Hi There,
After seven weeks on the road, it's good to be home and able to see my
precious little grandson Sammy in action every day. Photography at
Jamaica
Bay was fair, while Cape May provided good to phenomenal
opportunities--hawk
action was only so-so until October 6th or so, when it got really cold
for
the first time, but a flock of 500 Black Skimmers provided the raw
materials
for some wonderful images for myself and the nine IPT participants. I
will
share some of the new images with you soon.
>
As I often get requests for contact INFO for places that rent long
lenses,
but have never needed that service myself, I put out several requests
for
information. If you need to rent a long lens or a pro body, please
contact
one or more of the firms listed below. As I have never dealt with any
of
them, please do not write, call, or e-mail me for additional
information,
as
I do not have any. It would be best, as always, to shop around and
remember to ask about shipping charges and other terms. Note that
weekly
rental rates are often extremely low as compared to the daily rates. Be
aware, also, that many places that rent long lenses place
"impact-sensing
indicators" on the equipment. They can tell if you drop the lens and I
would assume that you are then liable for repairs. For more INFO on
these
or other rental terms and conditions, PLEASE CONTACT the firms listed
below,
NOT ME!
Wayne Hall wrote: E. P. Levine in Boston rents Canon EOS lenses up to
500mm, as well as a variety of Nikon stuff. They're down on the Boston
waterfront. You can see what they've got on their website -
http://www.cameras.com, or email them at info@cameras.com, or call at
617-951-1499.
Dave Goldfarb contributed: Lens and Repro in New York. Info at
www.lensandrepro.com.
Shlomie Rosenfeld responded: I have use Flashpoint in NYC many times.
Flashpoint is part of Adorama They must have a large inventory as they
always had what I wanted, when I wanted. They even ship to location so I
don't have to pick it up and lug it myself. I deal with George over
there.
The only thing I can say is that I'm extremely satisfied with their
service.
You can get to their web site through Adorama's, which is
www.adoramacamera.com.
Ellis Vener wrote: In Texas, Light Tec has all lengths through 600mm
plus
teleconverters in both Canon & Nikon. Their website is
http://www.lighttec.com.
T. David Griffith added: The Light Tec web site is www.lighttec.com.
The
phone number at the Dallas store is 214-630-5598. Rental is
214-350-8990,
and sales is 214-638-3832.The Houston Store's # is 713-668-3004. Sales
or
Rentals at 713-668-3797. The Dallas operation has about 50% more stuff
than
the Houston location. You may mention my name and tell them I am the guy
who
took their 500mm AF-I back from Dallas to Houston last January. (My
wife
and I stopped at San Antonio with the 500mm to take Moose Peterson's
seminar
and day shoot.) Their rates seem reasonable and they accept Visa,
MasterCard and American Express. Pro Photo in Oregon also has rentals.
Their
web URL is www.prophotosupply.com .
Steve e-mailed: Glazer's in Seattle has an extensive rental department.
I've used them in the past for big glass. They are very customer-service
oriented. Their website is: http://www.glazerscamera.com/ .Email is:
info@glazerscamera.com. They have all their rental equipment and prices
on
their website (via Adobe Acrobat). The 600 f/4 IS is only $80 per day
for
example. Samy's Camera in Los Angeles is also very good. I've actually
used them more than Glazers. Their prices seem to be a bit lower. They
too
are very customer-service oriented. The website is http://samys.com/ ,
email: info@samys.com. They do not appear to have their inventory and
price
list on line anymore. Both will ship via FedEx to out-of-staters.......
Of
course, I no longer need to rent since I bought a big lens, but I have
used
and recommended quite a few people to both of these places and heard no
complaints. There are quite a few others, at least one on NYC and
another
in Milwaukee, WI. Whenever I called some of them, they never had the
equipment I wanted. Glazer's and Samy's seem to ALWAYS have what I
needed.......I think they must keep a larger stock, whereas some of the
others keep a minimum inventory for the rental department.
Top bird photographer Brian Small also liked Samy's (among others) as
he
wrote: Just got back from a fantastic photo trip to the Rocky Mountain
states. As far as rentals, here in Los Angeles you can go with Samy's
Camera in Hollywood (323) 938-2420 or Bel Air camera in Westwood (310)
208-5150.
New York photographer Neil Leventhal, a documentary film maker and
former
assistant to some of the top fashion and portrait photographers in the
Big
Apple responded: 1) Fotocare - 212-741-2990. 2) Lens and Repro -
212-675-1900. 3) Calumet - 212-989-8500. 4) Flashpoint, Adorama's
Rental
division: www.adoramacamera.com.. I have rented from all of the above
vendors and can tell you that their clients include the likes of Annie
Lebovitz and Mark Seliger. While my first choice is always Fotocare,
there
are of course things that they don't have, but they will help you find
it.
From Howard Levin: I can recommend two camera and lens rental
facilities
in the San Francisco Bay Area. The larger is Adolph Gasser, Inc., 181
Second Street, SF. They have a wide variety of both Canon and Nikon
lenses
as well as camera bodies, teleconverters, and other odds and ends to
rent.
You can get all the dope by calling 1-800 994-2773 or (415) 495-3852
ext.
189, or you can visit www.gassers.com.
The smaller is Keeble & Shuchat Photography, 290 California Avenue,
Palo
Alto, telephone (650) 327-8511 (pro store #). Their web site is
www.kspphoto.com (to access their rental brochure go to their pro photo
button, which allows a click to a pdf file:
www.kspphoto.com/media/rentalbrochure.pdf.) At Professional Photo
Resource,
Atlanta, GA (404-885-1885) ask for Dave or Kyle. I rented a 600mm f/4
Nikon
for my trip to Florida in February. PPR was considerably cheaper than
the
New York Vendors. The equipment was first rate and so was the service.
Donald Frederick chipped in with: For what it's worth, "World Wide
Foto"
at
5040 Biscayne Blvd. in Miami rents big lenses. Alex, or anyone else
there,
can be contacted at 305 756-1744 or faxed at 305-759-7334.
Many thank to all the photographers who contributed to this Bulletin.
Best and great picture making to all,
Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
