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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Need to beg / borrow / "rent" a Nikon D3, D700 or D300
Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 1:02 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> Okay, it's a long shot but the short version is that I've been given a big month end assignment and, after having to sell one of my D3 bodies to pay for the deposit and first months rental on the new family home, I've still not got enough spare savings to afford either to buy or rent the necessary second body for this job though regular channels.
I only need it for one night for a shoot in NJ on March 27. Push come to shove I could do some lens swapping on my existing D3 but that's not ideal for shooting fast paced fights.
So if there are any kindly souls out there who might be able to help, drop me a line - thanks in advance. |
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Greg Francis, Photographer
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Rochester | NY | USA | Posted: 1:11 PM on 03.10.10 |
| ->> Have you considered a loaner from NPS? |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 1:37 PM on 03.10.10 |
| ->> I'm a UK NPS member so I don't know if that translates to Nikon USA; either way, I haven't got contact details for NPS in the US... anyone care to share what they are? |
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Landon Finch, Photographer
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 2:57 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> Thanks for the tip, Landon.
Out of curiosity have you (or anyone else) used borrowlenses.com and, if so, how was the service?
I might be able to spring for a D700 or maybe even a D3 (would be tight) - but I'd rather know that they're reputable. I'll give them a call in the interim to see if they can bill to a non-US resident... |
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Scott Serio, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Colora | MD | USA | Posted: 3:00 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> Borrowlenses...
Before NPS, they were my savior. They are very good.
Also...for NPS... nps@nikon.net |
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David Welker, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Springfield | MO | USA | Posted: 3:04 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> Borrow lenses does not ship out of the US, I believe. I may be wrong. but according to their FAQ.
"Where do you ship to?
We are proud to offer shipping within the whole Unites States (all 50 of them). While we do want to help our Canadian neighbors to the north, we have heard enough horror stories about shipments being stuck in customs for weeks at a time to not offer that option for now. However, our friends at LensLenders.com do service the country up north exclusively. " |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 3:15 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> David,
I'm staying with relations in NJ so it would be shipped there; I just need to call 'em to find out if their systems allow for non-US addresses for billing and CC purposes (ran into *that* brick wall with a printing issue in the past)
Oh and Scott, thanks for the NPS email address - I'll certainly be firing off a message to them ASAP. |
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David Welker, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Daniel Berman, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Seattle | WA | US | Posted: 3:39 PM on 03.10.10 |
->> Martin,
I have had great luck renting from lensprotogo.com for bodies -- I rented a D300 for them, and they are quite affordable. Good people!
Daniel |
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Tim Cowie, Photographer
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Davidson | NC | USA | Posted: 5:09 PM on 03.10.10 |
| ->> Have rented from Borrowlenses.com many times. They are awesome. |
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Andrew Malana, Photographer
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San Diego/Tokyo | CA | USA | Posted: 6:45 PM on 03.10.10 |
| ->> Martin...I am an NPS member and NPS USA has HELPED me with NPS Japan for a loaner. Contact your UK NPS and see what they can do. Good Luck. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 11:31 PM on 03.10.10 |
| ->> Highly recommend borrowlenses.com, great company! |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 4:14 AM on 03.11.10 |
->> Andrew,
One of Nikon UK's staff has been in touch with me and they're exploring what they might be able to do for me. Fingers crossed that they can come through with something since I've been a staunch Nikon system user for years :)
Another SS.com member has also kindly offered to loan me a D3 in the event that I can't sort out either a loaner or rental that's within my very limited budget.
Daniel, Tim & Matthew; thanks for the suggestions and recommendations - you've saved me a lot of time trying to find options, especially since I fly out shortly and would prefer everything to be taken care of before I leave the country.
I'll post any relevant updates but would just like to say a huge thank you to everyone that's chipped in with advice and suggestions so far. |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 5:47 AM on 03.17.10 |
->> UPDATE
Nikon UK have kindly loaned me a D700 which arrived this morning; I've got the battery charging as I type so I'll be testing it out soon.
The one thing I've noticed - which you D700 users might be able to advise on - is that the viewfinder is quite a bit dimmer than that on the D3 and apparently yielding far less sharp a view when manually focusing.
To the best of my knowledge this shouldn't be the case. I was testing the body with the 24-70 f/2.8 attached. Maybe the mirror, focusing screen or eyepiece need a good clean but - should this be known or "the norm", I'd appreciate a heads-up before I set about it with cleaning kit :) |
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Steve Ueckert, Photographer
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Houston | TX | | Posted: 9:53 AM on 03.17.10 |
->> "The one thing I've noticed - which you D700 users might be able to advise on - is that the viewfinder is quite a bit dimmer than that on the D3 and apparently yielding far less sharp a view when manually focusing."
Try this again with an adequately charged battery in the body. The finder dims by design without a battery in the body. |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 12:06 PM on 03.17.10 |
->> Steve,
Based on your posting, I pulled the battery from my D3 and - wouldn't you know it - the viewfinter dimmed and became fuzzy to the point that I couldn't manually focus with the attached lens.
I never knew that this happened because, well, I've never before looked through the viewfinder of my D3 without a battery in it. D'oh!!
Of course the D700 (with battery in) seems to be in 100% working order so no worries there. Now I'm just working out whether it's worth my while to get an MB-D10 to go along with it to get the best framerate possible. |
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Robert Scheer, Photographer
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Indianapolis | IN | USA | Posted: 12:26 AM on 05.25.10 |
->> Bump. Any more thoughts on borrowlenses.com? I have a friend who's looking at using them.
Thx in advance. |
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Erik Markov, Photographer
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Kokomo | IN | | Posted: 12:42 AM on 05.25.10 |
->> Robert-
I got a nikon pc-e lens from them, didn't have any issues. Price was $140 I think (memory is fuzzy it was last year) seemed fair. Included the label to ship it back. Seemed pretty decent, wish I were someplace where lenses etc were local and not deal with the shipping, but I was happy with the lens and how the process was handled. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 1:41 AM on 05.25.10 |
->> I have used borrowlenses.com many many times, all have been great.
No issues, wonderful people to rent from |
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Chet Gordon, Photographer
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Newburgh | NY | US | Posted: 10:50 AM on 05.25.10 |
->> Robert,
My first rental with Borrowlenses.com in the Bay Area was a Canon 600mm f/4 for President Obama this past Saturday at Army's graduation in West Point, NY. The lens arrived when promised (in this case two days earlier than my actual assignment) and was in nearly mint condition. I couldn't be happier with their service and am looking forward to many future rentals with them.
~cg. |
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Robert Scheer, Photographer
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Indianapolis | IN | USA | Posted: 12:23 PM on 05.25.10 |
| ->> Excellent! Thanks for the additional thoughts gents! |
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Scott Serio, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Colora | MD | USA | Posted: 1:22 PM on 05.25.10 |
| ->> Three or four thumbs up for them. Borrowlenses is top notch! |
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Chris Wanamaker, Photographer
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Dingmans Ferry | PA | USA | Posted: 12:06 PM on 07.07.10 |
| ->> I know this post is a little old, but I have to agree with everyone about BorrowLenses.Com. We have rented a lot of stuff from them and never had a problem - even when we needed to extend our rental for a longer period at the last minute. |
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Michael Pina, Photographer
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SF Bay Area | ca | usa | Posted: 1:10 PM on 07.07.10 |
| ->> Borrowlenses is the best out there! Call these guys and you will not be disappointed. |
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