Renting!
 

I live in California, so naturally, camera rental prices are ridiculous.

I've heard from people that in other states, in places where the film industry is not as demanding, they're A LOT cheaper. And I've been told that many of them would charge me their normal price, and then SHIP the equipment to me if I pay shipping, and that this could drastically decrease my total rental expenses.

Can anyone verify this, and if it's true, can anyone recommend some places that will do this for me? I don't like that it costs like $550 to rent a DVX for a week, and like $4500 for an SDX... it's like, why bother renting? I'd need a month to shoot.

Where are you getting those prices from, Daniel? Here in Los Angeles, you get a week's use of the camera for three days rental. That means you can often pick up a camera on a Friday afternoon, and return it a week from the following Monday. No way that will add up to $4500.00. For that money I can rent a full Sony Cine Alta package with a wide lens, matte box, filters, tripod, kitchen sink, etc. for a week.

Maybe you are just looking a some "book" prices at a per day price. Get in there and deal.

Wayne Orr, SOC

After the first day, prices go down a lot. A month does not cost the same as 4 weeks. Don't assume anything from their daily price lists, you have to ask them and explain your situation/needs. But you are right that renting is not cheap, makes more sense for one-time commercial projects so they don't have to buy/sell/maintain equipment.