Why is it that most renters rent only Canon..

[BradT0517]

Why is it that most renters rent only Canon to begin with before jumping to Nikon. This is a very broad statement based on my research of different camera renters.

[timbernet]

Why is it that most renters rent only Canon to begin with before jumping to Nikon. This is a very broad statement based on my research of different camera renters.

Businesses supply what people demand... apparently in their research when starting a business they found that more people would want to rent Canon than Nikon.

[StewartR]

I guess I'm qualified to answer this, seeing as how I'm the co-owner of a new lens hire shop and we only stock Canon...

The first reason is that the hire business demands a huge outlay of cash, and there is no synergy between different brands. We spent over £30,000 (US $60,000) on Canon lenses before we opened the doors, and if we wanted to acquire a comparable range of Nikon lenses we'd need to find the same again. It makes sense to start with one brand, prove the business model and get the systems and processes bedded in, and then look to diversify as the money starts to flow.

Secondly, Canon has the largest market share in DSLRs. I haven't been able to unearth decent data for individual markets, but globally the DSLR market shares in recent year were:

2006: Canon 47%, Nikon 33%, the rest 20%
2005: Canon 49%, Nikon 34%, the rest 17%

Canon's lead will probably have been reduced a bit in 2007, but the installed base of Canon DSLRs is clearly bigger than Nikon. That's why lens hire businesses all start with Canon.