It’s the first official post in my new series “Photog Tips”! I’m planning to be much more active with this series when my new website and blog launch (maybe happening in August!?), but since I’m currently in the hunt for a new camera and know there are other photographers out there also looking for new equipment, I thought I’d share my first tip now. 🙂 I LOVE my Canon Mark II 1Ds so much and hate the idea of it not being my “workhorse” when it comes to shooting. But I know it’s getting old and I know it’s time for an upgrade. After chatting with Canon, I determined that I don’t need to spend $6000 for a new camera like I thought I did. (Thank you Canon for saving me money and not trying to up-sell me!) I will still need to spend a nice chunk of money, though, so my next step is to rent. I’ve been renting equipment since the early days of JFP. Before spending thousands on equipment, I want to make sure it’s the right for me and that it’ll actually get used well. My most rented piece of equipment was the 70-200 2.8 L lens. When I purchased it a few years ago, the price tag was $2400! That’s a big chunk of money! So instead of spending that much and potentially realizing that I didn’t actually need or like it, I rented it for a few hundred dollars. I liked the lens and decided it would be valuable to my equipment lineup, so I took the plunge and never looked back. (It’s currently a fave lens of mine…and you can rent it here!) I’ve also rented the 85mm 1.2 L lens from Canon. I had heard wonderful things about it…great for portraits, awesome glass, amazing sharpness…but before spending $2000, I rented it first. And you know what, I determined that I didn’t need it. I spent a couple hundred to give it a try, but saved a couple thousand. Thank goodness for renting! Right now I’m between the NEW 5DS/5DS R and 5D Mark III. There’s a $1000 price difference so I’ll be renting the 5DS before making a final decision (I rented the 5D Mark III last year). I’ll rent from either Lens Rentals or Borrow Lenses and recommend both to anyone else looking for new equipment. The rental process is very easy! You simply visit their websites, find the equipment you want and choose when you want it. You can sometimes get equipment in two days and you can rent for as little as a few days or as long as a couple months (the longer you rent, the more expensive it is). When you’re done with the equipment, you package it back up in the materials it came in and take it to a FedEx or UPS shipping location. Easy peasy! So rent before you buy. It’s easy and it could save you lots of money. Happy equipment buying and renting, y’all! Getting new camera equipment is sort of like opening gifts from under the tree on Christmas. 🙂