REVIEW: ExpoDisc by ExpoImaging (Custom White Balance)

 

I’ll be the first to admit that before this review I didn’t give a rip about white balancing products, despite the fact that I always kept a gray card in my backpack. I thought the process was too much of a hassle, and I wasn’t sure that it helped all that much. More importantly, because I shoot in the RAW image format (CR2 for Canon, NEF for Nikon), I thought that I didn’t need to bother with doing a proper white balance because it is so easy to correct the problem in Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop or a host of other software products. Does this thinking sound familiar to you? Read on to discover how I learned more about why I should care and how this device made the process not only easier but also kinda fun!

What Is White Balancing?

At a super high level, White Balancing is the act of making an image represent the colors appear as they did to your eyes at the time they were captured so that your image is a faithful reproduction from the perspective of color from what you actually saw. Of course it is really a lot more complex than just that, so white balancing (a.k.a., color balancing) is best described on Wikipedia here (or for the super geeks, even better here on CambridgeInColour.com), but my crude definition will suffice for the beginner who isn’t ready to digest all of that information.

Why do you use a 18% Gray to White Balance? Shouldn’t it be called Gray Balancing?

If you didn’t read the detailed articles on white balancing, then I’ll break this one down in layman's terms as well. The idea here is that the color between pure white and pure black is a middle gray, which has been defined as 18% gray. Camera systems and software has been set up that if you can know the proper value of this color then all of the others from white to black can be calculated to produce a properly white/color balanced image. To do this on Canon systems, we take a picture of a 18% gray card and then tell our camera to use this value, and then set the white balance mode of the camera to Custom (white balance) to use this image. The reason we do this is so we can capture the tones in the environment which will contaminate the colors, so having that reference point that we know with 100% certainty is 18% gray, then the camera or software can adjust to accurately render the rest of the colors (or so the theory goes, other factors such as multiple light sources, exposure, etc… can come into play as well).

Why White Balance?

Auto White Balance ISO 6400 RAW Image Unprocessed	Custom White Balance IS0 6400 RAW Image Unprocessed

The reason why we white balance is so our images out of the camera will faithfully represent the colors that were present at the time we captured our image. This is critical for in-camera JPEG images because the white balance can not be corrected completely via post processing (although some argue that you can do a “good enough” job). It is also very useful for videos (both camcorders and now the ever popular DSLR’s like the Canon 5D Mark II which shoot video). For those scenarios, not having a proper white balance can seriously compromise your final result. Taking the time to do this up front gives you an image with faithful colors that you can then choose to apply your artistic intent to. This usually results in making color adjustments to the image which results in an image that no longer represents a faithful reproduction, but you as the artist have chosen the final colors rather than being forced to live with compromised color due to a strong tone that couldn’t easily be removed from your image due to improper white balancing. Of course, RAW images can always be corrected after the fact, but a few seconds at the time of capture will result in exponential time savings for all of the images which no longer need white balance corrections.

A Word about Color

Whenever you deal with color accuracy issues on a computer, you can’t begin to have valid results until you have calibrated your computer monitor. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend you purchase a calibration device that will help make sure that the white you see on your display is the same shade of white as anyone else who is using a calibrated monitor will see. If not, then your whites may be a little more yellow, your blacks may be a little washed out or show no detail. You may also get comments from people that your photos look a little dark or the colors from your post-processing look a little overdone. This happens because the default settings of nearly every monitor on the planet suck and are not suitable for photo editing, and sadly most of us don’t realize this until we print our images and think that the poor results are the fault of the print service when in reality our improperly calibrated display has caused us to ruin our photos by adjusting them to something that isn’t the true color represented in the image file. Here’s a list of devices that you can’t go wrong with (multi-monitor users will need to be careful to choose suitable products, as will Windows 7 and Apple OS X users for compat purposes):

• Pantone Huey – the cheapest (and what I use) – NOT for multi-mon
• Pantone Huey Pro – Supports multi-mon, but no other known benefits over the regular Huey
• X-Rite Eye-One Display LT
• X-Rite Eye-One Display 2
• X-Rite ColorMunki Photo, All-in-one Color Control Solution for Profiling Monitors, RGB & CMYK Printers and Digital Projectors, for Windows & Mac – great for those who will do their own printing, or use a digital projector as printers and projectors need calibration too

If you don’t own a display calibration device, then get one now as it should have been your first purchase after your camera. There is no software based solution that can reliably do accurate color management as they only allow you to calibrate color to your visual taste – not accurate reference values. A hardware based solution is essential gear for any serious image evaluation on a computer.

ExpoDisc – The Perfect White Balancing Solution

I’ll admit that when I first saw the ExpoDisc, I was a bit skeptical because I had used a gray card before and felt it was sufficient. I’m also pretty handy in Photoshop and Lightroom, so I thought I had both the before and after capture white balancing scenarios covered. I saw little that this device could offer me beyond existing very inexpensive solutions (heck, my lens cleaning cloth is 18% gray!), especially since the ExpoDisc was rather spendy. Photography is loaded with gadgets for suckers who are willing to buy anything to help make their photographs better, when simple, and inexpensive (or sometimes do-it-yourself) solutions already exist. This seemed like it might be one of those gadgets for suckers, so I went in to this review with a healthy dose of skepticism. I came away from it very surprised, and I now find myself bringing my ExpoDisc with me when the only other thing that is in my hand is the camera itself (you know, times when you are going downstairs to take a picture of your kid doing something cute where normally it’s just the camera and that’s it).

Video Demo

While reviewing a Canon 7D, I decided I’d  try my hand at video and include a video of how I use the ExpoDisc. It’s cheesy, I know, but if you like the videos then let me know in the form of a comment to this review and I may include more in the future. Here’s a couple notes you should be aware of when watching this video:

• While it was shot in HD using a Canon 7D, I chose to export it as MPEG in NTSC DVD format from a free copy of Adobe Premiere Elements 4 I got with my computer so it would upload quickly. There’s nothing here that really requires high def, so don’t judge the 7D’s video abilities on this ISO 6400 video taken in a poorly lit (for video) room. 
• In the video I wanted to include before and after pictures in-line, but due to time constraints (and the evil eye from my wife at 2:00 AM) I decided against including them directly in the video. See elsewhere in this article for some before/after images.
• The spotlight effect you see is from the software I used, and the noise was because I only had a limited tungsten light source at night so I had to shoot the video at ISO 6400. This video was white balanced with the ExpoDisc to create a much more pleasing result than what you would have seen without it.
• In the video I refer to using manual focus when taking the custom white balance exposure, but I’ve since started to just acquire focus using a half shutter button press (or AF-ON) and then placing the ExpoDisc in front of the lens to take the shot. I like this method easier as it keeps me from forgetting to turn auto focus back on the lens, so disasters don’t happen as then did in my testing.
• When capturing my white balance exposure image using the ExpoDisc, I use the Auto White Balance (AWB) mode on my camera. This worked well for me, but I also found sometimes that my corrected version didn’t seem just right so I’d take another shot and set the image to my custom white balance image. The problem is that my camera was already in custom white balance mode, so I took a new image using corrected settings which resulted in an image that was sometimes inaccurate. Lesson learned: ALWAYS pay attention to your white balance mode as well as your camera angle when taking your measurement shot. I will also use AWB when capturing my custom white balance images as it was harder for me to make a mistake that way, but ExpoImaging indicated that this shouldn’t be necessary.

A Word to Nikon Users

The procedure for acquiring white balance in Canon cameras is totally different than Nikon. According to Erik Sowder of ExpoImaging:

With Nikon you don't actually take a picture, instead you use their "preset" procedure which allows the user to sample "measure" the light without actually taking and recording an image to the card.  The "preset" procedure precludes using any of the existing white balance preset options.

Since I am a Canon shooter, this article will focus on the Canon procedures, but the overall concepts and improvements offered by the ExpoDisc should be similar for any camera platform.

What about Auto White Balance (AWB)?

Auto White Balance on my Canon camera is pretty good. In fact it was so good, that I saw little reason to use anything else most of the time. I like the results it produced right out of the camera, so I saw little point in using anything else. On Nikon systems, I found the Auto White Balancing to be a little too blue for my tastes, but Nikon guys usually say Canon’s are a little too warm for their tastes so to each his own.

Anyway, the one place where both fail miserably is indoors where tungsten lights cast a nasty orange tint over everything on your image. It’s easy to correct in Lightroom if you are shooting RAW images, but what if you didn’t need to do that extra step? Wouldn’t that save some time, especially when processing a large bunch of photos? What if you are shooting in JPEG where you can’t change the white balance, wouldn’t it have been great to have all those shots properly white balanced? What if you are shooting in video and your basic editing software doesn’t support white balance changes? Wouldn’t it suck to have those images of your child forever with that ugly orange tint on them? Auto White Balance is good, but it’s not foolproof.

ExpoDisc vs Gray Card vs AWB

The following images were all taken with a Canon 5D Mark II using Auto White Balance (AWB) when capturing the white balance image, and the camera was set to Custom white balance mode using the white balance image when creating the respective photographs. The images you see are the original RAW (CR2) images converted to JPEG (minimal compression – 10) in Lightroom 2.5 with no additional processing. All shots were taken with the 77mm filter thread 24-105mm lens at f/4.0 and ISO 100 at 0.5 seconds on a tripod using a 2 second timer shutter release. All white balancing devices were held as far away as possible from the lens to fill the frame (the 82mm ExpoDisc must actually touch the end of the lens filter area).

The examples begin with what your camera would normal give you (this shot was taken under tungsten light at night, indoors) if you used AWB, and then it goes through examples using a ExpoDisc, a 18% Gray Card, and a Microfiber Cleaning Cloth / 18% Gray Card product. You may click the images to see a larger version, or to save them locally for further analysis.

Original Photograph – Auto White Balance (AWB)

ExpoDisc White Balance Image	ExpoDisc Photograph
18% Gray Card White Balance Image	18% Gray Card Photograph
Cleaning Cloth and Gray Card Combo White Balance Image	Cleaning Cloth and Gray Card Combo White Balance Image

The results for the images might be harder for some to see, but if your monitor is calibrated at least fairly well you should see that the ExpoDisc image has the most pure white and overall cleanest image of the set. The 4x5" Delta 18% Gray Card has the worst result as it appears to have a green tint, and the cleaning cloth 18% gray card microfiber does a reasonable job but still has a slight off-color tint. All differ from the orange/yellow cast of the in-camera result.

In my opinion the ExpoDisc produces the cleanest results, but I like a little warmth in my photos in post-processing I’d probably add a little warmth back to the final result (which can actually be done automatically in-camera on select camera bodies).  Here’s additional great before and after white balancing examples found on ExpoImaging’s web site. I encourage you to check them out.

White Balancing and Video

In what is certain to be the most boring and lame video you’ll see in all of 2009, I proudly present my masterpiece video that quickly shows you the before and after results of white balancing using the ExpoDisc on a video:

Cool, huh? Sorry folks, it was 3:00 AM and I wasn’t able to whip up some cool video footage in time for the release of this review. You should get the point though that the ExpoDisc made a HUGE difference and applying the custom white balance was identical to what you do for the still images. If you are moving into the world of DSLR Videography, then you can improve the quality of your videos (especially indoors) using this one improvement alone. Even this crappy video taken at ISO 6400 with Canon 7D, at least shows some color quality improvements (even if it is a bit over exposed such that the black paper background now renders as gray).

