LensRentals News (Page 4)

Roger Cicala over at LensRentals has put the new Petzval lens to the test using his Trioptics MTF bench and OLAF machines.

Check out LensRentals Blog post to see how the lens (with its 175 year-old design) performed.

Roger over at LensRentals posted a public service announcement yesterday entitled "Only You can Prevent Movi Fires."

In the post, Roger explains that when the battery cables are left connected to the battery, the copper tips may come into contact with one other and cause a fire.

How common is the issue? Well, the rental house documented three fires before figuring out a solution to the problem.

And their solution is as simple as it is effective. If you own a Movi (or plan to rent one in the near future), be sure to check out Roger's post.

Roger over at LensRentals has a bit of a problem. He will soon have so much data (thanks to LensRentals' new optical bench) that he doesn't know what to do with it. Excel experts, he needs your help to present the data in a logical, concise and easy-to-understand way.

Here are the details:

Platinum Medal Prize: $500

To win the Platinum Prize you must write a program or macro that fulfills my wild fantasy – Aaron spends hours collecting data on dozens of lenses, then I push a computer button and beautiful, logical graphs are generated that are easy to follow, present the data and variation, and offers an easy way to compare different types of lenses. I will be a bit flexible on what constitutes pushing a button, but if it takes me hours, it’s not winning.

Gold Medal Prize: We will do the lens test of your choice (within limits of our mounts for the optical bench and lens availability) and a $100 rental credit

So if you’ve always wanted a comparison between the Canon 18-55 IS kit lens and the Olympus 16-50, or just want your ownt lenses tested, here’s your chance. To win the Gold Medal Prize you develop a fairly simple way to create logical, easy to understand graphs that demonstrate the variation of copies for each type of lens, and offers an easy way to compare different types of lenses.

Bronze Medal Prize: Our undying gratitude and we’ll test 2 of your lenses on our optical bench and provide you printouts.

To win the Bronze Medal you simply have to demonstrate a graphing method that presents the average (mean) results for multiple copies of a lens in a way that’s easy to follow and understand. If we use your graph methods, you win a Bronze Medal.

If you're interested in participating, head on over the the LensRentals website to learn more.

From LensRentals:

Meet Lenscap and Lenscap+

The Lenscap protection plans are optional add-ons that limit your liability in the case of a covered event causing damage or total loss of products on your rental.

Simply, if a covered event occurs to equipment protected by a Lenscap plan, your liability is limited to the lesser of the cost to repair the equipment or 10% of the replacement cost.

What is Covered by the Standard Lenscap Plan?

Effectively, the standard Lenscap protection plan replaces the pre-existing Lensrentals Damage Waiver program and covers accidental damage to our equipment as long as you can return it to us. It even covers bear attacks. In the case of damage, your liability will never exceed 10% of the replacement cost of the damaged equipment, no matter how expensive the repair actually is.

What is Covered by the Lenscap+ Plan?

Lenscap+ offers the same protection as the standard plan for accidental damage to the equipment, but additionally protects you against certain situations that make it impossible to return the equipment that you rented.

Was the equipment stolen? You’re covered. Is it at the bottom of the ocean after it fell overboard? You’re covered. Did it get sucked up in a tornado? You’re covered. Did it fall off an aircraft (seriously)? You’re covered.

Just like with the standard Lenscap plan, your liability is limited to 10% of the replacement value of the covered equipment.

Coverage Recap

* Liability limited to maximum of $100,000. Amounts in excess of $100,000 are 100% liable.

For full information on both plans, please view our FAQs and Rental Agreement.

To support this site, click on the appropriate product review and then click the button beside the camera/lens you want to rent.

Roger Cicala over at LensRentals has written two very information blog posts explaining how you can optically evaluate lenses at home. The posts should allow you to detect a "...decentered or optically maladjusted lens in 10 minutes or so."

Part three of the series (expected in the next few days) will provide several examples of "problem lenses."

Posts:

• Why You Can’t Optically Test Your Lens with Autofocus
• Setting Up an Optical Testing Station

If renting from LensRentals, support this site by clicking on the appropriate product review and then clicking the "Rent" button on the item's review page.

Our friends over at LensRentals put together a video to show how much they care about their lenses.

Instead of roses, I think I'll just buy all my lenses new microfiber clothes this year. [Sean]

To support this site, click on the appropriate product review and then click the button beside the camera/lens you want to rent.

From LensRentals:

t’s time for our 4th Annual Black Friday Sale. This year, we are getting the party started early, 11 AM ET on Wednesday. You can get 25% off any rental placed at Lensrentals.com during the sale.

