Renting a long range lens?

[jmchooper]

I have been trying to get some good Whooping Crane shots for years and my 70-300 just isn't enough. I am think of renting a long lens to give it a try. Cost prohibits the 500L, 600L, or a 800L, so I am thinking of a 100-400L, 400L 5.6, Tamron 200-500, or a Bigma. Any advise on which lens and a good rental place?

I am using a XT(350D) body wth a sturdy tripod, but would like to do some BIF shots also.

[DDCSD]

I've rented from www.borrowlenses.com. Great service, and right now they are having a special where you get a free extra week with your rental.

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=615466

[Blue Deuce]

www.lensrentals.com and they are located in Memphis so you might get break on shipping. Great company to do business with.

[Ken_from_MD]

I second the suggestion of www.lensrentals.com. I rented an EF 100-400mm from them before I purchased mine. They were great to work with. Send them an email (on their site) with any questions you have and they will usually answer that day if not the next. Top notch outfit.

[Bubble]

try 500L first. :)

[gymell]

I used lensrentals.com a few years ago to rent a 500 f/4. I know you mentioned the cost, but unless you can get close to the whoopers (which really isn't advised as they are highly endangered), then reach might still be a bit short with 400mm.

[ryant35]

I rent from my local Calumet store. I find that just renting for the weekend, Friday afternoon through Monday before noon for just 1 day fee is the best for me since I work during the week and I can't use it M-F. And of course, no shipping charges.

[tkoutdoor]

I have been trying to get some good Whooping Crane shots for years and my 70-300 just isn't enough. I am think of renting a long lens to give it a try. Cost prohibits the 500L, 600L, or a 800L, so I am thinking of a 100-400L, 400L 5.6, Tamron 200-500, or a Bigma. Any advise on which lens and a good rental place?

I am using a XT(350D) body wth a sturdy tripod, but would like to do some BIF shots also.I've rented for 3 weeks plus every lens in your "doable" list. I now own the 100-400L. The 100-400 is the only one with IS and it's well worth it. In order of IQ IMO they go 400 5.6, 100-400, Bigma, Tamron. 100-400 is sharp and stable offering the widest range of usability. The 400 5.6L is sharper, but more limited and the lack of a zoom is limiting considering what the others offer in IQ including the zoom feature. The Bigma is heavy and really requires a tripod, but it's IQ is good for this price range if you can keep it stable enough. I found that that's not the easiest thing to do. IIRC The balance point shifts significantly due to the lens weight from retracted zoom to extended zoom. That may not be so noticeable handheld, but this lens belongs on a tripod where it goes in and out of balance when the zoom changes. I do remember I just didn't like how it handled. The Tamron is lightest and handled well, IMO the IQ is not acceptable for a pro at the extremes of the lens, but quite reasonable nonetheless. It has ghosting/shadowing or CA at the white highlights when there's a lot of contrast and is a little softer than the others partly due to that. I've got some good pictures with it, but they were in close proximity where there were a lot of pixels on target and I didn't have to crop much. The AF is also very slow as the Tamron has a conventional motor and all the rest have the pro-level fast focusing.

The one that will bring you the most usable photos bar none is the 100-400 because it shoots further on into lesser light conditions where the non-IS lenses can't go. Besides that the IS is useful with every shot and it's definitely handholdable. I also use a Kenko 1.5 TC that has AF with that lens on a 5D or 1.6x crop body due to it's design. It also works with those Canon lenses that Canon have chosen to make incompatible with their own TC's. The TC I mentioned is here: http://www.adorama.com/LN15XKEOS.html?searchinfo=kenko%201.5&item_no=4 It costs $86.95 with free shipping and is worth a place in my kit for what it offers. I've taken some good pictures with it. IQ is reasonable and beyond expectations for the price. It hunts in low light, but that's due to the starting aperture more than anything IMO. That's probably why Canon won't make their TC's work for it to begin with. When it begins to hunt one can remove the TC or go to manual focus.

I think the 300mm f/4L IS may be worth a look as well. When adding the 1.4 TC it's a 420mm 5.6IS and it does pretty well. It still might not be long enough for your goals though, but it's worth a look if you find the 400'ish range is going to suit you.

Rental places in order of value and service that I use:

www.rentglass.com (smaller selection, lowest prices, best communication "system")

www.lensrentals.com (larger selection with more 3rd party products, decent prices (but a little more than above), a reservation system with "we'll buy one to rent you guarantee", good access to help if there's a problem).

Rental places I haven't tried, but would if needed:
www.borrowlenses.com

These online rental services are in many cases far (faaarrrr) more affordable than the local options you probably have available to you and the shipping is no significant drawback as the shipping services they include are reasonably fast and affordable due to the rates they can get. When evaluating a rental place I would not choose to rent from any place that does not offer a damage waiver and I'd carefully look over their insurance terms. It seems pretty risky to me to rent one of these without insurance given that the insurance is so affordable and what one saves by using these services to begin with.

[andrewhuxman]

Why not rent LONG glass as long as your renting 500MM or more is what you will need the 100-400 wont cut it in my opinion.
165.00 for the 500 for 3 days isnt bad from borrowlenses.

[tkoutdoor]

Why not rent LONG glass as long as your renting 500MM or more is what you will need the 100-400 wont cut it in my opinion.
165.00 for the 500 for 3 days isnt bad from borrowlenses.I would check the insurance policy for out of country in that case too. If you can afford to buy what you'd use in a used state before you leave and resell it when you get back I think the costs would be less than rental, but it's more hassle. You may have 2 days of flight in the mix too, I wouldn't be surprised if your rental length might need to be much longer than 3 days, but I don't know that as you do.

[sickboy11]

I rent from my local Calumet store. I find that just renting for the weekend, Friday afternoon through Monday before noon for just 1 day fee is the best for me since I work during the week and I can't use it M-F. And of course, no shipping charges.

+1 for that option.

Ryan, I use Pro Photo in Irvine because they give me half off rentals with my student ID. It rules.

[ryant35]

+1 for that option.

Ryan, I use Pro Photo in Irvine because they give me half off rentals with my student ID. It rules.

Nice. I noticed the last time I used Pro Photo the 100-400 I rented was very old and worn. I do get all my prints done there.