Lensrentals.com has posted their annual list of the most rented photography & videography gear of 2019 and looks pretty similar to the 2018 list.
Most Popular Photography & Videography Gear of 2019
There are a few surprises on this for me. The first being only one Nikon product made the top 20, and that was the stellar Nikon D750. I'm also surprised to see a Tamron lens for the Sony E mount on the list.
It's pretty clear DSLRs are still the king of the rental world for obvious reasons, and it'll probably be a few more years before we see a mature RF mount ecosystem to topple the EF juggernaut.
Market Share of Lens Rentals in 2019 by Mount
| Brand | This Year | Last Year |
| Canon EF Mount | 45.48% | 48.85% |
| Sony E Mount | 23.90% | 22% |
| Nikon F Mount | 14.04% | 15.53% |
| Micro Four Thirds | 7.14% | 7.09% |
| Fuji X Mount | 3.53% | 3.38% |
| Canon RF Mount | 1.29% | 0.11% |
| PL Mount | 1.24% | 0.68% |
| Nikon Z Mount | 0.79% | 0.1% |
| Leica M Mount | 0.70% | 0.76% |
The Canon EF mount was down about 3% year-over-year, which looks like a combination of an uptick for Sony E and the new RF mount. There wasn't a lot of movement otherwise.
Market Share of Camera Body Rentals in 2019
| Brand | This Year | Last Year |
| Canon EF Mount | 36.3% | 41.03% |
| Sony E Mount | 27.16% | 26.44% |
| Nikon F Mount | 13.09% | 14.89% |
| Micro Four Thirds | 9.23% | 10.37% |
| Canon RF Mount | 4.91% | 0.65% |
| Fuji X Mount | 4.28% | 3.84% |
| Nikon Z Mount | 2.26% | 0.38% |
| Fuji GFX Mount | 1.02% | 0.51% |
| Leica M Mount | 0.65% | 0.59% |
Canon saw a big decrease of 5% year-over-year for DSLR rentals, and about the same amount of an increase in mirrorless rentals. Again, everything else is about the same.
Or, maybe they just rent and rent, and rent until they get a good copy ;)
You get good value on paper with the A7iii, but after trying it in the store several times, it's just not any fun to shoot with. The build quality is lackluster, ergonomics are not great, the menu is a pain, and the EVF is way behind competitors. I'd probably take less photos with it than with an EOS R or Z6, making it a worse camera, at least for me. I think too many people are switching to Sony in hopes their gear will make them better photographers, which is sadly never the case.
The 5D Mark is the Ford F-150 of cameras. I think the reports of a new R coming soon make sense. The current R is not a successor. It’s a 6d analogue for today’s market.
mirrorless is real and it doesn’t make sense to keep denying it
Sony is real and Nikon is unfortunately slowing
lots of change in today’s market
While I am still using mostly Canon, the A7III is truely a perfect allrounder if you dont have the money for a realy good cinema camera and a realy good photo camera.
It offers decent photoquality, and also very good video quality.
Canon on the other hand may have better ergonomics and the 5D also makes better photos - but the insane crop and unaccaptable Rolling shutter makes it unusable for 4k. video. Same on the EOS R.
There is just no Canon all-in-one option for photo and video. You have to buy a C200 or 1DX II AND a 5D IV to get what the a7III offers.
Now, now, now...
I don't use Sony equipment, and I continue to use Canon. But... there are plenty of smart and talented photographers who choose to use Sony equipment, and they tell me that they like it quite a bit.
On the other hand, among them are a few angry Brand Wars Soldiers who spend their days dissing Canon. I don't think we want to start following their lead, right?
"These numbers continue when looking at DSLR verse Mirrorless rentals for the year. When looking just at camera body rentals, Mirrorless and DSLR rentals are neck and neck, splitting the market almost evenly (49.78% mirrorless verse 50.22% for DSLR)."
So, all Canon+Nikon DSLRs vs Sony+Fuji+Canon+Nikon mirrorless and they are about even in terms of rentals. I am part of that, but as I own the Canon 5DIV, I rented the Fuji 50R to check it out. As I suspect renters easily fall into "professional" vs "hobbyist" categories, I really wonder if a lot of the mirrorless rentals were people checking out the mirrorless systems, both professionals and hobbyists. If much of the mirrorless rentals was professional usage rather than just people being curious, then 2019 was the tipping point.