To get your 25% off rentals at Lensrentals.com, simply use the promo code: BLACKFRIDAY

Details:

• Discount begins at 10:00 AM CT on Wednesday, November 27th and ends at 11:59 PM CT on December 2nd.
• Orders must be placed during the sale period to be eligible to receive the discount
• Orders can be placed for any arrival date, as long as you actually place the order during the sale. Feel free to reserve the gear you’ll need in 2014 now, and take advantage of this deal.
• Must use promo code BLACKFRIDAY to receive the 25% discount
• Limit – 2 unique rentals per person

To support this site, click on the appropriate product review and then click the button beside the camera/lens you want to rent.

Roger Cicala of LensRentals has published "The Cynic’s Photography Dictionary" for all of us to enjoy.

Sample Definitions:

Bokeh – the look of the picture in the parts where you can’t tell what you’re looking at.

Image Stabilization – a technologic triumph consisting of lenses, magnets, position sensors, springs, and electric motors that is nearly as effective as 3 sticks of wood attached to a base plate. See also, Tripod.

Lens coating — thin layers of of substances applied to clear glass that makes it clearer. In the 1600s people would be burned at the stake for claiming things like this.

Sensor – The device that actually takes an image. Its most important attribute is the number of megapixels unless yours has fewer, in which case dynamic range, high ISO performance, microlens effectiveness, color accuracy, and other characteristics are more notable.

Check out the the LensRentals Blog the full list of humorous definitions.

From Roger Cicala at LensRentals:

"Seeing a need that needed to be filled, by the power vested in me as President and Treasurer of the Society of Overly Analytical Lens Assessors, I have organized the first photography contest for photogeeks.

Entering is simple: just send a jpg (100% non-resized, of course) to contests@lensrentals.com, along with a note telling me what category you’re entering and any pertinent positives about the shot. You know – how many copies of the lens you tested and sent back before choosing this one, what type of laser-rangefinder focusing device you used, or how you hand-carved a wooden lens mount so you could use the 1945 Soyuz f/0.45 x-ray lens you get at a flea market on your NEX camera after you’d disassembled it to clean out the fungus.

I’ll post the entries after making sure they meet the criteria."

Categories Include:

• Sharpest Corner
• Bokehliciousness
• 3-D Rendering of a 2-D Test Chart
• Largest Number of Accessories Between the Lens and the Camera
• Best Picture of Stuff Inside a Lens
• Most Distortion Corrected in Software
• Dynamic Range Demonstration
• Best Picture from a Camera without a Movie Mode

Check out Roger's Post for more information.

By the way - you may want to check out the list of judges for the photo contest. You may see a familiar name in there. ;-)

From LensRentals:

We are happy to announce the opening of our satellite location in the Nashville area. Our Nashville office will serve as a pick-up center beginning on September 12th. There is no charge to pick-up from the Nashville location. Initially, all Nashville orders will be available the next day, although we hope to soon offer same-day pickup for our most popular items.

Lensrentals Nashville
214 Ward Circle, Suite #900
Brentwood, TN 37027

LensRentals Nashville FAQs

How do I put in an order for Nashville pick-up?
It’s simple. Just select “Pick-up at Lensrentals’ Office” when selecting a shipping address during checkout. Then, select Nashville as the pick-up location you’d like to use. If an item in your cart will not be available on the selected pick-up date in Nashville, you will not be able to select a Nashville pick-up.

Is there any cost to pick-up in Nashville?
Absolutely not. There is no shipping or pick-up fee when you pick up in our Nashville location. When you arrive, we’ll have your order waiting on you and be able to answer any questions you may have.

Why can’t orders be picked up the same day?
Lensrentals stocks thousands of unique items. Unfortunately, we just can’t keep that many items on hand in a satellite location that is only catering to local customers. As soon as we get a feel for which items are the most popular in Nashville, we will begin stocking some items, available the same day, in our Nashville location. We will update everyone once that begins.

What if I need to pick-up my order early in the morning or drop-off outside of your normal hours?
We can’t guarantee your order will be ready for pick-up before 11:00 AM, without advanced notice. If you reserve your order at least 2 days in advance and let us know you need to pick it up early, we’ll have it ready for you as soon as we open. Likewise, if you need to drop-off your order earlier or later than our operating hours, just let us know. We will work with you to make sure your order goes as smoothly as possible.

To support this site, click on the appropriate product review and then click the button on the item's review page.