Photography Thailand Forum

[CW Lawrence]

Hello All, Looks like I am going to attempt to rent a couple lenses and a lighting system for an assignment coming up, an unpaid assignment I might add. I have never doent his before and really have no clue as to where to start. As this is unpaid, well, everything looks expensive (it is) and I'd like to know what kind of costs I can expect. Does anyone have experience with this in Bangkok? What did you rent and what was the per day cost?

Thanks for your help

[gregoire]

I worked with ProCenter, across from Immigration and a bit further down the soi (full adress can be found in Marc's life-saving listings, just type rental in the search box).

I rented a Canon 5D, 24-70 f/2.8, 16-35 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8, 580ex flash, memory cards, etc. It cost me 30,000 baht for one week (5 days). I noticed day rates were roughly a 1/50th of the retail price at Fotofile. So if something costs 50,000 baht, it will be available for 1,000/day. Deposit for all of this was 180,000 baht which is not that much since the replacement value for this gear would be more like 250,000 baht or something. The gear had seen lots of use but worked fine. If your credit card can take the deposit amount, use that, otherwise he takes cash, which is what I did. He has a big safe

Of course, he has Nikon as well, and medium format, and just about anything really. Just call him, the number is listed here.

I'm very happy I rented because it taught me that while an f/2.8 zoom may sound like the Rolls Royce of lenses, I can't take the weight (not to mention the price). It also allowed me to witness the amazing 1600 ISO and sharpness of the 5D for myself and in real-life situations. In the end, I bought this (a couple days ago from Fotofile): Canon 5D, 24-105 f/4 IS, 17-40 f/4, 50mm f/1.4, 580ex flash, 430ex flash, STE2 controller. Just to say renting can help even if you plan on buying later.

[Marc Schultz]

Great advice Gregoire. You have basically covered it all, but I just thought that I would add that the owner of Pro Center, Khun Rachot, purely from my own personal experiences, is a really stand-up guy. He is always very straight forward and never takes advantage. His prices always seem very fair. I also feel he always thinks with the photographer's interests in mind, meaning he wont suggest you rent more equipment than you need to get the job done. As you mentioned, some of his equipment shows lots of use, but that is the nature of a equipment rental shop since it does get used a lot. But he takes good care in maintaining his equipment so whatever you rent for him I would always expect to be in good working order. His English is also good enough so that non-Thai speakers can communicate with him as well. His range of equipment and brands is also very good.

[gregoire]

Yes, that's very true. Since I was new to some of this gear, I asked him about some things where he would just shrug and say, "Naah. You've got this, you don't need that."

And thanks so much Marc, 'cause I found him through this forum.

[CW Lawrence]

Actually, I have been on the phone and emailing Khun Racot and have found that he has everything I need and the price is reasonable. I hope to go down to his shop sometime soon and take a look at some of my options. Thanks for all the good advice.

-CW-