So I'm wondering what the majority of you guys do. Do you have so many projects that you go ahead and buy your cameras, or do you have huge projects every now and then that you just rent your cameras.

I'm sure that the cost of the camera plays in with the decision for buying/renting.

Do you buy your cameras, do you also rent them out when you're not using them?

I have always owned the gear I'm using EXCEPT for certain specialty item or thingas I normally wouldn't be using then I rent and of course the charge is built into the price to the client.
Do I rent my gear out to others? Nope, NA, NO, Not on your life, not a snowballs chance in hell, not even on my worst day ETC ETC...
You get the point. I own it and paid blood sweat and tears for it. I USE it a lot sometimes last minute stuff and frankly there are very very few I trust enough to put my gear in their hands. I have maybe 3 guys I know that I will let them a piece of gear if I know I'm not going to be using it and frankly most of the time if they need it I'm on the job with them and we're using my gear for consistancy.
BUT some guys do rent their gear out. Good for them , not for me.

Just my way of life.

Don

Those of us who've been fortunate enough to make a living doing fairly profitable corporate and event videography can justify owning a reasonably priced camera, since it is a business tool that should pay for itself. Beyond a certain level of production ownership becomes less practical.

If you don't have regular gigs or steady clients, by all means rent the gear. You can sometimes get a lot more production & grip for your money that way.

Really, there are a few questions at play here - they are these:

Do you want to be a shooter/operator, or a director/creator.

Do you need to experiment, and learn from doing, or do you like to plan and execute things and get other people involved.

Owning a camera that you hire out with you, sets you up as a resource, rather than just a talent. It means that you can ALWAYS work, even on your own projects, as long as you have cash for stock.

This is generally appropriate for people who are interested in working in documentary, television/journalism etc, or who want to be constantly honing the craft of filming.

Me, I'm a producer, I produce a video if someone asks me to - normally I wouldn't be doing the shooting, and in fact I'd prefer not to be even directing it or editing it if possible - just producing. In a pinch I've had to fill all those roles, but in general I'm against doing so, because I think projects turn out better when one person isn't stretched to doing it all.

Probably also depends on your location - do you live where there is a large enough population base to support what you want to do WITHOUT having to do it all?