Serious Videographers will be happy to know there is special version of the ExpoDisc designed specifically for high end video cameras.

White Balance and Metering Challenges

While ExpoDisc is great at setting a white balance reference point, there’s several problems you may still face that will require some post-processing help. For example, you might be shooting a flash which emits white light into a room lit with tungsten (household bulbs) light, so you have two colors introduced into the scene. White balancing for one, doesn’t necessarily help the area impacted by the other color so your only feasible solution is to use an orange gel on your flash to get one tone going on in the whole scene. A full discussion of how to accomplish this in this scenario or or in more complex scenarios outdoors (i.e., a building lit with tungsten light against a moonlit sky; street lights and house lights; etc…) is beyond the scope of this article, but you get the idea here. White balance is most effective when dealing with one tone across the entire image is incorrect, so that a reference point may be used to remove that tone and return everything to a proper color.

Having a correct white balance is also just part of the challenge in photography as your camera’s light meter will also look to expose the image to an 18% gray which may not result in a faithful reproduction of your image. This is especially common in black objects and snow, even if when you are perfectly white balanced. In the case of black objects, you might find that they tend to look a little faded on perfectly white balanced images. In the case of things like snow, you might find that it feels a bit gray instead of a nice bright white. For these, and other scenarios (like a cloudy day where white balance results in the drab reality) you might find that you’ll have to apply different techniques to get the best results in camera. This may include, but is not limited to, decreasing your exposure a stop (or –1 EV exposure compensation) to make dark objects (blacks) darker, increasing your exposure (+1 EV) to make bright objects like snow brighter.

The point here, is that products like ExpoDisc are a tool, but not a magic bullet. You may find that a cloudy day benefits from the Cloudy white balance (or even Auto White Balance) setting on your camera, much more than a properly white balanced image. You might choose to apply a creative white balance such as tungsten on a twilight evening shot to make the sky look more blue than it was in reality. Joe McNally has some great examples in his books The Moment It Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries on how to make creative uses of the white balancing system features built into your camera to express your artistic intent at capture time to avoid post-processing hassles.

Conclusion

After having the ExpoDisc for about a month, I find myself using it about 90% of the time before I shoot. Sometimes, I’ll look at the custom white balanced test image versus the Auto White Balance (AWB) test image and choose to go with the AWB image for artistic reasons (when shooting RAW only). However, for video or when shooting JPEG (or in my case RAW+JPEG) I always go with the custom white balanced version as I’ve yet to find a real-world scenario for the subjects I shoot where that wasn’t a good starting point down the road.

I think the price is a tough pill to swallow for some, but I’d say that some of its value can be recouped in time saved in post-processing (especially if you do video or JPEG only). You can also help spread out the cost by getting one large enough to fit your largest lens (the diameter of the front of your lens – not focal length mm). For example, most of my lenses use a 77mm filter, but my 16-35mm uses a 82mm filter size. As a result, I got a 82mm ExpoDisc and just hold it in front of all my other lenses, so this one ExpoDisc serves all of my needs.

I’d say that if you can’t absorb the cost now then add it to your wish list (or Christmas list – it’s a great gift). I think it is something that you’ll really enjoy once you get around to getting one, but in the meantime make sure you at least have a decent gray card and start forming good habits by using it. Remember, just owning one and/or carrying it in your bag isn’t enough!

Special Offer

 

Save 15% on all ExpoImaging Store products like the ExpoDisc or RayFlash when you enter ronmart09 in the “Enter Redeem Code” box and click Redeem in the ExpoImaging Store’s shopping cart as shown above.

REMEMBER when ordering, that you should get the largest size you’ll then you’ll realistically need. My recommendation for Canon shooters is to not get one smaller than 82mm, because if you ever shoot with the 16-35mm lens you’ll have to own it, and you’ll want a ExpoDisc that works with it. I’d never, no matter what brand you shoot with, get one less than 77mm (unless you can afford one for every filter size you have). You also don’t need to worry about step up/down rings as you can simply hold this in front of your lens as needed (be sure to keep your fingers out of the way <g>).

But I found this cheaper alternative on eBay, isn’t it the same thing?

No, there’s a science to this and few take the process of white balancing more seriously than ExpoImaging. In fact, you even get a card with hand written calibration values for your disc that were tested on a transmission color densitometer. This provides peace of mind that your unit has been tested to be accurate and within the specs required to produce accurate results. Before buying that similar looking disc elsewhere, find out if they’ll be including transmission color densitometer values with your unit so you can ensure it is going to actually do the job you are paying money for it to do – produce accurate results!

What about ExpoCap?

Great question – I asked the same thing to ExpoImaging as I thought the idea of just having my disc as a lens cap was a brilliant one. The short answer here is that the ExpoCap has been discontinued so if you want one, get it now as they will only exist while current supplies last (and you’ll notice popular sizes are forever out of stock). ExpoCap was very good, but not as accurate as ExpoDisc and the cost of making the cap was on the rise so the decision was made to discontinue it rather than having two products that were similarly priced with one (ExpoDisc) being substantially better than the other. If you have one, great – there’s no need to replace it, but if you are a first time buyer then go for the ExpoDisc – it’s the better long-term solution.

Disclosure

I was provided an evaluation copy of the ExpoDisc for this review and I will earn a commission when you use my discount code (thanks for supporting the blog).

Lens Rental Review Series Conclusion (7 of 7) – Updated 11/30/09 @ 11:52 AM PST

Recap

If you are just now joining this series, or you got a direct link to this article, please know that this is the 7th installment of this series. I encourage you to review the other articles from this series using the links provided here:

1. Lens Rental Series: Introduction
2. BorrowLenses.com
3. LensRentals.com
4. CameraLensRentals.com
5. ZipLens.com
6. LensProToGo.com
7. Conclusion (this article)

All of these articles have been updated from their original posts to address the issues I’ll discuss in this article.

Lessons Learned from this Series

Let me start by stating up front I screwed up in this series. When I took this challenge on I had clear vision for how it would come together and I honestly expected that my biggest challenge would be to avoid a solid 5 way tie. Every one of these companies and their owners are first class guys who pour their blood, sweat and tears into their businesses and do it without being cut-throat to their competitors. Never in my life, have I seen such a community of businesses where each is willing to help the others when they are in need (by helping with order fulfillment in a pinch, or helping others to get the latest high demand lenses). These guys speak so highly of each other, you wonder if it isn’t one business with 5 different branches! This is why I hated writing the articles for this series because I knew that I’d need to point out growth areas (to be fair to the others) and that feelings would most certainly get hurt – and they did. I was, and to some degree still am, a passionate small business owner so I know that your business becomes your life and you make great sacrifices to make it successful, so when someone speaks negatively about it, you feel as if someone has insulted your baby. For those who felt the sting of my comments in my reviews, let me apologize again. Hopefully in this article I can set things right by highlighting some flaws in my system and leaving you with some helpful data that will help you to decide which company is best for YOUR needs.

Does this mean it’s time for a group hug?

No, this site is about real and honest feedback based on my opinion as a consumer. While I regret that there were definitely some major flaws in my methodology and that some feelings were hurt, the fact remains that I gave honest feedback based on my experiences. I know that the ramifications of doing so would mean that some bridges would be burned permanently, but anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t have a great brain to mouth filter – what I think is what you hear - unfiltered. In every review (and especially series) I’ve done I’ve tried to avoid the pitfalls of other big name media outlets who say nothing but good things about everybody. To me that does a disservice to readers when they put their hard earned money down only to discover that many products and services simply aren’t worth it. I’ve worked very hard to avoid making recommendations that will disappoint my readers, and I don’t intend to begin now. My reviews have the hard and honest feedback that I would tell a friend over lunch, and there’s no favoritism or bias based on the lens rented, discount offered to my readers, commissions, etc… By the end of this article I will pick a winner and there’s no ties.

Important considerations missing from the articles

I have corrected all the articles in this series to include the all-important “selection” category. When I tallied up the (now deleted) scores in the LensRentals.com review, I realized that I had a MAJOR flaw in my system because the mental stack ranking that I had didn’t jive with the numbers. Is LensRentals.com just one point better than ZipLens.com? ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact, pretty early on I knew I was going to have a difficult time choosing a winner because BorrowLenses.com and LensRentals.com were so good that I would have to dig deep to pick a winner. The inverse is true too, in that LensProToGo.com IS NOT a company you should stay away from and their score reflected the flaws in my system just as badly, and my not understanding their legitimate concern about fraud in my situation made matters worse. Without sounding all sappy, I really do mean it when I say that you can’t go wrong with any of these companies. Why? Because look at the facts – what is the most important things you need from a lens rental company?

1. On-time or earlier delivery
2. No hassle delivery and returns
3. Flexibility if you need more time
4. Flexibility to get the lens to where you need to be (i.e., drop shipments)
5. Freedom to take the lens where you need to go – even if that is another continent
6. Willingness to help you out if you have “dumb” questions
7. A clean lens that is in working order that allows you to get the shots for your job

I can say, without hesitation (and the reviews all prove it), that every company in this series delivered on these major requirements. Read the rental summaries and you’ll see that every single company delivered the gear on-time or earlier, that the lenses were in clean working order and that I got a decent sample of shots for the series (with the only flaw being me – not the lens). Your takeaway from this series SHOULD NOT be “avoid company X” or “only use company Y” as that would be foolish. Instead, it should be more about “who has what I need, when I need it, for a price I feel is reasonable.”

Even in my worst case scenario where I had a 28-300mm lens that was at the end of its rental life (as there were legitimate concerns it could be stolen), the reality is that the lens worked very well and the glass was clean. The cosmetic appearance of the lens (or the case) doesn’t really mean jack, so I think it was pretty stupid now to include that score. I thought this was going to be the only way I could differentiate one from another, so it made sense at the time – but now I regret it. However, if this is something that is important to you, I can say with 99% certainty that if you simply contact any of these owners (and you have their names now) and say “I want the newest copy you have”, they’ll work with you. Customer satisfaction is #1 with every one of these guys, so tell them what is important and it’ll get done.

I had to actually write the subjective content of all but the BorrowLenses.com article twice due to an unfortunate hard drive failure. Maybe God was sending me a sign that my methodology was stupid. I should have listened and done things differently for the re-writes, but I didn’t. To Max, Roger, Barry, Lee and Paul my apologies for the flaw in my methodology. I have now corrected the articles to remove my meaningless points system.

This of course brings up another consideration that I did intentionally save for last, and that is price. I didn’t want to include pricing comments in the actual articles because I wanted to be able to have a table that showed an apples-to-apples comparison. I also wanted to point out that price alone shouldn’t be your only consideration. It is much easier to have that discussion in one article than piecemeal over several articles. As a result, I encourage you to include the feedback in this article to be the most important data to use to draw your own conclusions and use the individual articles as a good place to get a preview of what to expect (excluding one scenario where I think the perfect storm of bad luck hit).

