I buy the equipment I can afford and that I use often and
I hire the equipment I use less of cannot afford.

=============================================
The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

makes sense lol, looking back on it, silly question

apologies

I ended up buying all my equipment. I had access to free audio gear for the first part of my shoot so I didn't buy audio for awhile. That was a mistake because the quality of the gear was questionable at times (University gear that had seen a lot of use) and in post my audio suffered in those sections.

However if you do action, or stunts, or you want to move quick you might consider renting a second camera some days.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

Not a silly question at all. It's one we all wonder about as we
decide what's best for our use. In my area there are always
people around who own equipment so I don't need to buy,
for example, audio gear. I have a good mic, but I just hire a
person with all the high end gear when I really need is.

And here in Los Angeles the rental companies have excellent,
well maintained equipment so I don't face the issues rj had with
University gear.

But most people posting here don't live in the middle of a
production hub where everything from cameras to mics to
c-stands to directors chairs to coffee makers are readily available
for hire.

It's a very interesting question.

well i work in a university, and i know we have a production studio that does rentals so i was thinking that i might use it, was just seeing if people had done anything with universities before, turns out they have, thanks for the input, i think i might rent lights if i need them and keep my own camera/tripod etc

By the way, I used University lights as well and they worked fine. The only problem was with some of the sound gear on some days. Other days we got different sound gear and it was fine.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

If you have access to university equipment, that might be a great asset. Additionally, most towns have a small production company in proximity. It may be possible to partner with someone from one of these companies and rent equipment cheaply on the weekend. If your project is compelling and fun, you might also get some talented production pros to help you.

Equipment costs are pretty cheap. So buying is becoming more and more appealing. However, the downside is, sometimes camera equipment becomes obsolete quickly. When it comes time to shelling out cash, you need to consider this.

Go here: www.filmmakingstuff.com

I take one film making class at the local community college when I need equipment because it only costs alittle bit and I can get as much equipment as needed. You should try that route.