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Cheffievrs

Cheffievrs

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Jason
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Hi guys
Please can somebody clarify something for me please..
I was under the impression that being a cps member, gave you a the ability to borrow gear for a few days to see if its something I'd like to purchase..?

Cheers
 
Never heard that before, not direct from Canon. If you go to a Canon Pro shop it is easier to get a loan of gear. But...my local Pro shop (and there are not that many of them) will loan stuff out though they require you to make a payment in full on your credit card before the hire which is refunded on return. Ordinary customers have to pay a loan fee for the duration but CPS members have this waived.

AFAIK there are only two "northern" shops under this scheme - one in Southport and one in Lincoln.

I may be wrong - it's not unknown!
 
That was never the case when I was in CPS (until 2008), and reading the new material it doesn't mention it either:

http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/services.do

You get loaner kit if your repair takes longer than the SLA for repair turnaround states but not try out kit. The exception to this is if you are accredited media at one of the major events CPS attends (like Wimbledon, British Grand Prix etc) where you can book out some of the kit they bring along if you want to try it out, or you need something specific you don't own.

As above - you might find that a local pro shop might offer you a loaner on the basis that they might secure a sale. The terms of that are probably based more on your previous history with them unless they are in the scheme mentioned above. For example my local pro shop (who I have been buying from for over 6 years) now will loan me lenses to try out if I request them but it is based on a fair volume of transactions and the fact my credit card and address is on file ;-) If I broke or damaged it then I'd be paying for it.
 
Cheers for your replies guys, see what's interesting a friend managed to get a 500 ii on loan from cps 12/18 months ago, and he bought one due to it..

Oh well, not to worry.. I'll have to hire one

Thanks anyway :)
 
Cheffievrs said:
Cheers for your replies guys, see what's interesting a friend managed to get a 500 ii on loan from cps 12/18 months ago, and he bought one due to it..

Oh well, not to worry.. I'll have to hire one

Thanks anyway :)
Click to expand...

Well it isn't part of the written benefits of the scheme. You can imagine the cost and logistics around shipping lenses to anyone that wanted a loaner, albeit that some would be completely legitimate and would result in sales, it could easily be misused by people just getting loaners all the time. not to mention the maintenance of them and written down loss of the kit. CPS isn't tight enough on criteria to ensure that only working professionals are members - and in fact I'm not sure in it's latest incarnation it is intended to be that way.

Really the hire market can service that for the majority and most hiring associated with pro centres will discount the rental fee from the same lens purchased within a reasonable time after hire.

I did get a loaner D3X just after my switch from Canon to Nikon, obviously the NPS team could see the significant recent investment in their kit and I had been doing a writeup of the 1Ds MkIII for Canon prior to switching. I got a couple of weeks, and it did result in a sale but it wasn't part of a formal offering from NPS - more based on the judgement of my NPS contact, and availability of the body at a time of the year when there was low demand from the event pool.

At this point of the year with a World Cup about to start, Wimbledon and the Commonwealth Games around the corner I think you'll find all of those loaner 500mm are going to be out with the on-site CPS teams through until September.
 
meonshore said:
You get loaner kit if your repair takes longer than the SLA for repair turnaround states but not try out kit. The exception to this is if you are accredited media at one of the major events CPS attends (like Wimbledon, British Grand Prix etc) where you can book out some of the kit they bring along if you want to try it out, or you need something specific you don't own.
Click to expand...

Yeah this - I had a loaner 24-105 whilst mine was in for repair, and I borrowed a 400mm at the British GP
 
If you've got a good relationship with your supplier they'll often lend you kit, I buy a lot of gear through one pro-centric supplier and they are happy to lend me gear I might be fancying buying.

That is where it is worth paying a touch more than the cheapest grey import HK outfit or faceless box shifter. They would also help me out if I got stuck with a kit failure and needed one for a job.
 
I'm hoping for some loan kit when in Brazil for the next 5 weeks - Canon and Nikon will have service centres at the match venues and as a CPS and FIFA accredited person I should be able to get my hands on some nice gear - I fancy the 200-400 and a pair of 1DXs and keeping my own 1DIVs as backups.
 
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