Lens Hire & Which Lens

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universalady

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I have a couple of questions, so to put you in the picture, I will be going to Crufts next year, and would like to take some good shots indoors. Both of stationary and moving dogs, probably more moving shots than anything

I have (& love) a Canon 550d, and 90% of the time use the 55 - 250 lens, which I have found excellent in getting great moving shots outdoors, but to be honest a bit of a disappointment indoors. I've found I need to crank the iso right up which of course then results in grainy pictures, so I was thinking about hiring a lens. I was thinking of using the http://www.lenslocker.co.uk/canon-ef-70-200mm-f-2-8l-is-ii-usm.html would this help in getting clear moving pics in low light situations? I generally use either the Manual or Shutter priority mode, with shutter speed set to at least 400 although usually around 500. (I'm afraid I just can't get on with the AV mode :()

The other question is, what do you think of using http://www.lenslocker.co.uk? I have found that they seem to be a bit cheaper than some of the other hire places
 
With regard to hire I am sure myself and numerous others would highly recommend lens for hire.Great prices and friendly service.
 
I wouldn't personally use lens locker.

I've never heard of them and their site doesn't mention very much useful information at all. For example -
Insurance? What cover do they include if any?
VAT? If you go to the checkout it appears they add VAT afterwards, sadly you have to login to find out for sure.
Delivery time? Do they include delivery time in the hire period?
Address? All we know is they are in twickenham, and that isn't very clear on the contact page.

Compare their site to www.lensesforhire.co.uk and you will see the difference in transparency - I want to know exactly what will happen with the hire!

The 70-200mm is a good choice though. If you rent from lensesforhire is is £10 more than lenslocker for 7 days without any of the above questions being unanswered.
 
Lenses for hire are great, as are Lenspimp. In fact Lenspimp are better for last minute "I need it for tomorrow and its 4pm now" they've not failed me yet
 
The 70-200 f2.8 is a good lens and probably our most popular hire lens (which is why we have 11 of them at the last count!).

Just answering a couple of the points mentioned - the reason why lens locker won't have put their exact address is for security reasons. We don't either, instead we list our Registered Office address (our accountants) and LfH are the same.

You should also consider any pre-booking discounts (lens locker do offer one whereas LfH don't) and the delivery costs as at the end of the day, if you know what you want, a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 is the same lens whichever of the hire companies you get it from. The courier charges do vary quite considerably though between rental companies.

Good luck with the show though.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I wouldn't personally use lens locker.

I've never heard of them and their site doesn't mention very much useful information at all. For example -
Insurance? What cover do they include if any?
VAT? If you go to the checkout it appears they add VAT afterwards, sadly you have to login to find out for sure.
Delivery time? Do they include delivery time in the hire period?
Address? All we know is they are in twickenham, and that isn't very clear on the contact page.

Compare their site to www.lensesforhire.co.uk and you will see the difference in transparency - I want to know exactly what will happen with the hire!

The 70-200mm is a good choice though. If you rent from lensesforhire is is £10 more than lenslocker for 7 days without any of the above questions being unanswered.
Click to expand...

Hi Richard,

You may not have heard of LensLocker before but many people have and therefore I would like to take a moment to respond to the points you made:

1. We are relatively new, we launched in February this year but if you were to search on lens hire you will find us appearing in position number 2 on google. We also advertise in Photography Monthly, Going Pro, The Independent on Sunday, Photo Professional to name a few. I am therefore surprised (and disappointed) that you haven't heard of us.

2. Insurance, all of our products are fully insured. Our FAQ section quite clearly states this.

3. VAT, all of our products include VAT, if you look at the checkout you would see that we split the VAT out of the products, we do not add VAT onto the top of your lens at the end.

4. Delivery, the lens arrives on the first day of your hire, however, we do not require the lens to be posted back or dropped off until the day after your hire ends.

5. We do not give our base address out for security reasons as Lens Fettish have pointed out. We have lots of expensive kit and we do not want to advertise where it is all kept, our local crime prevention officer advised us that this would be the correct thing to do. What we do have is a delivery partner, customers can come in and pick lenses up and they can even come in and drop them off.

6. All of the above information isn't hidden away, it is clearly stated in our FAQ's. If any one has any questions on any of this we are always happy to provide additional information.

It's always good to get feedback and I hope the above helps.

Martin
Lenslocker
 
Hi Martin

Thank you for coming on here to clarify those things - I had looked around your page for a FAQ and didn't spot it down there. Maybe link to it a little more prominently, because as you correctly pointed out that does answer all the points I raised. which initially seemed unclear :)

Apologies if my questions I put you in a bad light, I guess it is years of internet cynicism that ring alarm bells when I cannot find information easily. Good point about security - didn't even occur to me!

You are now in my list should I need to hire lenses :thumbs:

Thanks again
Richard
 
RichardtheSane said:
Hi Martin

Thank you for coming on here to clarify those things - I had looked around your page for a FAQ and didn't spot it down there. Maybe link to it a little more prominently, because as you correctly pointed out that does answer all the points I raised. which initially seemed unclear :)

Apologies if my questions I put you in a bad light, I guess it is years of internet cynicism that ring alarm bells when I cannot find information easily. Good point about security - didn't even occur to me!

You are now in my list should I need to hire lenses :thumbs:

Thanks again
Richard
Click to expand...

Thanks Richard, all the best

Martin:)
 
Can I remind you new lens hiring folk of the advertising rules please. We offer very generous rates for advertising...
 
matty said:
Can I remind you new lens hiring folk of the advertising rules please. We offer very generous rates for advertising...
Click to expand...

Hi Matty, sorry if we breached the rules, I felt that one of the posts needed an official response. I would like to put an advert up, can you point me in the right direction please?

Thanks,

Martin
 
Lenslocker said:
Hi Matty, sorry if we breached the rules, I felt that one of the posts needed an official response. I would like to put an advert up, can you point me in the right direction please?

Thanks,

Martin
Click to expand...

See at the very bottom of the page there is a contact us, that's the best route for you to take :thumbs:

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/sendmessage.php

Hope that helps :thumbs:
 
I have to say, I used LensLocker recently, and thought this company was excellent! Their service was prompt, the lens was extremely well packaged and faultless. They were also considerably cheaper than LFH. I was totally impressed.

On a happy co-incidence, I was on the same course as Martin (:wave: Hi!), although I didn't know who he was until half way through the course, and it was nice to give direct feedback to him. A lovely bloke and a great company - I definitely recommend!
 
I've used Lenses For Hire a few times. Their service is second to none.
They have actually driven miles to personally deliver a lens when the delivery people had failed.
I believe they even went out and bought a lens that wasn't in stock so they didn't let a customer down. Although that must be rare when you see the sheer quantity of stock.
They also have a "live" stock availability thing on their site, so you know if the lens is available to hire on the date you want it.
Dean. :-)
 
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