Price

The pricing information here was taken prior to the release of the BorrowLenses.com article to avoid any chance of last minute pricing changes. Given the fact that this article will likely live on for quite some time, you should do this exercise again yourself to determine what the current results are based on today’s prices.

Canon 24-70 f/2.8L	7-Days w/o Insurance	Insurance	Shipping	Total Cost
BorrowLenses.com	$ 60.00	$ 14.00	$ 26.00	$ 100.00
CameraLensRentals.com	$ 57.00	$ 9.00	$ 27.99	$ 93.99
LensProToGo.com	$ 85.00	$ 8.00	$ 0.00	$ 93.00
LensRentals.com	$ 60.00	$ 9.00	$ 25.00	$ 94.00
ZipLens.com	$ 60.00	$ 10.00	$ 28.00	$ 98.00

The important thing this table tells us is that you shouldn’t just look at the rental cost of the lens when making your decision because the fees on top of that can be substantial (40% in the case of BorrowLenses.com). LensProToGo.com is rather bold and hoping for intelligent shoppers by including shipping into their stated price, but the wise shopper will see that they offer the best price. I found this rather amusing since I’ve read on more than one occasion from club members that LensProToGo.com was too expensive, so consider X (where X is one of the others listed above). The devil is always in the details, so definitely shop around (remember, you can’t go wrong with any of these sites really). Also realize that there’s not a huge percentage difference here and that this site offers a discount coupon code for every site in this series, so take advantage of those discounts when ordering. Here’s some additional factors to consider:

1. Insurance – Are you going to get it (and your answer should be yes as your personal insurance company will NOT cover you), and if so how good is that policy really? Read the Q&A sections in this series and you’ll get more information on what you are really getting when choose to pay for insurance (and in all cases you are out of luck for loss or theft). You should also read the actual policy as some sites might include water damage and another might include any type of water damage. Know what you are getting because lens rentals fall into a real gray area. In talking to a few major insurance companies they all agreed it wouldn’t be covered you didn’t actually purchase the lens (I know you don’t purchase rental cars either, but they are handled differently) so they aren’t obligated to (and won’t) cover you in the event of a claim, yet they can’t issue you a special policy because you aren’t the owner (a purchase receipt is required). The moral of the story is protect this gear better than you would your own, and still pony up for the policy as a little coverage is better than no coverage.
   
2. Shipping Carrier – All of the lenses I rented came via FedEx except for the one by LensProToGo.com (coincidentally the cheapest?), who chose UPS. LensRentals.com’s preferred shipper is UPS, but they will (and did at my request) use FedEx upon request. It’s been my experience that FedEx is more reliable and has a better tracking system than UPS, so I preferred FedEx. For those who live in rural areas, the choice of carriers might be based on which one can get their faster – and if there are any extra fees (my parents live 100 miles outside of Houston and overnight means 2 – 3 days plus an extra $50 service charge). However, UPS has more physical drop off locations (you MUST return to a human, not a drop box) if you don’t choose to have the package picked up from your door (which I HIGHLY recommend – minimum 24 hour notice is generally required for this FREE service). However, FedEx bought Kinkos (now referred to as FedEx Office), so those in big cities will usually have a location within 15 minutes of their home.
   
3. Availability – You might determine that company X is the best, but if they don’t have your lens when you need it then who else are you going to turn to and in what order? Hopefully that’s the biggest advantage to this series as I think you’ll notice late next February that all of these sites are likely to be in short supply. Have a plan B & C, and I can tell you that if you are a Canon or Nikon shooter and you aren’t looking for a fast super telephoto, then you’ve got 5 choices so you’re set. However, if you are looking Pentax, Sony or Leica gear then you’ve just got one choice.
   
4. Other Factors – Hopefully you’ve seen from my experiences that there are many dimensions to a rental, so perhaps you like LensRentals.com because they offer a lightweight bag for that big 400mm f/2.8 or LensProToGo.com because they offer a tough Pelican case, or it doesn’t matter because you’ll carry the lens in your own bag. Maybe getting Twitter or text messages is essential to you. Maybe being able to order from your iPhone while you are on the road is super important, or maybe you are the type that just wants to talk to a human and hates the online stuff. There’s a service here for you! Don’t just consider price – consider the services that you need, and who best meets those needs.
   
5. UPDATE: Your Full Order Total – As one of my readers (thanks Mark) accurately pointed out, the price you get for one lens rental versus multiple lens rentals in the same order can change the overall results as to who is really the cheapest. If price is a primary concern, then you’ll want to fill your cart with your real order order (including your actual insurance and shipping options) then apply your discount code (see the bottom of this article) for a overall final price to see who is really the cheapest in your case. Maybe for some orders it is Company X, and maybe others it is Company Y, etc… However, don’t forget the other factors above as price shouldn’t be your only consideration.

Isn’t it risky and a hassle to rent online? Shouldn’t I just shop local?

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard the argument that you should just go to your local camera shop because it is safer and cost the same, I wouldn’t be up at 2:15 AM writing blog articles! The reality is this though, when you are local is your camera shop going to bring the lens to your door and pick it up for you? They might, so ask, but my money is one the fact that you’ll have to go there. In my case that means a trip to downtown Seattle between the hours of 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM to a place like Glazer’s Camera.

For those of us who actually work for a living a trip to Glazers is a bigger hassle and a good 45 minute trip each direction (plus don’t forget about the cost of paying for parking and gas) assuming there isn’t major traffic. My reward for shopping local is that they require a 100% deposit (no deposit required from all participants in this series), you have to pay sales tax, and the best part is that they cost more!

For example, on 11/28/09 a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 cost $30 per day which if you rent for a week you multiply that times 4, or $120. Given the 10% tax in Seattle, plus let’s say you luck out and only have to pay a meter $2.00 for parking and you only use $3 worth of gas, that brings your grand total to $137. Of course your credit card will be charged a deposit for the cost of the lens, which in this case is about $1300, so for about $1,437 on your credit card and your time (which for many will be at least $20 per hour) you get to shop local.

Now let’s compare the local camera shop rental experience with sitting in your underwear at your computer at 3:30 AM like I did when I placed most of my orders. It never took me more than 5 minutes to complete an order, it was delivered to my door, and I can call to have the package company pick it up at my door – for free. No sales tax, no deposit, no gas, no parking, no traffic and no hassle. This means, that the prices you see on the table above are the bottom line and they blow away the price of my local camera shop. Do this comparison with your own local shop, and I think in most cases you’ll find similar results. Of course, if you live in the same city as the companies featured in this series, most will offer local pickup should you so desire.

The only advantage I can see to shopping local is if you need the lens for a short time or you need the lens right now. All of the services in this series can do overnight, but prices go up for weekends and Sunday’s generally aren’t going to be possible.

Selection

Do you need Sony or Pentax lenses? Do you have a fourth-thirds system and want to try a new lens before you buy? Are you into video more than photography and need gear? Questions like these will play a big role on your choice of a primary rental company, and this is a place where some sites excel more than others. The base line is that all companies carry a good selection of Canon and Nikon lenses, but what about other stuff? As the table below shows, if you are looking for Pentax gear then CameraLensRentals.com is your place, but just about everything else under the sun is carried by LensRentals.com.  ZipLens.com just covers the basics, but for most of us that’s all we need.

	Super Telephotos	Sony	Pentax	Cameras	Studio Lighting	Support	Video	Other
BorrowLenses.com	Yes			Yes+	Yes+	Yes		Yes++
CameraLensRentals.com			Yes	Yes		Yes		Yes
LensProToGo.com	Yes			Yes+		Yes+		Yes+
LensRentals.com	Yes	Yes		Yes+++	Yes++	Yes+++	Yes+++	Yes+++
ZipLens.com

You can find more details below on what the columns titles mean, and an empty box means that that company doesn’t carry the item in that column. Pluses are used to differentiate a site that carries more than the others (more pluses, means more selection).

• Super Telephoto - In this case (my definition may differ from individual sites) is a 400mm f/2.8 lens or bigger.
• Sony – Lens, body, flash, etc… rentals
• Pentax - Lens rentals
• Cameras – BorrowLenses.com had the big brands, but LensRentals.com had Leica, Sony, Nikon, Canon, Panasonic and Olympus Four-Thirds systems, and more.
• Studio Lighting – Online gear rentals. BorrowLenses.com had Profoto, White Lightning, and more. LensRentals.com had that and more including video lighting.
• Support – Tripods, monopods, etc… All but ZipLens.com had something here, but LensProToGo.com was above average and LensRentals.com offered significantly more.
• Video – Pro video cameras, lenses, accessories, camcorders etc… LensRentals.com was in a league of its own her with a massive selection
• Other – Too much to list, but LensRentals.com had the largest offering followed by BorrowLenses.com then LensProToGo. CameraLensRentals.com offered less, but still some useful gear. Items included underwater housings, memory cards, quantum flashes, pocket wizards, light meters, and so much more.

In this category, LensRentals.com stands alone as the undisputed winner, followed by BorrowLenses.com and LensProToGo.com. If was giving out points here, LensRentals.com would have had a 3 point advantage in this category.

The Final Ranking

I’ve read Car and Driver for years, and it always annoyed me that they would give out points for different categories yet they had the disclaimer that the winner (usually a BMW, Corvette, or Honda) wasn’t chosen wasn’t a sum of the individual points. If that’s the case, why give points? Well, sadly I understand now. My point system failed in this case as it neglected to include for the critical selection category and included some meaningless data like packaging. To that end, I removed the points from all the reviews and added comments in the recommendation sections.

As I’ve said over, and over again, all these sites are good – even the smallest of them all – ZipLens.com was very professional, helpful, and delivered a great customer experience. If you are just looking for common Canon or Nikon gear, ZipLens.com has everything you need so the extras offered by the other services aren’t terribly important. However, if you need a wide variety of gear then look no further than LensRentals.com – the winner of this series. My final ranking is as follows, and I encourage you to read the recommendation paragraphs for each participant as to why they were given their ranking:

1. LensRentals.com – An amazing selection (including even video and rare out-of-production lenses), tons of inventory, a reservation system that all others should license and use, great customer support, and a business owner committed to exceeding your expectations. You can’t go wrong with LensRentals.com. Go have some fun renting Leica’s, Four-Third systems, super rare lenses like the Canon 50mm f/1.0 (no, that’s not a typo!), and much more. You can spend hours just drooling over all the choices!
   
2. BorrowLenses.com – The best designed web site in the series, and the most proactive customer service I’ve ever seen. My next rental will be with BorrowLenses.com based on how they will go the extra mile (in my case, drop shipping from B&H before daring to disappoint a customer). I lost sleep over trying to decide who #1 & #2 would be in this series because they were so close, but the tie breaker went to LensRentals.com’s killer web site features (especially the reservation system) and their massive selection. I should also point out that this site was the winner based on my points system, so if you liked my old system then consider them your #1 choice.
   
