Photojojo began as a newsletter for photography enthusiasts to share their latest tricks. Over time, it’s evolved into a popular storefront for photo geeks, selling unique but oh-so-useful photography accessories.
Now they’re trying something new: camera and gadget rentals… but probably not like anything you’ve seen before.
Whereas sites like LensRentals and BorrowLenses make it easy to have a quick run with some mega lens you’d otherwise never buy for yourself, Photojojo wants to rent out all sorts of crazy gear beyond the standard camera body/lens type of stuff.
Some examples of what they’re planning to offer:
- Photography drones
- Ultra high-speed cameras, like the $6,000, 18,000 frames-per-second Edgertronic
- Vintage Polaroid cameras, along with the required hard-to-find film
- Custom built photobooths that do fun things like export GIFs
- Time lapse cameras
- 3d Cameras
- Large format cameras
- Rare or as-of-yet-unreleased Kickstarter photography projects
- Google Glass headsets
- Lifelogging cameras
If it’s the sort of photography gadget where you might think “Oh man, it’d be fun to play with that for a weekend” but for which you probably wouldn’t plunk out the cash to own forever, they want to rent it.
Rather than focusing on the specs of any given piece of hardware, Photojojo wants to pitch potential renters with projects. They’ll show you a bunch of cool things you can do over a weekend with a Drone — and then they’ll rent you that Drone. Each rental will come with a full set of on-the-go project instructions, and everything you need to get the job done.
“How the heck are they going to ship all this stuff around? Won’t that be insanely expensive” you might ask. A good question!
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For now, they’re not. When the rental service launches on May 15th, almost all rentals will have to be picked up locally in San Francisco. Some, like the Drone units, will require an hour of one-on-one training before they’ll let you head out with it. Other things — like, say a big box of Polaroid cameras with film for a wedding — will start shipping outside of SF sooner than others.
The company is still working out their exact pricing — and even then, cost will vary quite a bit depending on what you’re renting. A vintage camera might set you back $10-20 a day, whereas one of their fancier, higher-end Drones might cost closer to $100 a day.
Beta Signups for the new rental service start today, with the service itself rolling out on May 15th.
