Owning Your Own

In 2001, with the economy suffering and production in general in a lull, many independent shooters were renting their equipment to make ends meet. Three years later, as equipment costs have come down and HD tools have become more affordable than ever (in a lot of cases it doesn’t make sense to buy an SD camera), most are choosing to own the gear.
According to industry professionals we surveyed, while some are renting when necessary, it’s clear that multiformat gear is most desirable when making a purchase, enabling the user to produce a variety of projects and get a fast ROI. The largest proportion of respondents was producers, followed by editors (19.8%), DPs/camera crew (13.8%), and directors (11.5%). [Many respondents reported working in more than one segment.]

1. Do you own your equipment or rent it on a per-project basis?
Own: 51.1%

Rent: 19.8%
A mix of both: 29%
2. When buying new pieces of gear, what are your requirements?
SD only: 13.1%

HD only: 6.9%
SD/HD switchable: 76.9%
Other: 3.1%