3. CameraLensRentals.com – This was the shocker of the series as I hadn’t even heard of this company before taking this series on, but Roger of LensRentals.com insisted I ask them to participate. Boy am I glad I did because I was very impressed on multiple levels from this company. I am also pleased about its expansion plans which I think will only further serve to give the leaders another competitor to lose sleep over. If you are a Canon or a Pentax shooter, I’d say this should be your first choice for lens rentals. I should also point out that this site had the second largest point total in my points-based system, so I think their third place position is definitely not a distant third.
   
4. LensProToGo.com has the potential to be in the number 2 spot based on its large selection and best prices of the series. The lack of some key web site features are really holding it back from the top spots, but in this series the competition is fierce so it’s like comparing exotic cars – they are all good, but which one you prefer might come down to a subjective choice of one over another. If you are SCUBA diver with a 5D Mark II, go check out the very cool underwater housing they have for you to rent – it rocks!
   
5. ZipLens.com made me wish I didn’t have to stack rank, because this is a good little company. Other than a slow web site (which seems to have been addressed now) and a smaller selection, I couldn’t find much to knock these guys for. The reality is that most of us shoot Canon and Nikon anyway, and few are going to need huge, fast super-telephotos, so this site will meet your needs. They delivered on time, as promised, in a used lens that was cleaned very well prior to delivery, and had the most idiot-proof return system (no tape required). I enjoyed working with this company and encourage you to give these guys a shot.

Conclusion

This series taught me a lot about what not to do, should I be stupid enough to do another series again (each time, I swear I’ll never do another one). I hope you enjoyed it and learned something about some companies that you might not have heard of before. I’d love to see your rental feedback as comments on the individual site articles and your pictures on the ronmart.blogspot.com flickr group to show off the fun you had with your lens rentals! Please support this blog by remembering to come back and use the links and codes here, and share blog links on all the photography sites you visit.

I am currently deciding if I will continue adding content to this blog in 2010 due to a drop in financial support (decreased usage of links for sponsors and lack of donations by overseas readers who are unable to use the links), so your support is greatly appreciated to keep more articles coming next year.

Special Offer Summary

This information is subject to change (including expiration), so be sure to check the Discount Coupon Code page for the latest information. You are welcome to link my blog to other sites, but please don’t post these codes directly to coupon sites as that is the quickest way to get the codes cancelled permanently (i.e., use it, but don’t abuse it).

Product	Discount	Code
BorrowLenses.com  (review)	5% Off	RM5
CameraLensRentals.com	10% Off	Use this link AND enter RONMART when you check out
LensRentals.com	5% Off	RONMART5
LensProToGo.com	5% Off	MART5
ZipLens.com	10% Off	ronmart

Please Help Other Readers

Please share your feedback on each of the individual product sites in the form of a comment about your rental experiences. My opinion is only one opinion, but there’s strength in numbers, so add value to these articles by sharing your experiences to the articles!

But what about <some other lens rental company>.com?

Anytime I do a series, I always get a bunch of these types of emails and comments. These were the sites I chose to review based on my limited knowledge of who all is out there. I’m sure there are more, and RentGlass.com has expressed interest in participating in the future. If you are the owner of another rental site, you are welcome to contact me to discuss the possibility of a review.

REVIEW: LensProToGo.com (Lens Rental Review Series – 6 of 7)

Rental Details

• Lens Rented: Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM (Retail Cost: $2500)
• Placed Order: October 1, 2009 1:24:37 PM PDT
• Reservation Date: October 23, 2009
• Arrived: On Time – October 23, 2009 at 12:44 P.M. by UPS
• Due Back: October 30, 2009 (8 days)
• Total Cost: $120.00 ($17.15 per day with insurance & shipping*, $15.00 per day actual value**)
• Condition: Heavy wear and tear. The lens was clean and in working order, but close to being retired. My other rental with LensProToGo.com was the exact opposite as it was a brand new lens, so the morale of the story here is don’t judge a company by the age of a lens. See the paragraph below for more details on this issue.
• Accessories Included: Lens hood and cap stored in a Pelican 1400 case. No lens UV filter or lens plate included, but both available upon request.

* = Total cost / 7 days rental
** = Total Cost / 8 days actually in my possession

READ THIS: Here’s why I got an old lens

As you might expect, fraud is a problem in the lens rental industry as someone with stolen identity and a stolen credit card can rent a lens and then never return it. When dealing with first time customers, it is natural for the risk level to be high which is why Paul had asked me to call in. When I refused, he still put the customer first (assuming I was legit rather than avoiding to send the lens altogether – a risk on his part), but he managed his risk by sending his oldest copy of the 28-300mm. He has two new copies he could have sent me, but my refusal to talk to him meant he had to prepare for a loss so sending an old lens was his way of doing that. I totally understand this as I would do the same thing if I were in his shoes. I would encourage new customers to call in between the hours of 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM EASTERN to make sure that the risk level is reduced so you don’t end up with an old lens.

Company Information

• Owner: Paul Friedman
• Years in Business: 3.5
• Location: Concord, MA

Q&A with Paul Friedman

What countries do you serve?

Just USA

Do you allow lens renters to travel out of the country with your lenses? (i.e., safari’s, international sports competitions, etc…)

Yes

Do you drop ship rentals to hotels, kinkos, ups store, etc...?

Yes

Do you rent anything besides just lenses?

Yes, cameras, flashes, tripods, monopods, pocket wizards, light meters, underwater housings, gyros.

Lens damage in transit is naturally a big concern for renters, so how do you pack your gear?

We ship our gear in Pelican cases. Damage in transit has never happened.

Some companies have one copy of each product, so that once it is rented you are out of luck. Others have multiple copies of each item. While I imagine this would vary from product to product (i.e., perhaps only one 400 f/2.8, but a dozen 50mm f/1.4), what would you like readers to know about your selection and availability?

We have a huge selection of lenses. For some we have dozens and dozens of copies. As our demand continues to grow, we’ll keep buying more!

Do you require a deposit?

No

What type of accessories do you include with the rental? Do you include any filters (i.e., UV filters)? Cases? Do you include lens plates on lenses with tripod collars? Do you include hoods, even on lenses that don’t come with hoods from the manufacturer (i.e., Canon L has hoods, but EF-S lenses don’t)?

We include a UV filter free of charge if one is requested. We also include Wimberley type plates free of charge on request. Most lenses do come with a hood and tripod collar as well.

What is your insurance policy? Do you offer supplemental insurance? In short, what happens if a lens is damaged during a rental? What if a lens is lost or stolen, how is that handled

The rental insurance will cover repair or replacement of a lens if it is damaged. You will then be responsible for paying the deductible which is 10% of the replacement value. If you do not purchase the optional rental insurance, you will be responsible for the cost of repairing or replacing the damaged lens.

Example:  You rent a lens that has a value of $1,000 and do NOT purchase the rental insurance.  You then damage the lens while you are renting it and the lens requires repairs totaling $300.  You are responsible for the entire $300.

Example:  You rent a lens that has a value of $1,000 and DO purchase the rental insurance.  You then damage the lens while you are renting it and the lens requires repairs totaling $300.  You are responsible for paying the deductible of $100 ($1,000 x 10%).

How does your policy differ for lens damage from minor cosmetic (i.e., a scuff, a scratch, etc…) to major (i.e., broken button, dropped on concrete major damage, broken IS/VR, etc…)?

Cosmetic damage is just normal wear and tear. We always want to be proud of the gear we send out.

Do you take advanced rental appointments? (i.e., someone going to Antarctica or a Safari would want to reserve a rental months in advance to ensure they would have the unit they needed when they left for their trip). If so, what is your advance rental policy, including cancellation policy?

We strongly encourage reservations and accept them up to four months in advance. A $50 cancellation fee is applicable to camera bodies and super telephoto lenses.

If someone is renting a lens and needs more time (i.e., missed a flight, extended trip, etc…), can they call or email to extend the rental at the normal daily rate? What are your late return policy and fees?

Yes, nearly 40% of all of our customers rent for longer than the original rental period. Just call or email us. If you are late with a lens, we charge the appropriate pro rated rate.

If a desired lens is unavailable, can someone get on a waiting list via your web site and be alerted when it is going to be available? Can the see at a glance on the web site when the unit is due back?

Yes and yes. We do have an automated email notification system. However, if a lens or camera is not in stock, we strongly encourage customer to pick up the phone and call us so they can reserve one.

Does your site offer any lens review or comparison features?

Yes, we have reviews as well as links to other reviews.

What is your process for communicating with the customer from the time an order is placed until the time the rental is returned and the transaction completed?

We are extremely thorough with customer communication. When an order is placed online, the customer immediately receives an email receipt. When the order is shipped, the customer receives an email with the tracking number from UPS. He or she also receives a thank you note via email with some details about the rental. One day before the customer is due to send the gear back, he or she will receive an email from us thanking them for the rental, reminding them that the gear is due to be sent back tomorrow and an offer to extend the rental for another week for $x.

If a customer is frequently renting the same lens, do you offer any special program for them to “rent this lens again” or any “frequent user discount”?

We do offer a discount to our most frequent customers.

How fast can you get a lens to a customer that needs one in a hurry (i.e., photographer has a lens failure and needs a replacement ASAP)?

Tomorrow – to anywhere in the US

Canon and Nikon are the big players, but do you rent lenses or equipment from other brands?

No, but if the market share for any of the 3rd tier players rises, we will consider adding them into our inventory.

What’s the largest lenses you rent (i.e., 600mm, etc…)? What’s the most common lenses you rent? What brands do you carry?

We carry Canon and Nikon. The longest Canon lens is the Canon 800 f/5.6L IS and the longest Nikon is the Nikon 600 f/4 VR. The most popular lenses are of course, the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS and Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR.

Does your site share experiences with your customers about the reliability of lenses (i.e., failure rates of brands, models, etc…)?

We don’t in any formal way, but we often have conversations with customers and are always very frank in any type of evaluation of gear.

Do you include any user education materials with your rentals (i.e., how IS/VR works, how to use a tilt-shift/perspective control lens, how to use a macro, etc…)?

We do provide this kind of content on our blog and have been adding in content as we receive requests from customers.

Do you provide return shipping labels? Is return shipping and/or insurance included in the price

Yes, we provide a prepaid UPS return label in all of our packages. We provide third party umbrella insurance on all of our packages. The prices on all of our gear, except on super telephoto lenses, include round trip shipping.

What is your policy for holidays and weather events? (i.e., week rental ends on a holiday weekend, Christmas, etc…) or a snowstorm closes the airport for the city so the lens can’t return on time?

They get an extra day for free if the end of their rental period falls on a holiday or there’s a weather event. We tend not to penalize our customers for events and dates beyond their control. We treat our customers the way we would want to be treated as customers.

How long to you rent gear before you retire it?

We generally keep a piece of gear for about 20 rentals and then sell it. Our goal is to always have fresh gear at all times that both functions and looks near new.

Does your policy differ for different products?

This policy does differ a bit. We generally sell cameras faster than the average lens. We also tend to keep super teles for a bit longer period of time as we have found that they generally get treated with greater care by our customers.

Do you sell your used gear? If so, when and how?

We have an annual sale of used gear in early November, going on right now. We sell directly on our site and communicate the start of the sale to all of our customers via email and Twitter.

If a customer wanted to buy the lens they were renting, would you let them?

