Do you lend out your gear?

I have several cameras, lenses and camcorders.
When digital cameras wasn't so usual i had an 2mb Olympus that people i knew could borrow. Recently i also have an inexpensive HD camcorder, that some friends have borrow. Just a few days ago a friend would like to borrow a 1000$ Sony camcorder, and i sad now. It's the same with photographic equipment. the can borrow some of my canon lenses but not my L lenses. I used to have the same policy on my Mariya medium format camera. A few years ago some friends would like to try out medium format, i sad now. The reason is that the Mariya is a lot different to handle than a 35mm, and the chance of braking something by brute force is higher.

I thought that it would be smart to lend some stuff to some people and say no about lending out some cameras. But the "camcorder incident" has left me with a feeling that i am worse off than if i just would say no any one wanting to borrow equipment. Sounsd familiar? or to you disagree?

I don't lend anyone any of my are equipment.

I occasionally lend my 2nd body (40D), zoom lens (Sigma 24-60), and back up flash (beat up 430exii) to professional colleagues in a bind. But I went to college for photography with these select few folks, so between knowing them personally and knowing that they understand both the value and proper use of the equipment, I feel safe lending my extras to them.

the 50D and the L's stay with me; nobody else really gets anything.

I have a good friend with very similar photographic experience and gear to me, we do switch off gear now and then, he has a few lenses I don't and the same with me, I have better flash guns, he has some cheap studio lights etc . We both treat our own gear very well, so i have no issues lending to him.

I am willing to let some family borrow my gear. I loaned my old Rebel XT to my sister once and my wife is also a photographer so I let her borrow lenses.

If other people ask to borrow I instead refer them to the local camera store for a rental or an online rental service.

I'm not against lending gear, unless they're not insured and have no idea how to use it. If I was working with another photographer on the same job, I would definitely lend gear since it's a team effort. But as long as family member or friend is competent enough, and I'm in the same vicinity, I would lend them a few things.

I lend my current gear only to pro friends. I do keep just about everything I ever bought so I have a couple of 30d's I lend occassionally to friends and relatives (also why I have kept kit glass when I purchased camera's in the past).

Unless I am with the person using it, I never lend out gear. Granted I don't have a bunch of gear but I worked hard to get what I do have. No matter how good someone is or their experience, accidents happen. I just don't want to be in a situation where a friend could damage something of mine and it end up causing friction. I don't lend things out nor do I ask to borrow things from other people.

There are very few people I loan my gear to. I know that they are either insured or have the funds to replace if something were to happen. I've only had to loan something out a couple of times, though.

I'll lend any of my gear to my photography friends if I'm not using it at the time. It's nice to be able to help people out, especially if they're mates.

I would if asked by people I know that won't break it, but I only know a few people that would know enough to ask.

I let me friend borrow my 430ex a couple times. Nobody else has ever asked me for anything, I don't know if I'd let anyone borrow my lenses.

Interesting how protective people are of their gear.

I'll readily lend my gear to friends. It's just stuff. It can always be replaced. If a friend somehow damaged something he/she would certainly want to pay for repair/replacement.

-js

I have one friend I've traded gear with. I borrowed his 24-105 to take on a trip with me do try out before I bought myself a copy. He's borrowed my 100-400 to take to the San Diego Zoo since his longest lens is a 70-200. There's a lot of overlap in our gear so we both know how to take care of a $1000+ piece of equipment.

I once let my friend borrow flash. She had recently bought an EOS and so i thought its ok, as the flash was not used by me anymore and i could not sell it to anyone. After a week i heard my other friend telling how the flash is eating too much of batteries... and i was like WTF? O.o Turns out the 1st friend lend it to the 2nd friend without telling me. :/ This gave me a good lesson in who to trust...