Rental income
 

I've paid for my cameras many times over with rentals to local, knowledgeable cameramen. I only rent to out-of-towners if I'm on the shoot as AC or sound or downloader. And I sleep well at night with replacement insurance through NPPA.org, which every camera owner should have whether you rent it out or not. Peace of mind goes a long way. By the way, EX3's fetch $375/day in Texas.

whoops..................

1. Don't rent to people unless they are insured.

2. The response of the rental client in this case is unpardonably sleazy. "we hoped you wouldn't notice." Having run the rental department of a reputable company in San Francisco, that kind of answer would have gotten them an earful from me and I would have refused to rent to them in the future.

There is something called ethics.

In general too many people fail to look at the situation from the other end and ask themselves, "What if that was my equipment and someone returned it in that condition?"

When I rent 4WD vehicles, I take care to not get the paint scratched and take it easy on the sharp rocks. There are those who will say, "It's just a rental," and let it get trashed. But I'll rinse off the dust before returning the SUV. Because I want to be able to come back and rent from them again.

EX3 is $375/day in Santa Barbara CA.