In terms of a customer wanting to buy a lens they are renting, most often that’s not possible. It is possible when a customer has a lens that is at our near the end of its cycle, then we can accommodate the customer.

Anything else you would like to add that you feel sets you apart from other rental establishments?

We have the best service in the industry, period. When the phone rings, we answer it. We return emails. We overnight gear on a daily basis. We ship to the location our customers need. And when customers have questions about the gear, we spend the time on the phone with them to determine which would be the most appropriate choice for them. Our goal is not only to have the best service in the industry but to provide our customers with the best experience of any company in any industry. And so far, we’re succeeding: http://lensprotogo.com/index.php?pr=Testimonials

Selection

This is just a two platform (Canon and Nikon) site like all but LensRentals.com and CameraLensRentals.com, but it carries everything for those platforms plus a large selection of accessories (including a very cool underwater housing shown above). This site is definitely more than just lenses, despite the name, so you can usually find everything you need for a big location shoot.

Website

This is a great looking site when  you first visit. The logo and banner image are first class and way more professional looking than anything in this series. Perhaps this is why I always believed that LensProToGo.com was probably the biggest and best rental company on the web. Perception is a powerful thing, so I think LensRentals.com, BorrowLenses.com, and ZipLens.com could benefit from hiring the designer that did this logo and header banner as this is first class design.

Sadly, looks are deceiving and perception didn’t mean reality.

When I tried to place my order for the 28-300mm, I was surprised to discover that  it wasn’t possible to make a reservation for it. instead I was given an option to be notified when the lens became available (as shown in the screen shot  on the top right below – I used my mystery shoppers email for the actual submission). Unfortunately I was never notified, so after two attempts at using this form I finally gave up and sent a mail to customer service asking if I could reserve the lens. Unfortunately it took a couple of emails to actually accomplish that because Paul Friedman, the owner, was requesting that my mystery shopper (my wife) call in to reserve the lens. Since she didn’t know anything about what I needed, and since I couldn’t call, this presented a challenge that almost caused me to blow my cover. Paul finally gave in and took the order through email. After replying back all went well and the order arrived on time as promised.

UPDATE: See the Here’s why I got an old lens section at the top of this article to understand that the hassle here was really about risk assessment to protect against fraud, which sadly does occur in ways very similar to this (i.e., customers refusing to call in). As a result the risk assessment was super high for my rental.

In talking with Paul after my rental was done, I found out that there is a glitch in the system at LensProToGo.com in that there has to be at least one lens in stock before you can see the order reservation screen (shown in the bottom left below). I thought this was a little odd as the time you most likely want to see it is when lenses are out of stock, but that’s the way it is.

My biggest complaint about the web site here is that there’s no way to log in and see your current or past orders. You can’t get a receipt online, check the status of or cancel your order, get tracking information or anything. This is a HUGE shortcoming compared to the others in this series, and one that I found to be a major drawback. Upon request to Paul you can get a receipt mailed to you as shown in the bottom right below, but I think this site is behind the times and needs a customer login system desperately. You can create a customer record when placing your order and fortunately don’t have to re-enter that info if you visit again, but this isn’t a fully functional system like the others offer.

We live in a fast paced digital world, so customers should be able to do everything they need online from the website without having to call in. I should be able to track my order, see my future reservations and order history, and I should be able to reserve online – especially when no lenses are in stock.

In the end, this site was the most disappointing web site in the series because even though its performance was much better than the much slower ZipLens.com site, it didn’t have nearly as much functionality. As one of my development managers once told me, “I’ll take slow and feature rich over fast and broken any day of the week” – that pretty  much sums up my thoughts here. 

UPDATE: I spoke with Paul about this and he agrees that the site features are a big weakness that need to be addressed. In fact, he’s in the process of building an all-new web site for release next February that will address these shortcomings. Hopefully this article is will help to ensure that the most important features are included, so this should be an upgrade worth checking out when it comes online.

Packaging

Impression: Very Good (4) – (AWARD: Easiest Return Packaging - Ronmart.Blogspot.com’s Lens Rental Review Series)

Pelican cases are legendary for the level of protection they offer, so I was pleased to see that LensProToGo.com chose to use a Pelican 1400 case to transport the lens. This made packing and unpacking a breeze. Returning the lens was awesome because you just put the lens in the case, drop it in the box, seal the box and attach the included pre-paid sticker. What could be more simple than that?

The only thing I can find as an area for improvement here is the fact that the case was pretty beaten up which doesn’t make for a good first impression. I suspect that the lens and this case went into service together, so that’s probably why it looked so bad (this lens had the appearance of a lens that had been in service for a few years). It worked properly though and definitely protected the lens, so there’s not much to fault with it. However, if I were Paul I would probably rotate these boxes out a little more frequently if the lenses are going to stay in service for so long.

Like others in this series (except BorrowLenses.com), the enclosed letter failed to include the return date which I found to be very frustrating for reasons described earlier in my web site comments.

Note to ALL lens companies:  Please add a return date in big, bold 32+ point font on your invoices and include that with your orders. Your customers will thank you for it!

Customer Support

My initial contact (via my wife’s email) with Paul to reserve the lens put me off a little bit as I grew up in the day where you didn’t question the customer. If the customer says, I can’t call so can I just do it in email, you say – sure no problem – here’s what I need.  That didn’t happen (see the website section for more info), so if I were a normal paying customer I would have just ended my transaction there and moved on to a different service. However, I needed to review this site so I pressed forward and Paul agreed to handle the transaction via email.

UPDATE: See the Here’s why I got an old lens section at the top of this article to understand that the hassle here was really about risk assessment to protect against fraud, which sadly does occur in ways very similar to this (i.e., customers refusing to call in). As a result the risk assessment was super high for my rental, so I now believe Paul’s skepticism was totally justified.

My lens arrived on time, but with less communications than any other site. I suspect since I didn’t  go through the order system on the web site (and it was handled via email), I never received detailed order confirmations, tracking numbers, shipping notifications, etc… that I received from all the other sites. I did get a notification from Jenni on October 20, 2009 2:33:26 PM PDT that my order had shipped via UPS but it only mentioned the lens and didn’t include tracking information. Since signatures are required, I thought this was really odd.

UPDATE: I discussed this issue with Paul and it is unclear where the system broke down here as the process didn’t change between my first and second orders. However, the second order had a reasonable level of communication. We are investigating the issue and I’ll report back once the issue is understood.

In the end, the lens worked fine when I had it and the shipping and return went smoothly. It was a much different experience than all of the others in this series due to the fraud risk assessment, which primarily occurred because I chose a lens that was out of stock and the glitch in the web site that required a call in for that scenario. I ended up contacting Paul about it at the end of the rental and he was horrified that I had the misfortune of renting one of his oldest lenses which was due for retirement, but under the circumstances he was trying to minimize his losses should I have turned out to be a fraudulent user who ended up stealing the lens. We agreed that I’d give him another shot, but the element of surprise was gone so I’d have to run with this experience in the series.

I can say that my subsequent rental went much better, the email communications were better and I had a brand new Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS USM macro lens in a brand new Pelican 1400 case. I’ve talked to others who have rented from LensProToGo.com (plus they have testimonials) and they confirm that they’ve never had the negative experience I had, so you shouldn’t expect the experience I encountered – especially if you take the time to just call in to prove that you are a honest renter.

I will write a follow up article on my 100mm rental experience at the conclusion of this series which I encourage you to come back and read.

Favorite Shots with the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM

There’s very little data on the web about the Canon EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM lens, but from what little I’ve seen I thought it would be great to own one of these. After all, an “L” lens with an astonishing 28mm to 300mm range means you really only need to carry one lens when travelling. While it is a big lens, I will typically carry my 24-105mm f/4L IS USM in addition to my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM or my 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM so it would actually be lighter and easier to only carry one lens. Isn’t this the dream of many photographers? The one great lens that does everything well?

Of course, life is never that simple and we know that the physics of light suggests that trade-offs must be made to accomplish what this lens can do. The net result is that it is much better than most “one-size fits all” lenses I’ve seen, but definitely not as sharp as most L lenses in Canon’s line-up. Physically it looks and works exactly the same as my 100-400mm, so I suspect that Canon uses the same external shell and just uses different glass and labeling for these two push-pull style lenses. My 100-400mm is significantly sharper than this lens, but as you can see from the images below that with a little post-processing it is no slouch either. It’s also VERY cool for scenarios like the last two pictures where I was standing in the same spot and two the picture on the  bottom left at 28mm and then the picture on the right at 300mm (it’s a close up of the building in the left side of the 28mm picture) – both hand-held without changing lenses. A decent landscape and super-telephoto lens in one – what a cool lens to have in the bag!

Click the images below to see larger versions that have been post-processed only using Viveza 2.0 directly from Lightroom 2.5.

Conclusion – Updated 11/30/09

This is a classic case where you need to walk in another man’s shoes to fully understand all the issues here.

At first glance (and my first iteration of this review) I was pretty harsh because I got an old beat up copy of a lens and I had to argue with Paul to avoid calling in. However, I now understand that fraud is a problem in this industry and first time renters who refuse to call in are a high risk category for lens theft. Loss control resulted in me getting the oldest copy of a lens (reserved for scenarios like mine) rather than the nice new copies they have in stock, which is the more typical customer experience. He didn’t know why I couldn’t call in (mystery shopper scenario) and I didn’t know why he insisted I do (he’ll now let customers know it is for fraud risk assessment). We both learned something here, so I encourage you to understand the context and realize the value in calling in.

With respect to calling in, I had some trouble with this as I kept getting voice mail telling me to leave a message. It turns out that the (soon to be corrected) voice mail message fails to point out that business hours are between 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM EASTERN, and with me being on the West Coast, I was calling outside those business hours. I didn’t know this, so I thought it was difficult to get through, but that shouldn’t be the normal case when you call during business hours unless all lines are busy. A new line is also due to be added to reduce the odds even further. Take note of the time and your time zone when calling in to avoid this being an issue for you as well.

The important part, is that despite the risk assessment, I still got my lens on time and everything beyond some missing email (still under investigation) went well. Taking the time to call in during business hours would have made a huge difference in this rental experience. Learn from my mistake when dealing with any of the rental companies in this series as it is fair for them to be cautious when things don’t seem right (which in my case, Paul accurately sensed something was up – but fortunately he didn’t guess it was the mystery shopper).

LensProToGo.com has an excellent ResellerRatings.com rating, and I trust the ratings there. Understanding the fraud risk issue now explains why my original experience was inconsistent with a majority of LensProToGo.com’s customers. I strongly advise you to give them a shot as my second rental experience was much better, and more consistent with the feedback from the testimonials and ResellerRatings.com. Stay tuned for my follow up article after the series where things went much better. 

