. In this entry we’ll be going over the various factors and questions you should answer to help identify whether it’s a good idea to purchase gear or simply rent what you need. I’ve been shooting for more than ten years and in that time, I’ve spent more than $100K on gear. Financially, buying gear can be a slippery slope – it’s often more than the purchase… there’s also accessories, maintenance, repairs, insurance, upgrades, and updating your gear to the current model to keep up with the industry. I am not a rich man. I don’t have anything handed to me. I work hard to earn what I do and try to spend as wisely as possible. So let’s get into some decision making factors…
For the purpose of not jumping all over the map with the blog, let’s assume we’re talking about one specific item considered for purchase. We’ll say it’s a high end DSLR costing $8K for the camera body and $3K in lenses.
- Can you earn money with your purchase? Will productions that hire you rent your gear from you, hire you over someone else competing for the same position, or increase your day rate to include some sort of compensation for the gear that you’ve purchased? This especially comes into play for accessories. I am currently looking at selling various accessories in my camera package because as helpful as they are, I have never been payed a single penny extra to provide it on set. Budgets only go so far…
- Can you rent the camera locally from a rental house for a good price? When factoring things for large purchases, try to estimate how many days you’ll be shooting with it and how long it would take to pay for itself. If $10K of gear costs $250 to rent for a day, then if you need the gear for more than 40 days of shooting – you’re now looking at the costs balancing out on a strictly purchase price vs rental cost level. This of course does not factor in maintenance, repairs, insurance, etc.
- Do you plan to rent your gear out to people – or only use it on the shoots you’re on? This all boils down to your comfort level and personal experiences. I’ve had many bad experiences relinquishing my gear into other people’s hands without me being there that has resulted in damage to my gear and cost me money. In all of those cases, the person renting the gear refused to pay for the damage or repair and the overall cost wasn’t large enough to take them to court or file an insurance claim due to the deductible amount.If you are comfortable renting out your gear and there is a solid demand for what you’re purchasing in your area, then investing in the gear might not only pay for itself but make you a profit.
- Are you going to get the price you think you will for renting your gear out? When talking about independent film, budgets are almost always low – people always want a great deal – there’s almost always an angle being played. So it’s great to think of the optimal rental rates but definitely do some homework and ask other professionals in your region what kind of rates they’re getting for renting their gear. You might be surprised. The offers you might encounter will sometimes border on being offensive. Remember, a lot of times people are going to private owners for a rental because they can’t afford to rent directly from a rental house for firm industry-standard rates. Whether you decide to make a rental deal for a reduced rate is up to you.
- How soon will the next model of your camera be released? This is a major factor these days. When it comes to camera bodies, there’s a new model released at least once a year per most companies. The Canon C500 (4K cinema camera) was announced less than 4 months after the release of the Canon C300 ($16K 1080p camera). That was fast, huh?!The nature of the biz, of course, is to want to the “latest and greatest” on set. The result being that if you don’t keep up with latest model, you might stop getting those rentals and gigs. Again, this is where the slippery slope comes in to play. The thousands of dollars invested over the years really start to add up.
- What is the risk of damage to your gear and how much will maintenance/repairs potentially cost you? Some gear is more sturdy than others. If you’re the only one handling your gear, you can use it as carefully as you want to. If you’re renting that gear out, be prepared for people to handle it as rough as they feel like. It’s a rental. What do they care? I’ve learned this the hard way over the years and also break my gear down into categories based on the item’s value and how rugged it is. C stands? No problem. Wireless follow focus? That is something I’m less likely to rent out… Keep in mind that despite the cost of repair or a whole new purchase, you can only charge so much for a rental. If a rental will yield $75 but the repair cost for an electronics-filled piece of gear is $350, the risk you take goes up.
- Don’t expect the people who you help to help you back. This might sound jaded but it comes from 10+ years of experience. I’ve cut tons of people deals with me providing gear just to have it break, get damaged, lost, stolen, etc – just to have them say “that sucks. I’m sorry to hear that”. These are the same people that I have saved hundreds or thousands of dollars total. It doesn’t matter what they said prior to the damage. It doesn’t matter how iron clad the rental contract is. If they’re going to stiff you with the bill for damage, it’s going to happen – unless you take them to court which is usually more expensive than paying for the damage yourself. It’s dark; it’s cynical; it’s a shame… but this is out there and in abundance. Be careful. Protect yourself as much as you can. If you cut people a deal, make sure you’re not putting yourself in a bad position if anything goes wrong. This is very much the reason that rental houses are covered six ways from Sunday when it comes to releasing their equipment [item #10 – below]
- How much do you want to use it on your own? This ventures a little bit away from the cost analysis side but absolutely factors in. If you’re someone that is always shooting whether it’s for fun or for work – larger purchases become easily justifiable. If you shoot something for fun on a lot of your days off and the gear is what you would prefer or choose – then you can factor that in to point #2 with a modified equation of your choosing. If you think you’re likely to get 30 rental days from the gear but plan on using the gear on your own for 25 more days during the year, you might not make all of your money back financially – but you’ll also be able to save money by not having to rent the camera 55 times in the year.
- Well, sure – but I’ll have insurance, right? Insurance is great! Sometimes. When talking about insurance, find out a few things first to be as informed as you possibly can (I’ll do a blog post solely on production insurance in the future). First of all, insurance might not cover everything that you think it does – definitely check with your agent and confirm. Second, be very clear about what your deductible is and how that comes into play. If you have a $1,500 deductible and are getting hit with $800-$1200 repairs frequently, you might get a lot less out of insurance than you originally anticipated. Next, make sure you understand the conditions of what constitutes an insurable damage. If a camera falls to the ground and breaks – it’s probably covered. If something internal stops working from regular use – it’s probably not covered. Think about your car insurance… If you get into an accident or the car is stolen, you’re covered. If an alternator dies and the car won’t run – you’re footing the bill for that repair.
- Aren’t rental houses a pain in the butt to deal with? In my experience, yes. That doesn’t mean that they should be ruled out though. With most rental houses, you will need to provide insurance to cover the gear and also may need to put down a credit card to cover the deductible or cost of the item. At times you will be supplied with gear that doesn’t work or doesn’t match the proper parts (make sure you do a thorough inspection during check out). At times the gear will break during your shoot – most rental companies should replace the gear as quickly as possible so you can continue shooting if the damage is not your fault. I have seen instances where a rental company will refute any responsibilities and stick you with the busted gear. The best thing to do in regards to the negative aspects that can go along with rental houses is to do your research – see what rental houses that professionals in your area are recommending and find out their experiences; find out the last time the gear you will be renting was services; ask to see if there are any tricks or tweaks to the gear that you should know about. “Knowing is half the battle…”
So there’s some food for thought and ways of figuring out which option is best for you. At the end of the day – make sure you’ve done your homework, crunched the numbers and assessed the risk. Try to look out for yourself and make sure you’re as protected as you can be in whichever paths choose.
*At the time of writing this blog, I have three different pieces of gear that are damaged from “natural causes” and I need to spend the money personally to repair the items. The total purchase price of this gear is $9K and is currently considered inoperable until the repairs are made. Just thought I’d share some of the real life scenario.