So, PetaPixel had an article the other day about ways to motivate and inspire yourself in your photography. One of their ideas was to Get New Gear! And you know, I’m broke and all, so I can’t afford to Get New Gear! every time I am feeling a little blah.  BUT – did you guys know that you can RENT lenses and even camera bodies? Online? How cool is that?!? I cannot afford a Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS lens … but I have been shooting with one for the past two weeks thanks to BorrowLenses.com. I know there are a few others out there, but I tried BorrowLenses.com and so I thought I would tell you all about how fabulous they are!

I have ordered from BorrowLenses twice now, and both times I have had an exceptional experience. I rented a Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro several months ago (This pic was taken with that lens, as an example) and had lots of fun experimenting. The rental was very reasonably priced and easy! You place your order online, they ship it to you, and you receive it in 2 days generally (unless you pick super important overnight shipping). I got my lens the day it was scheduled … and instead of returning it on the day that I was supposed to, I emailed them and asked to keep it another week. They were super nice and agreeable, and just charged me for an additional week. When I was done, I packaged it up back in the prepaid box it came in, and sent it on back! Easy as pie.

I mentioned that I currently have the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L IS and I love it. I don’t want to send it back. I want to keep it forever and ever and sleep with it under my pillow at night. Unfortunately I don’t have an extra few thousand dollars laying around, so I will be sending it back shortly. Again I had a great experience with Borrow Lenses – there was a bit of a mix up with my order – I requested to get it before they could actually get it here … and then the one I requested was returned to them broken. So they upgraded me for free (I originally ordered the non-IS version) AND got it here earlier than I expected. And every person I have ever spoken too or emailed has been incredibly friendly and helpful.

So, in short – I highly recommend them! If you are looking for a little creativity boost; if you want to try out a few lenses before you decide which to buy; if you have an important event that you want to photograph – try renting a lens! They also have camera bodies, tripods, lighting … lots of options. Lots of toys to play with and drool over.

Picture from last week with my new toy: