fX1 - Z1 Rental / Camera Op Rates
 

I'm in the stages of purchasing an HDV cam, and I was set on the A1U but I'm thinking that for Paid freelance work this camera will have more potential. This will be my first HDV cam and even thou I would shoot personal projects i would also like to rent / freelance with it. Doing some research online, I have seen this camera for rent between 125-300 per day.
Is their a market for this camera as a rental / paid freelance work? Would anyone know its rental rate? How much would you charge for a FX / Z1 Rental? The rental difference between the two isn't much, I wonder what the demand is for each camera? I would like to work this camera time to time to help lower its cost :-)

Thanks in Advance
Steve Peralta
New Jersey / New York

Just to inform you for what it's worth it:

Here in The Netherlands a Z1 goes for about 70 euros a day, a FX1 for 52 euros, based on three days without any gear like tripod or light. A bit more when you need it less then that. I can rent one for 75 euros, with Sachtler tripod, that's 90 dollars at today's currency rate.

I know these are very low prices, but personally I think it's very reasonable for such a relatively cheap camera. Sometimes I rent Sony DSR-450 (DVCAM) Full sized body camera with both a standard and wide angle lens, Light kit and Sachtler tripod for just 300 euros (360 dollar), so do the math...

Wow that is cheap.
Here is seen a few places in new york for 175 average.
Would you know which is more in demand for productions such as events.
Thanks
Steve

Wow that's a lot, I would feel ripped off if I had to pay that much for such a cam. Is that with or without tripod/light set by the way?

You mean which camera? Here in The Netherlands every professional I know with a Sony HDV has a Z1, and the 'amateur filmer' the FX1. Since the pro needs things like balanced audio inputs the Z1 is the cam to have.

If it rents for that low rate why would anyone buy it.
Here in Miami Fl the Z1 rents for $350. plus.

I found a site in Seattle that rents the FX1 with tripod for $300 per day, $900 per week.

Jeez, You guys! I really feel sorry for you Americans for being ripped off that bad! ;-)

Serious, to answer your question; Off course this doesn't eliminates the buying option. For example, I just bought a XL-H1 because I know I'm gonna use it twice a week for two years minimum, So that justifies it.

Anyway, I really don't get it why you guys have to pay so much! I did a search and even the most respected (expensive) rental company here in the Netherlands does a Z1 for 130 euros (156 dollars). That's the most expensive you can get over here.

So, to come again, I don't get the high price difference, does anybody got a theory on that?

Yea i can see it renting for 250-350 per day. but not 100 or so. This is a big investment for only 100 bucks a day. I see it here in NY for 175 for the fX and 250 for the Z1. I should call them and find out which camera is in demand right now.
Thanks
Steve

Pardon my ignorance, but I still don't get justification of the prices.. I can rent a 15.000/20.000 dollar car for about 150 dollars a day but a Z1u which costs 5000 dollars or less for 300 a day... In my perspective a bit out of perspective don't you think?

Pardon my ignorance, but I just rented a $20,000 car for $20/day. Following your logic, the Z1 should rent for $5.00 per day which is of course ridiculous. So why do car rentals cost 700% more in your country?

The answer is very simple: supply and demand. Companies have to charge rates that make this a profitable enterprise based on their costs, which are clearly different in between cities/states/countries. The market pretty much sets its own price based on what people are willing to pay.

Wow, that's a real bargain Boyd, Can't beat you on that one ;-)
Okay, so you put it on supply and demand, although a bit doubtful to me, since the big New York for example (and mentioned in this topic) has more rental places, thus cameras, then the whole of the Netherlands together..

But I wonder, how much do you guys spend on a Full sized body kit as I mentioned a couple of posts earlier? That must be a high figure..

Including the various taxes and fees (but without insurance, which is covered by my personal policy and credit card), economy cars from the major companies (Budget, Avis, Hertz, Dollar, National, etc) rent in the $20 to $30 per day range here in the US. With full insurance that figure might go up $40 or $50. If a company offered a car for $150/day then nobody would rent from them and they'd go broke.

If a company rents cameras for $250/day (if that is in fact correct - I have no idea) and nobody was willing to pay that much then they would have to lower their rates or go out of business. Assuming that there are a lot of cameras in NYC is only the "supply" part of the equation; you haven't accounted for the "demand"...

Okay, I agree on with you on that, as a matter of fact, I did a Google on car rates in my country and it's about the same price as yours, so the 150 was a bit over exaggerated...

But besides the whole supply/demand thing, I think its a lot of money for a prosumer camcorder, Maybe I'm gonna bring over my gear to the states and start a Bargaincamera.com(pany)... ;-)