The guys at Zacuto have put together a cool industry discussion forum in the goal to decide what is more preferable: To buy a camera gear or to rent it. Here are some takeaways.

In the old days productions were conducted by a large team and camera crews, since the cameras were much more complex, less user friendly and way more expensive, means that if you wanted to shoot a movie, rental was your sole option.

Nowadays, you can afford yourself to actually buy a cinema camera. Therefore, before start your filmmaking process, it is important to discuss first what is more logical: to buy or to rent. The guys at Zacuto have put together a cool industry session in order to discuss this dilemma.

After listening to the session, here are my takeaways.

Forum guests: Tom Fletcher, Fujinon/Fujifilm Director of Marketing, Joseph Bogdan from Columbia College Chicago, and Nino Leitner from NinoFilm and cinema5D.

Why should you buy?

Clients expectations:

You must own SOME gear. As a DP, it is expected from you to have your own gear. It doesn’t mean that you go now and buy an ALEXA, but definitely having some lenses, rigs, lighting, and cameras is a MUST! For example, Canon c200/ SONY FS7, Panasonic EVA seems like great options. Incase you can’t effort those, buy a DSLR. But buy something! Clients expect from you to have some gear.

Testing and learning:

There is another reason why you should buy and own camera gear. Testing and learning. When you have the privilege to an unlimited access to cameras, lenses, lights and so on, you can try them out whatever you’d like. It’s most important for passion project that are crucial for your portfolio. DP’s used to create their passion project by using their own gear.

Why should you rent?

Obsoletion:

In old days, you could buy a camera that was relevant for a large part of time. Nowadays is a bit different. Every year (if not every month) there are new cameras in the market, resulted from technology acceleration and enhancing development phases to satisfy consumers demands. The only way to keep up with this fast pace is by rentals. Leave this headache to the rental houses and let them sprint with this fast tempo of technology.

Versatility according to client’s demand.

Some clients want RED, some want ALEXA and other like Canon. You can’t buy it all, so rent them according to your client’s demands.

Price: Cost more than $15-20,000? – Rent!

Cinema cameras are expensive. If you can’t afford them you will have to rent them. Were does the line pass?

Nino from cinema5D says that below $10,000 it makes more sense to buy. But anything cost more than $15-20,000 is probably smarter to rent. That means maybe you should rent RED and/ or ALEXA instead of buying them. Buy the way, there are cameras for renting only (Panavision and the ALEXA 65 are good examples). In that case you don’t have a choice but to rent. Also, regarding high-end cinema camera (RED’s top line) it will be more logical to rent instead of buying a $80,000 MONSTRO.

Also it is important to note that there are some good solutions out there, like the ARRI Approved Certified Pre-Owned program which lets you buy used cameras straight from the manufactures plus warranty. Of course there are options to buy used high-end cinema camera from eBay as well, with some risks though.

Client’s expectations:

Sometimes there are clients who want you to show with your RED or ALEXA. You can’t bring your GH5 or Canon 1DX since it’s not “respectable”/impressive nor “serious” enough to show up with those cameras. If you want to work with those clients, you will not have a choice but to rent a RED/ ALEXA. I know many DPs who bought RED for evoking admiration (and sold it after a short period since they haven’t used it as much).

What about lenses? – Obsoletion is less relevant

The obsoletion is less relevant when talking about lenses. Good lenses are not obsolete, since the technology of optics does not change as fast as the technology of sensors, which means that a good lens can stay relevant for decades. Even old lenses can produce stunning images. Although you can buy lenses, cinema lenses, specially anamorphic might be pretty expensive (more than $10,000). Moreover, let’s suppose you have a special gig and a dedicated expensive zoom lens is needed. In that case, going to the rental house might be a more logical solution.

For the full discussion watch the video below:

Final thoughts:

DPs must buy their own camera gear for sure. Rental is an integral and essential option which DPs should take into advantage as well. There is no reason to buy an ALEXA LF or RED MONSTRO, but an ALEXA Classic / RED Scarlet, EVA, FS7 (and other less expensive cinema cameras) are more affordable options that the DPs should consider to buy.

What is your opinion about this discussion? What kind of gear do you own or should you buy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!