Strengths

• Uses Pelican cases for shipping which is both durable and makes shipping super simple
• A good selection of Canon and Nikon gear, plus a decent selection of Lighting and Support items
• Prices include shipping (except super telephotos) so you know exactly how much something is going to cost (other sites add this after the fact which usually adds $30+ to the cost)
• Offers a great underwater housing
• The things that work on the web site, work well and the visual appearance is much better than all but BorrowLenses.com
• Reasonable supply of inventory means that most items will be in stock

Areas for Improvement

• Online order system where customers can log on and track their order history is a must. There is a login system when placing your order, but it only seems to be a tool to store your contact info so that you don’t have to re-enter it on future orders. It needs to be much more than that.
• Reservation system needs to account for out of stock items
• Some items like Underwater Housings don’t offer insurance
• When you go through the order system you can’t go back if you make a mistake
• No obvious way to cancel orders online
• Update the voice mail recording to note that business hours are between 8:30 AM to 6:30 PM EASTERN so that west coast callers understand why they are getting voice mail

Recommendation

It’s been my experience that ResellerRatings.com ratings pretty much on the money, so when you see a good rating from a company like LensProToGo.com you can feel pretty confident that you’ll be in good hands. This company has a large selection and the best overall prices (see the conclusion article), so when doing your own price comparisons don’t let their big rental price scare you. Other sites can end up being up to 40% more than the quoted price after your credit card gets charged, but with LensProToGo.com the quote price is the final price, and it’s a good value.  Be sure to look for its new web site in February which will address most of my areas for improvement. I’d also recommend that you learn from my experience - a short call with LensProToGo.com will help reduce the risk assessment for first time renters, and ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Learn more about others in this series:

Please read the Lens Rental Series- Introduction (1 of 7) to learn more about other companies renting gear and providing discount coupon codes as well as my thoughts. Stay tuned to the conclusion as this series is more than just about the numbers you see in the conclusion here.

Special Offer

LensProToGo.com has been gracious enough to offer you a 5% discount off any order when you enter the coupon code MART5 as shown above in yellow.

Disclosure

This lens was rented under my wife’s name (who has a different last name) and email so this company would not be aware I was renting from them. This blog was reimbursed for the rental charges after this order was completed (lens returned). I was also given another free lens rental afterwards which I will review at a later date. I will recieve a commission if you use my

REVIEW: Nik Software Viveza 2

 

Read This First

I’ve already written reviews on Viveza for Photoshop and Viveza for Lightroom, so if you are unfamiliar with this product you may want to start with those reviews as this article assumes you are already familiar with its basic features.  

I also must point out that I did this review using a PRE-RELEASED version of Viveza 2. Features and user-interface elements are subject to change (both the addition of and remove of). The purpose of letting a small targeted audience use the pre-released builds is to identify the bugs and quirky behavior prior to the final release so that the developers at Nik Software can fix the bugs and the Program Managers can decide what to do about features that don’t necessarily work the way a customer would expect or hope. If any changes occur in the final release, I’ll be sure to update my review after Viveza 2 is available for sale sometime in December 2009. See Nik Software’s home page for Viveza 2 for more information.

Intro

When I first learned about Viveza I thought it was odd that there would be a stand-alone tool for modifying some of the basic controls for imaging (brightness, contrast, saturation, etc…). However, as I watched the videos I discovered that the magic behind Viveza and other Nik Software products is its great U-Point control technology which effectively builds complex layer masks just by you putting a point on your image and and adjusting the size of the area you want impacted by the changes. It’s a brilliant concept that can save hours over traditional methods, it’s no wonder that I’ve become such a huge fan of Nik Software’s products.

Sample Images

Before diving into the details, let’s take a look at a few examples of what Viveza 2 can do for those who may not be familiar with this product. I’ve included a few before and after examples of images processed using all of the old and new features of Viveza 2.

 

In the image above, I used the Lightroom add-in (included in Viveza 2). I started in Lightroom by correcting some blemishes and softening the skin a bit with a negative clarity adjustment brush. I then when into Viveza 2 and did some global darkening. Next, I did some additional darkening on the dress and select portions of the background. I also brightened her teeth, made her lips a bit more red, and warmed the tone of her skin to make it closer to her natural tanned skin tone. I also felt the image needed a little sharpening, so I just did a global structure adjustment. Time spent in Viveza – 10 minutes.

This photo wasn’t especially good when it came out of the camera, but I’m a sucker for old cars so I really wanted to see if I could do something to help kick it up a notch. Viveza 2 helped it a lot, and in ways that never would have been possible in Viveza 1. This image was cropped in Lightroom, and exported to Photoshop so I could use Dfine to remove the noise (it was a ISO 3200 image), and then imaged it only using Viveza 2.

I created a control point group for the taxi itself, and then brightened it up so that the yellow had the same punch it had in real life. I did the same thing for the chrome grill so that it would pop like it was new again. I then went around the edges creating a lot of control points to darken up the street and buildings. In some cases desaturated specific areas. I then brightened up the headlights, white walls on the tires and the taxi light dome. To finish it off, I did a global structure adjustment which made the grill and lights really stand out. When you hover over to see the before image, notice how much sharper and brighter the taxi is now. This was all done using Viveza 2, so a separate sharpening step wasn’t even necessary.

As you’ll see later in this article, I have a snapshot of the screen in Viveza where I had 45 control points scattered throughout the image. This one took a bit longer – about 30 minutes, but I think the results speak for themselves – it’s a vast improvement, and it turns out I could have done it from Lightroom without using Photoshop if I just would have run my Dfine plug-in for Lightroom first and then modified its output file in Viveza second. One advantage to using Photoshop though was the ability to create smart filters (by default, if you export your image as a smart object, all filters are applied as a smart filter. This allowed me to make my changes, and then when it was back in Photoshop if I wanted to make a change I could just bringing back up in Viveza 2 and pick up where I left off. This is super useful when you have 45 control points!

New Features

Besides a minor user-interface refresh, Viveza 2 has a few new features that are sure to please those upgrading from Viveza 1. The following sections describe some of these new features.

Grouping

One of the big new productivity features of Viveza 2 is grouping. This allows you to shift+click a group of control points and then create a single group out of them. Once you have a group, you can apply the same adjustments to all the members of the group. As shown above, I have a flower where I’ve combined control points 1 through 4 into a Group 1, so any changes I make will be made to the entire flower. Hover over the image to see the ungrouped control point list which allows you to fine tune each item after you’ve made your group changes. In this example I grouped to enhance the structure and then I modified them independently to add different levels of brightness to each area as shown in the final result below (hover in and out to see the before and after):

Structure

Structure in Viveza 2 is actually the same as Structure in Sharpener Pro 3.0. This sharpens the smooth areas between hard edges, and as you can see in the landscape below it did wonders for the clouds and added texture to the grass and bricks. Mouse over and out of the image below to see the before and after:

 

Other New Features

Global Adjustments – You can now make any of the adjustments to your overall image, and then refine using control points to fine tune specific areas. One point to note about this is that global adjustments are not cancelled out by adding a control point to the image, which is new feature. This means that if you darken your image and put a control point down, the area impacted by the control point won’t resume to its original brightness.

Shadow Adjustments – These are like the Highlights and Shadows adjustments you can do in Lightroom or Photoshop, and they can be useful in recovering lost details in places like hair, grass, etc… when you darken a specific area.

Warmth – This warms or cools our overall image, which is great for adding a little extra sun back into your sunset, or adding a little digital tan to skin.

Expanded adjustments may be disabled – This is a really nice improvement (shown above) because it allows you to both check the impact of a given adjustment to the area impacted, and/or will prevent you from accidentally sliding the wrong slider. I actually wish all of the sliders had this!

Levels and Curves – You can now do global levels and curves adjustments using a tool similar to what you’d find in Lightroom and Photoshop. I’m still not quite sure why this was added, but it’s there if you want to make this adjustment while your tweaking your image in Viveza.

Single Setup for 3 Products – When you purchase Viveza 2, you now get three products – The 32-bit Photoshop add-in, the 64-bit Photoshop add-in (woohoo), and the Lightroom add-in (works with both 32 & 64-bit) all installed at once. This is a huge improvement over Viveza 1 which didn’t have a 64-bit version and it required you to install two copies – one for Lightroom and one for Photoshop.

64-bit Support – WOOHOO – 64-bit users can now take advantage of editing with more RAM in their 64-bit Photoshop. The performance and reliability are excellent as well!

Maximize Support – It’s sad to call this a feature, but its absence makes it cause for celebration! You can now press the F key to maximize and restore your window – woohoo!

Choosing the Right Tool for the Job

Viveza has lots of power, for sure and when you need it you’ll be thrilled you have it in your toolkit. However, it isn’t always the right tool for every job. There are times where the Adjustment Brush with Automask in Lightroom (or a mask created with the Quick Selection Tool in Photoshop) will be faster are more effective. In fact, I’d say always try those options first, and when they don’t do what you need, or you realize that you need a complex selection, then turn to Viveza.

A good rule of thumb is if there’s lots of details and you only want to impact a small portion of it or a single tone, then Viveza’s the right tool. For big solid areas with little detail, then traditional mechanisms might be a little faster (excluding cloud and sky enhancements). Another good tip is if you start to create too many control points, as I’ve done below with 46 control points, and the image keeps looking worse than when you first started!

For those with Advanced Photoshop Masking Techniques

As you evolve in your quest to master the beast that is called Photoshop, you start to learn about complex masking techniques such as Channel-based masking and masking using a complex combination of selection and masking tools as discussed in Photoshop Masking & Compositing. Once you learn these you harness the power of what you can do with your imaging, so people in that camp might wonder if it is really worth it to bother with Viveza. As someone with those skills I can say without question - YES!

Complex masking scenarios are easier with knowledge, but still time consuming and that is where Viveza rocks. You may have the skills to accomplish the same thing, but in many cases it will take from a few seconds to a few minutes at most to get the results you need, and that’s far faster than most can create their masks alone.

Buy Viveza 1 before Viveza 2 releases and save $72.49!!!

Anyone who has purchased Viveza after September 22, 2009 gets a free upgrade to Viveza 2. Since Viveza 1 currently sells for $149.99, and Viveza 2 will retail for $199, you can save $50 buy buying now. In fact you can save an additional 15%, or $22.49 by purchasing Viveza using the Discount Coupon Code from this blog. Just enter RMARTINSEN in the Coupon Code box and click Apply to bring your total down to just $127.46 – a $72.49 savings over the $199 retail price of Viveza 2!

If you already own Viveza and purchased it before September 23rd, then the upgrade price will be $99.99, but you can save 15% with the discount coupon code, RMARTINSEN, from this blog

You can save even more if you decide to buy the Complete Collection for Lightroom or Photoshop, when you enter RMARTINSEN in the Coupon Code box for any Nik Software purchase.

A word to users of Color Efex, Viveza 1.0 and Capture NX 2

If you read my review of Viveza 1.0, I explained how Viveza was an improvement over what you could do with U-Point technology using some similar image enhancement features in Color Efex. Since that article, I have written a review of Capture NX2 where I also discuss why Viveza is an improvement over NX2’s Color Control Point. If you have either of those products, you know the power of U-Point technology and Viveza 2 will improve your workflow even more, so I highly recommend you at least try the demo. 

