Saturday, February 14, 2009
A couple of week ago I decided that I was finally going to rent a camera lens. I started going through a couple of sites and came across the perfect first place for me to rent from. RentGlass.com. Not only were the prices very reasonable, along with the shipping, but I found out that they were located in Kissimmee, Florida (which is only about 15 minutes away from our house).
I sent a message from the website asking if it was possible to pick up a lens and got a response 25 minutes later stating that I could pick it up Monday-Friday. Thankfully it was Friday and I have the day off.
After searching through the website and trying to decide what lens I wanted to try first, I decided on the Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM. Here is some information on this specific lens:
–Closest focusing distance is .65 feet
–Auto and Manuel Focus
–Maximum Aperture is 1:2:8 (Aperture = limiting the amount of light passing through a lens; hole, gap, or slit; larger the number the smaller the opening vs. smaller the number the larger the opening; Depth of field is larger when the number is smaller)
I placed my order, called my friend so she could go with me and went on the search for this place.
First of all, Google Maps gave me directions that took me, no joke, about 20 minutes out of the way. After driving around in a great big square, we finally made it to the plaza that it’s located in. Well, from there it got even crazier. There aren’t many offices/stores in the building, so there weren’t many signs. But after walking up some stairs and following the inside signs we made it. The office seemed neat and clean. Daniel, who e-mailed me back, was very nice. I signed my paper, was given the lens and the package to ship it back in. And off we went.
I spent the next few days taking pictures of really anything that was laying around the house and the office. From my cat to the filing cabinet. The lens was very quiet and quick to focus in automatic. Manuel focus may be a bit more “work”, but always seems to work a bit better no matter what lens you use (in my opinion).
The condition of the lens seemed near perfect. Didn’t really see any scratches or markings on it. Seemed to me that it was quite a new lens. The week rental cost me $21.00. Since I picked up the lens, it cost me a mandatory $5.00 to ship it back, even if I wanted to take it back. (Fine with me, I saved some gas!) With the rental, shipping and tax, the lens cost $27.82. I wish I would have had some more time with it. Had I had planned to go somewhere and take some pictures I would have definitely rented it longer to get some really great pictures. There is always next time.
Thank you to rentglass.com for a great lens and a wonderful first rental. I will most definitely use them again!