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Renting a lens?

Twelve-Fifty Wed 01 Mar 2017 00:52:08 No.3031088 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>3031134 >>3031188 >>3031431 >>3031580 >>3031727 >>3032271

A friend of mine asked me to be his wedding photographer, but I currently don't have the equipment for the job. I've got a basic ass Nikon D3000 with a freaking kit lens, I'm moving so I can't just buy new shit, and I have one month to figure something out.

So I've heard about renting equipment, in this case I just need a couple lenses and proper flash, but I've never seen a thread about it before.

Is renting a lens a stupid idea? Have any of you tried it? Any websites you recommend? Am I fucked?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 00:54:47 No.3031091 Report

Quoted By: >>3031175

lensrentals and borrowlenses are both great.

make sure you rent them two days before the wedding so you can spend 24-48 hours to familiarize yourself with the equipment. now is not a great time to experiment with new brands or crazy shit.

make your friend pay for the rental, since he's getting off cheap anyway by having his basic ass equipped friend do it for (presumably) free or very close to free.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 01:50:33 No.3031134 Report

Quoted By: >>3031145 >>3031175

>>3031088
>I'm sorry man, I don't have the right equipment for the job and since I'm moving I can't take on a project like that right now. Maybe I can do the next one?

Is that so hard?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 02:12:01 No.3031141 Report

Quoted By: >>3031175

Renting a lens is fine - problem is most of the time for like a week you end up doing like 15-20% of the value of the lens, if it's your only option then go for it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 02:18:39 No.3031145 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031134
>Maybe I can do the next one?

kek

Like other anons suggested, either have him rent all the equipment or he can just hire a photographer. You've gotta move and got other shit to worry about.

Twelve-Fifty

Twelve-Fifty Wed 01 Mar 2017 03:28:42 No.3031175 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031091
Definitely planning on getting them early, get some practice in. I had better gear a year ago, I miss my old Tamron lens, just doing the best with what I've got. Thanks for the suggestions.

>>3031134
Bruh, I told him that right off the bat. They can't afford to hire anyone. Apparently his aunt offered, but he's asking me, so...

>>3031141
That basically sums up what I'm seeing on lensrentals. Sucks, but at least I can get some money back from the wedding and another friend's pregnancy shoot.

/\M8U5H !!zJbpV0948+w

/\M8U5H !!zJbpV0948+w Wed 01 Mar 2017 03:54:56 No.3031188 Report

Quoted By: >>3031987

>>3031088

Tell him to hire a good wedding photographer. It's the honest thing to do. Even have a few people chip in for him.

Look at some portfolios, and find someone who won't give him snapshits.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 03:54:59 No.3031189 Report

Quoted By: >>3031230

Why can't you just shoot it with a kit lens?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:02:54 No.3031228 Report

Quoted By:

Get the aunt to do it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:08:06 No.3031230 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031189
Bokeh

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:08:46 No.3031231 Report

Quoted By: >>3031234

Have him buy you a 50 1.8 as payment. Less than 100$. Manual focus but I assure you you can do it. Will be quasi telephoto on your camera.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:14:26 No.3031234 Report

Quoted By: >>3031237 >>3031251

>>3031231
Do you understand why this is a bad idea?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:17:48 No.3031237 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031234
Do you?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:48:06 No.3031251 Report

Quoted By: >>3031255

>>3031234
Enlighten me.

It'll always work an any body he upgrades to.
It will provide better images for the task at hand.
It's as expensive as a lens rental but you keep it.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 05:55:51 No.3031255 Report

Quoted By: >>3031256

>>3031251
Shooting an event with a single manual focus prime is going to be a very bad time. You want a zoom lens with good autofocus.

Primes are fun and I use a manual 50mm f1.7 almost exclusively. At an event where you don't have as much control over your subject (or even where you're allowed to stand), I want something with a little more flexibility.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 06:03:49 No.3031256 Report

Quoted By: >>3031258

>>3031255
No argument for the positioning part, but you tell me what great affordable fast zoom he's going to be able to rent for the same price neighborhood for a d3000 that will autofocus.

I have to tell you, I shoot damn near everything with three manual primes- 24, 50, 85- but I'm on a different body and it's not super relevant to this as I'm not getting stuck shooting a friend's wedding for free.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 06:09:00 No.3031258 Report

Quoted By: >>3031274 >>3031403

>>3031256
How about this?

https://www.borrowlenses.com/product/nikon-mounts/Nikon_18-300_f3.5-5.6_AF-S_DX_VR

It's 18-300 and costs $50 for a week.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 07:05:45 No.3031274 Report

Quoted By: >>3031275

>>3031258
3.5 isn't going to give poop for shallow DOF for the wedding aesthetic.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 07:07:55 No.3031275 Report

Quoted By: >>3031276

>>3031274
I think if you're at the point where you are asking people to shoot your wedding for free, you are more concerned with just recording memories than you are about aesthetics

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 07:10:23 No.3031276 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031275
Yeah, actually, you're super right about that.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 13:13:29 No.3031379 Report

Quoted By:

>hey anon, you have a dslr
>that means you're a photographer
>shoot my wedding, bruh?

I miss 1999.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 14:21:20 No.3031399 Report

Quoted By:

Buy a fucking flash, OP and use the kit lens.

Those yongnuo will last you a couple of years and are cheap.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 14:32:49 No.3031403 Report

Quoted By: >>3031454

>>3031258
>3.5-5.6
Have fun shooting in a pitch black church and a badly lit evening. You don't necessarily shoot primes for the bokeh on weddings, there is just so other way without using a flash.

