Episode 41: Owning, Renting, and Selling Gear

February 7, 2012

in Gear,Podcast Episodes,Resources,Tutorials

Thought I would share a couple tips on buying vs. renting, and selling gear as well as a little economics class.

Quicktime File.

  1. Opportunity Cost – Understand that everything has an alternative cost.
  2. Buying – Figure out what you use for every shoot.
  3. Renting – Rent for those special gigs that require kit you don’t usually need.
  4. Selling – Get rid of the gear you haven’t used in the last 6 months.

Related content:

  1. Episode 43: Nikkor Lens Guide – Adapting Nikon to Canon and Other Camera Mounts
  2. Cheap Shoulder Rig Works Perfectly for HDSLR Work
  3. Episode 31: Friday News – Canon Special Event, New Sony Cameras And a Article on the FS100
  4. Episode 34: Using Empty DVD Spindles For Camera Rods
  5. Episode 009: Nikon to Canon Lens Adaptor

Tagged as: Gear, Renting

  • Druvies

    Fantastic post.

  • guest 619

    maybe it might help a wider range of people if you get more specific for a style of shooting.
    then a “typical” setup up used for that style. (I know its really broad but it might help people)
    interview: 5D mark II, 24-70 2.8, manfrotto monopod.(own) 70-200 2.8 (rent) (why?…most interviews dont use them very often.
    concert: 70-200 2.8 etc

    I think people are asking what is key gear to invest in and what is more “fun” gear.
    whats essential to have…to get started and what are more myth things “needed”.

    or maybe a series of vids doing specific styles interview,cinema,concert,etc and two gear set ups to get the job done.

    I hope my input helps.
    thanks 

  • http://www.facebook.com/videojester Jon Forsyth

    Good food for thought. I’ve got a nice mic that’s been sitting around for…longer than I can remember. I like the idea of having it around, “in case,” but maybe I should let it go.

  • Guest

     MorTgage

  • http://brucephilpott.com/ Bruce Philpott

    In renting, there’s the cost of losing a couple of days’ shooting (weather, etc.) when you’re paying for rental gear. If you own the basics and are only renting a “B” camera and jib, for instance, you’re not out the rental price of lights, sound gear, etc.

  • Emil Gawin

    Great stuff. That is really important to remember that to have gear is not a problem… but to have geart and use it properly. 

  • Jay Windland

    Great episode. Totally relevant. Last year I bought a Cinemover and honestly still love it, but dragging around these weird makeshift rails (like 2×6′s and vinyl fence posts and weird crap to mount it all to light stands) to small commercial shoots? Unreal. Time for craigslist. Anyway, +1 for practical content!

  • FrankJ

    Just the info i needed thanks!

  • DBOSS

    “MORTGAGE”

  • DBoss

    “alternative”

    -The Spelling Police.

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    Ah, thanks for the correction I’ll fix it.

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll see if I can cover more of those topics down the road.

  • dboss

    “sell gear ‘you’ haven’t used in 6 months”

    That’s it for the grammar police. Good video, thank you.

  • Jay Windland

    Another thought – and this is my main beef with the rental industry: If you are on a budget, the gear you would buy and the gear you would rent aren’t the same. For example, when it came time to buy a set of primes, I bought the Rokinons because they are an incredible value for their quality. I’ve never seen where you could rent these. I bought an Igus slider for the cost of one day’s rental of a more commercial brand. I’ve been totally happy with both of these purchases, but there was no way to rent this type of economy gear. The same goes for the jib from India in your example. I’m sure it’s a nice product, but you couldn’t rent that jib if you wanted to. The one you would rent would cost 5-10x as much to buy and a day’s rate would get you half way to the purchase price. I think this is born out of a history of corporate and broadcast video where a producer is billing everything to someone else anyway and is less concerned with wasting budget as they are with reliability. In today’s production world, we are forced to do more ourselves with less budget and even more demand for high end looks (like jib shots). I think that’s one reason why all this budget gear is so popular – it is the rental alternative. So maybe we should introduce a new option: buy for a specific project knowing full well that you will sell when that project is done and re-coup some costs. Having a better used market for budget gear also wouldn’t hurt the rest of the community.

  • Tim de la Torre

    Another GREAT place to sell stuff is the DVXuser marketplace. It’s the most active marketplace I’ve seen on-line for this niche. Creative Cow also has one as does Reduser. This allows you to escape the ebay fees and even paypal if you meet in person or have someone pay with Dwolla or paypal ‘gift’ option. Helps cut out the loss you take on selling stuff.

  • http://dslrvideoshooter.com calebpike

    Haha thanks!

  • Jason

    Great post.  I’ve found myself renting a light kit now for the last several shoots I’ve had.  One more rental and I could have just bought the lights outright.  So ya… that will be happening soon.  I’ve found that I’ve got to have my camera, tripod, H4n and pair of CAD e70s for most gigs and rent other things depending on what it is.  One thing I’ve found that is helpful is finding other shooters in your area that can work for you and you can work for them.  I often do video shoots for my landlord and I rent equipment from him as well.  Sometimes he will end up renting my camera and tripod too.  It’s a great relationship if you can find someone like that in your area that you trust so you can actually make money off of the gear you own even when you don’t have a gig!

  • Robert

    Man, my friend needs to see this video.  He purchased a 2k shoulder rig and 20ft crane that he has not used once. 

  • Weddings

    More business advice! It rocks!

  • http://www.facebook.com/glenn.clancy Glenn Clancy

    thanks for this. great advice. i think this was a much needed reality check for my purchasing habits. i’ve already started selling stuff i don’t use as often.