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Ready and Hire - part 1 of 1 2 3

Published 01/12/2013

First things first: Hireacamera.com will be exhibiting at The Societies' Convention this January. "We're located opposite Canon so you can't miss us," promises MD Guy Thatcher.

The company, which celebrates 10 years of trading this year, rents equipment almost exclusively to photo and video professionals. It therefore aims to have stock available of the very latest premium-end gear - either for you to rent by the job, or to trybefore-you-buy. One of the only things it doesn't do is sell direct... but then that clue's in its name.

Since we last spoke to the company for this magazine in the summer, Thatcher says he has noticed a gradual change - or rather shift - from people hiring out the latest and greatest DSLRs to instead wanting to take a look at the most recent mirror-less compact system models.

Naturally again we're talking higher-end equipment, such as the FujifilmX-Pro1.

"We're seeing mirror-less cameras being used for more professional applications," notes Hireacamera's MD. "Don't get me wrong, DSLRs such as the Canon 5D Mk III with its faster auto focus are still an enormous part of our business, but it's interesting to note that whilst that aspect has remained pretty much how it was, the demand for mirror-less lenses and equipment is starting to go up quite dramatically."

As well as the X-Pro1, Hireacamera.com's 'hot list' includes Olympus' OM-D E-M5 and E-M1, a brand it will commence stocking in the New Year. "The interesting thing is that we've been stocking Panasonic/Leica Micro Four Thirds lenses for quite a long time. We've now got pretty much every focal length that Panasonic produce that is of any merit.

We've also got every single Fuji XF mount lens and Sony E-mount lens in stock, whether that's made by Sony, Sigma or Zeiss, with their recent Touit range, which also includes XF mount lenses."

In short, if you're looking for a sharp shooting, more portable alternative to using that DSLR, but want to try out the goods before committing yourself to a mirror-less model, Hireacamera.com is the pace to head for.

Unsurprisingly, the rental outfit is planning to stock the new Alpha A7 and A7R full frame sensor, E-mount cameras, for which it predicts interest will be high. "Full frame in a compact system camera body was something I knew was coming - it was just a question of when and how it was going to be done," enthuses the company's MD. "The interesting thing is that when I came to use the A7, which has phase and contrast detection on the same sensor, I found it pretty quick at auto focusing. Up until now we've had the Panasonic GH3, OMDs and some of the Fuji's getting quicker and quicker, but their sensors are obviously, in the case of Micro Four Thirds, up to four times smaller than 35mm. To me the Sony's focusing is of a comparable speed to a full frame Nikon D610 DSLR."

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1st Published 01/12/2013
last update 09/12/2022 14:58:27

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