best camera rental house in NYC?

[Nick Castronuova]

Hey guys, I'm shooting a short 16mm school project, and was wondering if anyone can point me in the direction of the cheapest camera rental house in NYC or around that area (Long Island, Brooklyn, etc).

 

I was planning to shoot sync-sound on an Arri-S, but if anyone has any other good, cheaper crystal sync camera suggestions, I'm all ears. Thanks!

 

Nick

[timHealy]

You need the best or the cheapest? The two don't necessarily go hand in hand.

 

Best

 

Tim

[Jon Petro]

I think the cheapest rental house is always a risk because that usually ends up being some private renter with a handful of equipment trying to recoup some of their investment. And there are a lot of those "houses".

 

It's best to go with a real rental house that is reasonably priced, but has a lot of equipment/experience and are set up only to be a rental house, not filmmakers who rent on the side. My suggestion for New York would be Duall Camera. They are nice guys and I have rented many times from them. On top of this they do a lot of Arri S work, so they have a lot of experience with the camera you are looking to shoot on. They have a Crystal Arri S package with lenses for 160 bucks a day.

 

I don't know your schedule, but for a 3 day rental week that runs less than 500 bucks for everything you need for a week.

 

An SR2 is only 35 more a day (minus the lenses though) and it's quiet. I don't know what you are producing, but this stuff is really affordable. Even their 35mm gear is reasonable.

 

Now if only insurance wasn't outrageous in the U.S.

 

Jon

[Rory Hanrahan]

I'll second Du-All for your needs. While there are tons of great rental houses in NYC, and I wouldn't want to seem like I shill for one company, I often go with Du-All for low budget and student prod's (y'know? back in the day). For the gear they have/price range, they can't be beat, their gear is well-maintained and the staff/owners are beyond friendly -- even if you're a young 'un with tons of questions (because there's no such thing as a stupid question, right? <_< ).

 

But like I said, that's a recommendation and not an endorsement. You're best bet is always to call around and build relationships with the different rental houses.