Equipment hire

[keri]

Has anyone got any companies they can recommend for hiring photography equipment ?

I found loads online for lens/body hire which will come in very handy on a forth coming trip to Oz, but i'm also after a decent flash gun, ideally i want to hire one and have a play with it before i make the investment.

TIA

Keri

[robwhizz]

There's http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/rental
See if there is a store near you so you can pick up - although they sometimes need a bit of notice to get the kit sent up to them from another store. I've found the Birmingham branch to be nice and helpful.

[Tony]

If you're after a flashgun, Personally I would just buy one, then if you don't like it or can't find a use for it, sell it on ebay - current second hand prices are not far off new due to the strobist influence, so it would probably cost you less than renting and you could have it for longer to make a decision.

I bought a Canon 430EX a couple of weeks ago, went through quidco with Wilkinson Camera and got £12 off, plus 3.5% so it worked out at about £186, which is only about £20-£30 more than used price - and it'll cost you more than that for a weeks rental.

[keri]

Thanks both.

Tony - i hadn't thought to look at 2nd hand prices for some reason, that all makes sense now, i know i'll use one if i bought it i just couldn't mentally justify spending around £200, but if i can get one at the kind of price you spent that would be good.

I only thought about hiring instead of buying as i'm already planning on hiring a 10-20mm for the trip, would love to buy that lens but unfortunately i've already bought one expensive lens this year

[slaughteredlamb]

You can pick up the rather excellent yet not very well known Sigma EF 500 Super DG for around the £50 mark second hand which is basically an absolute bargin!

[Britman]

do you have a stop over on your way to Oz? If it's HK and you after a flash I'd be tempted to just go buy one.

[Bradman]

You can pick up the rather excellent yet not very well known Sigma EF 500 Super DG for around the £50 mark second hand which is basically an absolute bargin!

Any tips on where from?

[slaughteredlamb]

You can pick up the rather excellent yet not very well known Sigma EF 500 Super DG for around the £50 mark second hand which is basically an absolute bargin!

Any tips on where from?

Recently seen a couple go on Fleabay go for about this and also saw one about 3 months ago in the classified ads of AVForums.

[keri]

Britman - Not booked the flights yet so could stop over in HK, but it'll probably be Abu Dhabi or Singapore from the airlines on my shortlist.

SL - My dad has a Sigma flash, not sure what model he has though - will have to have a look next time i'm there, the reason i was looking at the Nikon flash is I know it can be used off body and triggered via my on body flash which i thought could come in handy (my dad's sigma doesn't work like this), my camera doesn't have a TTL port so firing a flash that way would be out, and i've seen what can only be described as hotshow extension leads which have potential , they aren't too expensive and if I get a cheap flash they look even more appealing and pocket wizards are out for price and overkill reasons

Lots of food for thought here, thanks guys

[Tony]

If you want a flash for off camera and not worried about TTL, you could get a yongnou - fully manual flash with sensors so you can fire them with your onboard flash, have a look on ebay for a YN460 the mark 2 version has two sensors.

Around £25 to £40 depending on mk1 or mk2 I have a couple and they ain't too bad.