Conclusion

When If first downloaded the demo copy of Viveza, I didn’t get it. I just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about and I didn’t understand how U-Point controls worked. My demo expired, I uninstalled it and decided that it was a crappy product. Later, I saw a webinar sponsored by Nik Software that showed me how it worked, and I was so excited that I rushed out and got a copy. After using it for a year, it is now a part of my regular workflow and an important tool in my imaging tool chest. I highly recommend Viveza 2. I’ve already uninstalled my 1.0 version as the pre-release has spoiled me to the point where I can’t go back to version 1.0 now.

Tip for Photoshop Users

If you open your image as a Smart Object in Photoshop (either via Export as Smart Object… in Lightroom, Bridge or in Photoshop), and then use Viveza you’ll have the added benefit of your changes being applied as smart filter. This means you can go back and double-click on your Viveza filter and pick up where you left off, make changes, and return to Photoshop again. Best of all, your file size doesn’t grow to a massive size when you use Smart Objects/Filters since you only have one layer. I highly recommend you try this out – its a easy way to go back and tweak your changes later and save disk space – you can’t beat that!

Disclaimer

Nik Software provided me with a free evaluation copy of Viveza 2 so that I may provide testing feedback. I chose to write this article without being asked by Nik Software (but after getting permission), and I will get a commission if you save money using my discount coupon code. Thanks for supporting this blog!

REVIEW: ZipLens.com (Lens Rental Review Series - 5 of 7)

 

Rental Details

• Lens Rented: Canon 135mm f/2 USM (Retail Cost: $1069.95)
• Placed Order: Friday, September 18, 2009 at 4:56 AM PST
• Reservation Date: October 7, 2009
• Arrived: On Time – October 7, 2009 11:39 AM by FedEx
• Due Back: October 15, 2009 (9 days)
• Total Cost: $79.00 ($11.29 per day with insurance & shipping*, $8.78 actual value**)
• Condition: Minimal wear and tear, and cleaned well. No lens UV filter included, but I hate those anyway.
• Accessories Included: Lens hood and cap

* = Total cost / 7 days rental
** = Total Cost / 9 days actually in my possession

Company Information

• Owner: Lee Cullivan
• Years in Business: 3
• Location: Brookline, MA

Q&A with Lee Cullivan

What countries do you serve?

US Only.

Do you allow lens renters to travel out of the country with your lenses?

Yes

Do you drop ship rentals to hotels, kinkos, ups store, etc...?

Yes

Lens damage in transit is naturally a big concern for renters, so how do you pack your gear?

We pack our gear with a consistent foam surrounding and bubble wrap. These are in 2 sizes of corrugated boxes that we reuse.

Some companies have one copy of each product, so that once it is rented you are out of luck. Others have multiple copies of each item. While I imagine this would vary from product to product (i.e., perhaps only one 400 f/2.8, but a dozen 50mm f/1.4), what would you like readers to know about your selection and availability?

We carry as many copies of each lens as demand dictates. We've grown considerably over the 3 years starting from one copy of each lens, to up to 20 of the most popular.

Do you require a deposit?

No.

What type of accessories do you include with the rental?

Collars and hoods come with all lenses that would normally ship from the manufacturer with them, filters and bags are available upon request.

What is your insurance policy?

See http://www.ziplens.com/Articles.asp?ID=130

How does your policy differ for lens damage from minor cosmetic (i.e., a scuff, a scratch, etc…) to major (i.e., broken button, dropped on concrete major damage, broken IS/VR, etc…)?

Some cosmetic damage is expected during usage.

Do you take advanced rental appointments?

We take reservations. No fee for cancellations.

If someone is renting a lens and needs more time (i.e., missed a flight, extended trip, etc…), can they call or email to extend the rental at the normal daily rate? What are your late return policy and fees?

Extensions are available. Folks are subject to late fees (weekly rate divided by 7 per day late) but we are flexible and understand under certain circumstances cause people to miss deadlines.

What is your process for communicating with the customer from the time an order is placed until the time the rental is returned and the transaction completed?

We send an email after each of these steps - order, reservation request (if applicable), shipment, return shipment.

How fast can you get a lens to a customer that needs one in a hurry (i.e., photographer has a lens failure and needs a replacement ASAP)?

Depending on where they are usually next day. I've personally driven four hours to hand deliver gear same day though.

Canon and Nikon are the big players, but do you rent lenses or equipment from other brands?

We rent for Canon and Nikon dSLR only.

What’s the largest lenses you rent (i.e., 600mm, etc…)? What’s the most common lenses you rent?

Our most popular rentals are the 70-200mm f2.8 - both Nikon and Canon.

Does your site share experiences with your customers about the reliability of lenses (i.e., failure rates of brands, models, etc…)?

We rely on reseller ratings/ blogs/ etc... for customer feedback.

Do you include any user education materials with your rentals (i.e., how IS/VR works, how to use a tilt-shift/perspective control lens, how to use a macro, etc…)?

Upon request.

Do you provide return shipping labels? Is return shipping and/or insurance included in the price?

We provide all components of return shipping in the box - label, bag, instructions, etc... We've been told our return process is idiot proof.

What is your policy for holidays and weather events? (i.e., week rental ends on a holiday weekend, Christmas, etc…) or a snowstorm closes the airport for the city so the lens can’t return on time?

We do not charge late fees in these circumstances and always give the customers the extra time around holidays.

How long to you rent gear before you retire it?

Depends on the lens. Some lenses are more durable so they are rented longer. Generally between 20-30 times is my rule.

Do you sell your used gear?

Usually by ebay but I give friends and family first crack.

If a customer wanted to buy the lens they were renting, would you let them?

Probably not. Chances are the lens is slated for a reservation.

Anything else you would like to add that you feel sets you apart from other rental establishments?

We don't offer any frills :)

Selection

Just the basics here – Canon and Nikon, and no big super telephotos. However, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing as that’s most all of us will ever need.

Website

The first and most memorable impression I have of this site is that it was slow. It wasn’t painfully slow, but definitely the slowest of this series. This site appears to be a generic eCommerce template site that appears to have been used for lens rentals, so it lacks some of the specialized features seen in the other sites. With that said, it isn’t a bad template as much of what you need for the basics is there. It’s simple, clean and easy to read, but little more. Appearance-wise I’d put it ahead of CameraLensRentals.com, and almost ahead of LensRentals.com, but not quite. Functionality-wise though, it is below CameraLensRentals.com which I called the Honda Accord of web-sites. To continue this analogy, I’d call this the Honda Civic Sedan (i.e., less than the Accord and slower).

UPDATE: Even though I tried using different machines in different physical locations with different ISP’s, I was seeing a noticeable slowdown during the series. However, that issue now seems to be addressed as the site performance seems to be much improved today. My experience may have been a temporary glitch that no longer is an issue.

For reservations, there’s a statement on the web site which is easy to see (shown in tan in the left columns below) that reads:

To make a reservation please place your order and specify the reservation dates in the Order Comments section on the checkout page. We will verify the dates and confirm.

I tried it, and it worked, but I definitely prefer a more integrated experience. Fortunately, they will let you order out-of-stock lenses so this system, while crude, works.

My biggest gripe was that the order look up system didn’t have the return FedEx tracking info, but it at least had the outbound tracking, so that was good. You could get a receipt, modify unshipped orders and more. I did hate that you had to choose from a dropdown for your order history (a dead giveaway this is a “one-size fits all” template).

Packaging

This was the only company that had a bag around the box and for the return trip included another bag to wrap the box in. I presume this is done to keep the box in good shape so it can be reused again, which I suppose is a good environmental move. The bag did raise eyebrows at FedEx (sorting machines hate bags), and I was a bit nervous to have my name only on the bag in case the bag got destroyed (so I left a copy of my invoice in the box itself to be safe). It didn’t include a case or the fitted foam like the other sites, but the packaging seemed sufficient for a safe round trip.The return instructions sticker was very nice and unique, but the box didn’t include an obvious reminder for the return date (but an email on the return day worked well). I loved how the box folded so I didn’t need to tape it, which I suppose is the main advantage of the bag.

Customer Support

Given the nature of this series and my experience level I didn’t need to contact customer support, but to evaluate it for this review I contacted support and pretended to be a novice asking about Nikon 45mm f/2.8 Perspective Control-E Nikkor Aspherical Manual Focus Lens and Lensbabies Lensbaby 3G. I spoke with a guy named Stacey who was helpful and courteous. While he wasn’t able to answer all of my questions off the top of his head, he was eager to help so he dug up the information (including opening a box to look at the lens) and gave me some useful information. It was definitely much better than your typical “call center” experience, but not like the support you get from the BorrowLenses.com, LensRentals.com or CameraLensRentals.com where they have all of the answers right on the spot. This is obviously a small company though (which he admitted) so I was pleased that I was able to get through quickly and ultimately get the information I needed. He was quick to point out gotchas of the lenses (manual focus, manual aperture, lens baby challenges, etc…), so a novice would be well armed with good data before making a rental decision.

Favorite Shots with the Canon 135mm f/2 USM

This lens is only 2nd to the 200mm f/2 in my book in terms of sharpness and killer bokeh. I used it on a nice fall day for a variety of shots. Outdoors this was a decent working distance lens on a full-frame camera, but it might be a bit more challenging on a cropped sensor where it becomes a 216mm lens – albeit at a sweet f/2! It was the perfect lens for this day and now is one that is way high up on my must own list!

	>

Conclusion

It’s clear that this is your Mom and Pop shop offering no frills, not one of the big hitters like LensRentals.com or BorrowLenses.com.  That’s not a bad thing, but it does mean minimal selection from just the two top players – Canon and Nikon, and no camera bodies. Hot new lenses aren’t likely to show up here quickly, and for the big glass you have to go with big boys. That aside, if the lens you are looking for is out of stock, and they have it here, then you are going to have a good experience just as you would with the others in this series. They pay close attention to order instructions, take reservations, and deliver as promised for a competitive fee.

Strengths

• Small Business charm
• Delivered on time and as expected
• Good email communications
• Does all of the basics well

Areas for Improvement

• Annoyingly SLOW Web site performance & annoying HTTPS prompts all the time
• They need to add return tracking info link in order history
• The order history drop down list has got to go – I want to just see my orders when I click on order history
• An improved reservation system would be helpful, but what they have now is at least functional (albeit more subject to human error)
• Add more inventory – during the series I kept an eye on a bunch of my favorite lenses in both Nikon and Canon categories, and it was pretty common to see Out of Stock. There are strong competitors in this market, so having items in stock is essential to success. 

Recommendation

I enjoyed my rental experience with ZipLens.com. While it is true that they are no-frills with the smallest selection of the series, most people will be shooting Nikon or Canon and renting things besides big super-telephotos, so they are likely to have what you need. I have no reservations recommending this site to anyone and I am positive you’ll have an excellent rental experience from beginning to end.

Learn more about others in this series:

Please read the Lens Rental Series- Introduction (1 of 7) to learn more about other companies renting gear and providing discount coupon codes as well as my thoughts. Stay tuned to the conclusion as this series is more than just about the numbers you see in the conclusion here.

Special Offer

 ZipLens.com has been gracious enough to offer you a 10% discount off any order when you enter the coupon code ronmart as shown above in yellow.