But if you don't get paid or have your rental costs taken over, then you shouldn't care. You get what you pay for.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 15:04:44 No.3031431 Report

Quoted By: >>3031987

>>3031088
If I go buy a car, am I race car driver?

No.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 15:09:41 No.3031436 Report

Quoted By:

Tell him you'll do it for free, but that you need a few hundred bucks to rent lenses.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 15:15:53 No.3031447 Report

Quoted By: >>3031454 >>3031545 >>3031553

The first thing you need to do is research. What do wedding photographers do typically? Start there.

Next, bill your friend for the following: Rental 70-200/2.8, 50 or 85 1.4, 17-55 for crop or 24-70 2.8 for FF. Don't fuck around with anything but Nikkors. You don't have time to fix things. Get a D750 rental as your first body. Get extra SD cards. Get a SB910 or 5000. Maybe two so you can have a second as static off camera. Learn how to use flash, read the Strobist. Figure out how to light the venue.

If you got an idea of what to shoot, and how to light it, you'll be good.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 15:21:33 No.3031454 Report

Quoted By: >>3031583

>>3031403
>what is VR/IS
>what is good iso performance
>what is shooting with flash at f8

>>3031447
Too much money for OP, be realistic

admc !OjbLzBhZww

admc !OjbLzBhZww Wed 01 Mar 2017 17:04:22 No.3031545 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031447
>Get a D750

I approve

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 17:35:20 No.3031553 Report

Quoted By: >>3031583

>>3031447
I feel like you are ignoring the budget constraints

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 18:43:23 No.3031580 Report

Quoted By: >>3031583 >>3031987

>>3031088
Are you sure you can deliver on their expectations? Just because you have a camera doesn't mean you capture the moments and emotions expected from you.
You and your friend might think you're being nice and doing them a favor, but shooting a wedding, even a small one, can be a daunting task for the inexperienced.

Gear is a secondary problem.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 18:49:57 No.3031583 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031553
>>3031454
Not only are budget constraints not specified, but I did clearly say rent. The body would be expensive, and if you wanted to do it on the cheap, just a 17-55/70-200/SB910 would run you $150 for a weekend rental? Somewhere around there. You gotta pay to play here, so weddingboy can pony up or just snap things on his phone.

The absolutely positively minimum you'd need is to rent a speedlight. One step up from that is to add the 17-55. Another step would be 70-200/2.8. The 50/85 1.4 would be optional.

Going back to my first point though, >>3031580 is right. The very best thing you can do is start traweling wedding photography portfolios so you can get an idea of what to do.

Anonymous

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Anonymous Wed 01 Mar 2017 23:40:08 No.3031727 Report

Quoted By: >>3031987

>>3031088

Take this, OP.

Twelve-Fifty

Twelve-Fifty Thu 02 Mar 2017 09:31:26 No.3031987 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031188
>>3031431
Again, I already reiterated this to him. He likes my work, but my good stuff was when I had the Canon t5 and a Tamron 70-300mm. I know I can't deliver professional quality shit, but he wants me to shoot.

>>3031580
Of course not, but I'm not going to act like it. I'm going to get my clothes dirty, I'll climb a tree, I'll sit in a puddle if it gets the right angle. I fully intend on practicing with them before the wedding and making sure we're on the same page, and it's going to work out just fine.

>>3031727
That... That's actually really fucking useful, thank you so much. I'm going to print like ten copies.

Okay, healthy dose of reality aside, you guys answered my questions, so thank you. I'll dig through wedding portfolios, I'm considering my options for the individual lenses or package deals, and I'll scope out the venue before hand (obviously), so thank you all for your advice.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 02 Mar 2017 10:58:19 No.3032016 Report

Quoted By:

Equipment is important, but does your friend understand that you have no experience photographing weddings? If so, go for it, but honestly, the D3000 and kit lens won't cut it.

However, you don't need full frame or a plethora of fast zooms and primes. My advice is to rent a Nikon D5600 or D7200, the Nikon 17-55 2.8 or Sigma 17-70 2.8-4, and the Nikon SB-910 speedlight. Keep it simple. One body. One lens. One speedlight. The price from lensrentals.com for a 3 day rental for the speedlight, Nikon D5600 and Sigma 17-70 is $90 before shipping. For the speedlight, D7200 and Nikon 18-55 2.8, it's $133. Factor in about $30 or such for shipping, and $5-$10 for batteries for the speedlight. If you can somehow eat such costs given your circumstances, then fine, but you should do absolutely everything in your power to make him pay for it.

Reading tutorials and watching videos is fine and all, but you still shouldn't expect much for shooting your first wedding, Printing out and using that wedding shot cheat sheet will help, but don't expect to be consistently checking off shot after shot. Weddings can be a clusterfuck, and even the most well planned and rehearsed wedding often don't go according to plan.

Keep it simple. Communicate with the bride and groom regarding what they are looking for and for what to expect during the wedding. If they have a rehearsal the night before, go to it. If you can, visit the venue(s) where the ceremony and reception will take place. Plan ahead, but be flexible.

sledwar_ !!1/kWJX80qnI

sledwar_ !!1/kWJX80qnI Thu 02 Mar 2017 21:57:57 No.3032271 Report

Quoted By:

>>3031088
Hiring a lens is fine, I've done it a few times for different jobs. Just make sure you don't break or damage it or you're fucked.
I use a local hire so I can't recommend a specific place to you.
Do you have any photographer friends or contacts in the area? Chances are they'll be able to recommend a decent hire place. A lot of photography stores offer equipment rental.

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