Every year, Lensrentals releases its data on its most rented camera gear. These reports are always important because it gives the industry insight into new perspectives and trends in the camera world.
While 2020 has been a tough year for videographers, Lenrentals continued to rent out lots of gear. According to them, they rented out “thousands of pieces of gear each month.” They found that while event photography gear renting plummeted, personal projects stayed strong. Now, let’s take a look at some of the key data points released in Lensrentals’ report.
Canon still leads Lensrentals’ metris
The Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II lens has led the “Most Popular Photography & Videography Gear of 2020” category for years now. This year is no exception. It is followed by the Canon 5D Mark IV, which is the most rented camera since its release back in 2016. Interestingly, no new gear made it into Lenrentals’ top 20 this year. There are a few factors that could be contributing to this. For instance, as Lenrentals puts it, brands like RED are waiting to release new gear because of the pandemic. Additionally, the pandemic could be preventing industry opportunities that are usually available in normal years.
Most rented mounts of 2020
Not surprisingly, the Canon RF mount had a big year at Lensrentals. There were seven lenses announced this year for the RF mount. Additionally, Canon put a lot of effort into paving forward their mirrorless platform. At the same time, Nikon pushed their Z platform. However, Nikon didn’t see much of an improvement in rentals compared to last year. In total, the RF mounts were rented eight times more than the rentals of Nikon z mounts.
For video mounts, Canon EF leads. The far runner-up is the PL mount. However, the margins between the two are shrinking. Interestingly, the Sony E mount experiences a huge dip this year.
Trends to take note of
One obvious trend revealed in Lenrentals’ report is the continual growth of the mirrorless market. Additionally, that growth has impacted DSLR rentals. This suggests that more people are migrating to the mirrorless platform. The data certainly shows there’s a shift happening.
Additionally, there is a trend that’s been increasing over the past few years. The industry has experienced a continued emergence of third party lens manufacturers, like Sigma and Tamron. They’ve experienced so much success that they’re now competing with Canon, Sony, and Nikon.
You can check out the full Lensrentals report here.
Image courtesy: Lensrentals
