Where to Buy and Rent Photography Equipment Online

photography equipment

We’ve talked before on our site about where to buy good and cheap professional photography equipment and today we’re going to take an in depth look at the online sector. The big cities, such as Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami or NYC have lots of stores where you can spend hours searching for the best piece of essential equipment; but when it comes to the online, things get a bit more complicated. You can’t hold the camera in your hands like you would in a physical store and you can’t talk to the salespersons, who, aside from a gleeful Hi, always have precious information for you.

Today, we have a basic guide/list of where and how to buy and rent photography equipment online, so that when you bring your camera or lenses home, you won’t be disappointed.

Can’t Afford to Buy? Rent!

If you don’t want or can’t afford to buy photography equipment, you can rent it. The guys over at Borrow Lenses have a pretty awesome photography equipment rental business. The steps are easy: you need to browse their online selection and choose your product or products (they rent camera bodies, lighting kits, lenses and various accessories). You then add your items to your cart, choose whether or not you want insurance for them and check out. When it comes to rentals, Borrow Lenses are indeed the best in the business.

Excellent Online Photography Equipment Stores

We’ve talked before on our website about the wonderful Adorama and B&H Photo Video but we’re going to talk some more because they’re just that good. They sell pretty much everything and anything a photographer would need, from a simple pole to high-end studio equipment. Their online catalog is huge and they almost always something nice on sale. They have a wonderful used cameras offer which is great for beginners. If you are just getting into the business, you should buy cheap and used cameras, until you get the hang of things.

The impact these (quite old) online stores have had on the way photographers do their shopping is massively positive and that’s why we love them.

Used Photography Equipment

KEH is another great online place to buy photography equipment from. They’re also the first to tell you that the external condition of a camera is unrelated to its internal condition. This is one of the first things a beginner learns when out and about in the photography business, so you shouldn’t be picky about a few scratches. A pro won’t care about a few flaws, as long as the camera does its job, while an amateur will.

Adorama and B&H Photo Video also have a used camera and accessories section that we urge you to check out.

Beware of Scams and Frauds

If the price of a product is significantly lower than B&H Photo Video and Adorama, then the whole thing is, most likely, a scam.

Never, ever send anyone detailed information about your credit card. It’s 2014 and people are still getting ripped off online. If your gut says that it’s iffy, then it’s iffy and you should not buy from that place.

If you have trouble spotting scams, know it from us that any place that doesn’t take credit cards is most likely a fraud. They’ll ask for money orders, bank transfers or Western Union, and while in other countries this is absolutely fine, in the U.S. it is not.

Do a little research on your own, before you buy, don’t just rely on the website’s comment section.

What type of photography are you into? Antique, newborn or wedding? Nature, outdoor or underwater? High speed or Kirilian? Aerial 360 using a kite or a drone? Tell us about it!

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About Karsten Monroe

Half Dutch and half Canadian, Karsten is an enthusiastic workaholic photographer turned blogger. Architecture graduate, he is determined to make the most of his passion for photography and takes great pride from being a self-taught individual.