Hey guys,
These past 6 months have been pretty good to me in terms of work and I'm starting to think about ways I can reinvest some of the income I've made back into equipment in order to a) make myself more marketable as a dp and camera assistant, b ) make it easier for me to do my job well and c) turn a profit by taking small rental fees here and there on gear I bring to each production, etc.
My question is, what does everybody consider to be the best options for investment items that don't lose value as quickly, yet are often in demand on set. As a camera assistant, my first inclination is to invest in a great monitor like a smallHD dp7 knowing that I might be able to ask for an extra $50 or 60/day on top of my normal day rate and that it would also help me do my job easier, while being a great monitor for jobs I take as a dp.
The next item I thought about was getting a Dana Dolly as they're only around $800 and they go for ~100/day on productions. That's a pretty good rental rate and for lower budget sets, they're very useful.
So does anybody have gear suggestions for someone starting out investing in equipment who would like to purchase quality items that would be useful to oneself, yet also make some money on the side that wouldn't depreciate quite as fast as say a camera body?
Obviously, lenses are what many will say, but aside from cheapies, they're a bit out of my price range at the moment.