Disclosure

This lens was rented under my wife’s name (who has a different last name) and email so this company would not be aware I was renting from them. This blog was reimbursed for the rental charges after this order was completed (lens returned). If you place an order using the discount code or clicking links, I will get a commission (thank you for supporting this blog).

Which DSLR should I buy? (UPDATED: November 21st, 2009)

UPDATED: - For Part II of this article see DSLR Photography on a Budget

NOTE: This article may receive an overhaul in the near future, but for now I’ve patched up with my latest recommendations based on the data I have today.

I belong to a photography group where I work and hardly a day goes by where someone doesn't say:

I'm currently shooting with a point and shoot and have decided to step up to a DSLR camera. What should I buy?

From there someone in the group usually asks what do you plan to do with the camera and what is your budget. The usual answer goes something like this:

I want to spent about $1000 (maybe as much as $2000 if necessary) and I want to do portraits, sports, landscapes, travel, indoor shots and macros.

Now the funny thing about this response is that pretty much encompasses the entire world of digital photography and you aren't going to be able to do all of that for $1000 (or $2000 for that matter). Usually after probing these people you find out that they have (or will soon have) a new baby and they've managed to convenience their spouse that they need a DSLR to take good pictures of the baby (good argument - Canon and Nikon make millions thanks to this excuse).

Anyway, the best place to start is to realize that the DSLR world is different from the point and shoot world where one camera does everything and mediocre quality is good enough. Even though you initially will look at any DSLR picture and say OH WOW, THAT'S AWESOME. It won't take long after you get your camera before you understand what is a good quality photography from a poor one, and that doesn't even account for what you think of the creativity of the shot.

You will quickly start looking at things like picture sharpness, the bokeh (the blur behind an image), chromatic aberration and the edges of an image for perspective distortion and vignetting. You don't think that now, but after you lay down for your hard earned cash for your first $1000 plus lens (and trust me my friend, you will eventually if you stay in the DSLR world), all of these things will mater to you very much because you'll need a reason to justify to yourself and to your significant other why you spent $3000 on the credit card to B&H last month.

Now I'll deviate from my typical response I give to photography newcomers and tell you right now that if you are going to take up DSLR photography for a living you better be prepared to spend a lot of money. While it is true that if you are a person of infinite willpower and you isolate yourself from other photographers and the Internet that you might be happy with your original purchase, the reality is that most people find themselves spending thousands on additional gear as they get bitten by the photography bug. If you really and truly only have $1000 to spend, then now would be a wise time to reconsider your decision and return while your credit cards are still being paid on time and your loved ones still know what your face looks like without a camera in front of it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah - So which is it, Nikon or Canon?

As of November 2009, I’m finally declaring Canon back in the game and not recommending Nikon exclusively. In my opinion, Nikon and Canon are now even. The high ISO performance war has been good as it has forced Canon to improve, and by my eyes even leap frog Nikon ever so slightly (which for the last 18 months I’ve declared Nikon in a league of its own here). This means if you want to take a picture without a flash when there is very little ambient light (i.e., indoors), you'll find that the pictures taken from either body won’t be as noisy those from cameras in the past at ISO 1600 or higher. For the high ISO noise war, I am ranking the major winners right now as follows:

1. Nikon D3s
2. Nikon D700
3. Canon 7D
4. Nikon D300s
5. Canon 5D Mark II (which has better image quality than 2 & 3, but more noise in RAW)

If you don't currently have any investment in lenses (or a good friend or family member who will let you borrow their lenses), then you should consider the body that suits your needs as your first DSLR camera. Nikon is a more expensive platform, but expensive doesn’t mean better – it just means they’ve taken advantage of their first market lead in a very long time by raising their price several times.

Naturally, any good buyer should do their own research and try each product for themselves, but beware that the opinions of Nikon versus Canon are stronger than peoples views on abortion, politics, and religion. The fact that I use Canon gear should give you an idea that I am trying to be unbiased here, but my fellow Canon brethren may have me burned at the stake for uttering such blasphemy.

The reality is that both Canon and Nikon are very good and you'll be happy with either platform, but I'm going to make a statement that will inflame the rest of the photography world when I say that I strongly you recommend you choose Nikon or Canon over other brands like Olympus, Sony, Pentax, etc... because you'll find most of the photography books, products, etc... revolve around these two brands.

Okay, okay, so what camera should I get?

Nikon
If you chose to go with Nikon I recommend that you consider the D90 or D300s, depending on your budget (and if you have a big budget then get the D3s or D3 or its cheaper but very similar sibling the D700). If that is still too much to spend then as a last resort then consider the D5000 or D60. I am no longer recommending the D5000 or D60 now that the D90 is out because the D60 & D5000 only have Auto Focus when paired with AF-S or AF-I lenses due to its lack of a built-in focus drive motor. I think it is stupid for Nikon to be doing this at this point, especially with a camera like the D5000 which has so much promise. For those who keep up on the dizzying array of new Nikons, I don’t recommend the D3000 either since it has the same limitations of the D60 & D5000.

I should also add that I DO NOT recommend previous generation Nikons as all newer bodies offer an advantage in high ISO noise reduction and image quality. If you want a good deal used, consider the D300 as it has the an outstanding performance to value ratio. If your wallet has a little extra jingling in it, then go for the D700 as it is as powerful as the mighty D3 at a much reduced price.

If I were buying a new body today from scratch, I'd probably choose the D700 as my first choice. If I had some extra change I'd do the D3s, but if things were tight I'd go with Canon or possibly the D300s. Nikon is doing everything right now, and has set the bar for the ISO performance war, so I expect good things out of them moving forward. s 

For more info, consult these reviews:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond5000/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond90/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300s/ 
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond700/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond3/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond3x/ (not recommended – do a D3, D3s or Canon 5D Mark II instead)

Canon
If you chose to go with Canon, then I'd consider going with the Rebel T1i for the entry level. It’s a really nice little camera that is fun to use, and better than the Nikon D90 in my opinion by a slight margin (but both are fine cameras). The next notch up from that is the most fun to use DSLR on the market today, the Canon 7D. If you want outstanding image quality and a full frame body at the expense of an outdated auto focus system (where the 7D rules), the Canon 5D Mark II is an outstanding choice. I recommend the 5D Mark II over the 1Ds Mark III as well. I no longer recommend any other camera bodies. A 1D Mark IV is on the way and should be fantastic, but I can’t recommend it until I see if Canon’s quality control issues are finally in check.

I do not recommend you consider older bodies unless you are on a super tight budget, in which case I recommend the 40D over the 50D. I do not advise any that you purchase any Rebel bodies below the current T1i at this point.

For more info consult these reviews:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos500d/ (T1i)
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos40d/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos50d/
Canon 5D Mark II
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos7d/

What lens should I get? (Updated)

Since I first wrote this article I've introduced a more detailed article at http://ronmart.blogspot.com/2008/03/which-lens-should-i-buy.html

If you need more info about lens or camera basics then try reading this article http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/ (even if you are aren't a Canon photographer, most concepts are true of all camera makes).

But wait Ron, that lens is costing me my whole budget!

EXACTLY! Welcome to photography, and this is why you shouldn't even be thinking about portrait, macro photography, sports zoom, wide landscape lenses, and such right now. I said this hobby was expensive, and I really wasn't kidding! My budget when I started in March of 2007 was $2000 like everybody else, and here 2+ years later I've purchased enough gear to buy small car and I still haven't got everything that I wanted. This hobby is an impulse buyer's nightmare, so stay away if you don't have major self control!

So now that you know what a good lens cost, you should re-evaluate your camera body and just choose the an inexpensive new generation body (i.e., Nikon D90 or Canon T1i) or if you must, consider a previous generation body while you can still get them new and on-sale or even a slightly used body (there are plenty of those from people who either realize photography is too expensive and sell their gear or who decide to upgrade their body once they've got their first $5000 in lenses).

Won't an entry level DSLR give me crappy pictures?

For most of 2007 I shot with a Canon Rebel XTi and I got great shots like this and was published in magazines. The reason why is because I was using a really good pro sports zoom lens. In fact, most of my shots on my personal website before 2008 were taken with my XTi and really good lenses. As I mentioned earlier, it isn't about the body - it is the lens that will determine the quality of your shots more than anything else.

If it's all about the lens why should I consider the newer camera bodies?

The answer is simple - the newer bodies do everything the older bodies do, but much better. This is especially true when using ISO 800 or greater. In addition, today's DSLR's are little computers, so the performance of the newer cameras will result in more successful photo shoots.

But my friend says I should get X, Y & Z

Just like with computers, in the photography world nearly everybody (myself included) thinks they are experts when 99% of them really don't know jack. Be an intelligent shopper and use this article as a starting point, but don't take my word for it. Go to a local camera shop and play with the gear (BUT DON'T BUY), and do a lot of research on the web before you decide on what to get.

You'll find the following sites helpful in your quest to determine what you should get:

• Links to reviews of Canon lenses and cameras - http://www.canon-reviews.com/ (START HERE for Canon)
• Nikon User Community -http://www.nikonians.org/
• Scientific Data (via Blur Indexes) on how a lens performs - http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/index.php
• Great camera reviews - http://www.dpreview.com/
• Real photographs by real people using each cameras your researching - http://www.flickr.com/cameras/
• Real user reviews for each product - B&H Photo Video
• A Nikon know-it-all who also owns some Canon gear - http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/00-new-today.htm
• Real World Users Opinions - http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/ (not recommended as there’s more bogus info than accurate data)

Where do I buy?

I recommend buying online over shopping local. You save taxes, have a better return policy (no restocking fees) and in some cases you’ll save taxes. I prefer Amazon.com. However, if you want to save money, and get your gear from the most respected name in photography in the United States, then I HIGHLY recommend B&H Photo Video and Adorama. I've bought 95% of my gear from B&H and Adorama and haven't had any major problems. If you need to return something, you better get an RMA within 14 days and it better be in resalable shape, but other than that they usually get things right. If you do have to talk with them then it is hit or miss, like most places, that you'll get a helpful representative. Feel free to contact me if you are struggling on the final details of your purchase. 

What book should I get?

I've written a very popular blog article to cover the important subject about which books to read so you can make the most of your DSLR experience.

Does this mean I don't need to read my camera manual?

NO!!!! Your camera manual, no matter how poorly written, is an excellent resource that should be read from cover to cover about once a month for the first few months you own your camera until you know your cameras main features by heart.

But what about flashes, tripods, camera bags, etc...

Here's an article about camera bags and digital workflow software worth reading.  For flashes, I still need write an article but On-Camera Flash Techniques is a great book start with and the review will mention some flashes. Right now I only recommend the Nikon SB-900 and Canon 580EX II. Sure there are cheaper options, but these flashes produce outstanding results and work well both controlling other off-camera flashes as well as being fired off-camera through light modifiers (i.e., umbrellas).  

Do you get paid to recommend things?

If you buy something using a link on this site then I'll get a commission. I'd appreciate if you supported my photography addiction by using my links, but honestly I do this because I enjoy helping people. Here’s my full disclosure document.

Where to go from here?

For more information, part II of this topic can be found at DSLR Photography on a Budget and my Best of RonMart.Blogspot.com article. You can save big bucks here too.

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