BTW, I did not like the 50R. One of those things, you immediately pick it up and it doesn't feel good in your hand. I still shot with it and compared it to the 5DIV. I did not see a reason to switch.
Sony is just as guilty of gimping the video features of their hybrids as Canon and I'd take an EOS R for video over an a7iiii every time. Which is saying something because I don't even particulary like the EOS R.
While I agree with you that the A73 is a good 'all rounder' this statement about 4k is false. People do use the 5D4 and R for 4k video. In fact, some of those people would say the A73 is unusable for them because of the low bitrate which limits their grading options. Under heavy grading A73 footage starts to fall apart where footage from high bitrate cameras like the R, 5D IV, and XT3 remains solid. The crop and lack of high speed 1080p are certainly annoying but the R can produce good 4k with good lenses. (The crop means you're stressing lenses more. I think that's why there are some really poor 4k R examples out there. Potato Jet basically said as much, that the R can produce great 4k if you're using great glass, and he had the video samples to back that statement up.)
Never the less, the A73 is a very well spec'd hybrid camera. And I hope Canon takes some of the tech in the 90D/M6.2 and uses it to make the R mark II a FF 4k beast.
the R wasn’t great for video at the original point. expensive lenses kinda defeated the point of the price point. But it’s improves a lot with updates and gotten cheap!
Maybe things are changing at canon in the favor of its loyal customers
Curious to see what happens with the a74 and Rii. Great times ahead as both companies compete for our dollars
While we did use it for 4k video productions (alongside my 1DX II) it was REALY a pain in the ass. The crop is not even the biggest issue (while it certainly is a big pill to swallow). You can work around it with APS-C lenses like the Sigma but the options are somehow limited, at least if you mainly use Full-frame and dont want to restock.
Its the ludicrous Rolling shutter. Its REALY not okay. There is just no way around it. The unhandy codec in the 5D IV is another point (though this was fixed in the EOS R).
The higher bitrate is in reality not that much of an advantage. While the image of the 5D IV (and especialy 1DX II which truely shines at 4k60) is a bit more robust as the Sony in grading, its not that day and night difference. The Higher bitrate is only there, because of the VERY inefficient MJPEG codec.
One big plus on the Canon is the much better color rendering. The "green skintones" are not a myth and the canon realy performs much better than all Sony A7 cameras.
One INCREDIBLE failure is btw the 1080p mode in the 1DX II and 5D IV. We did some comparisons and its insanely bad :-D
However, in video mode the 5D is MILES away from the Sony a7 III which offers a way better balanced setup for a cheaper price.
The 1DX II is certainly better and the Cinema Line is obviously far better. But at THAT pricepoint there is simply NO all-in-one solution in the camp canon. Which put me somehow in a tight spot, where I didnt realy want to upgrade to a C200 (which is easily 9000-10.000€ with necessary accessories) but also didnt want to leave canon.....
I had th R for a month, but sadly the video feature where the same as the 5D IV. The problem isnt even the crop - its the unnacaptable rolling shutter.
I think the biggest problem canon has: They cant resample the images from the sensor. Thats why the 1080P image on the 5D IV, 1DX II and R is SO incredible bad. For 4k they always use a 1:1 pixel readout, which produces a nice and sharp image, but also A LOT of rolling shutter and the big crop factor.
I am all in for the 1DX III and maybe the RII (or something).
I have the Sony a7r IV which is a lovely camera for travel. But the color rendition and the ergonomics are somehow not that lovely :-D
I can't speak to the quality, but Nikon lenses are ugly...
Continue reading...
There is a saying. "Jack of all trades, but master of none."
Your post confirms this.
Canon is saying that if you are a serious pro then we have real products to meet the true professional needs you might have.
The a7III might have bells and whistles that fascinate bloggers. If you get serious doing video then you want something for serious video.
Pros use the 1DX II for a reason and it is not for their serious video productions. It is for serious sports, hostile environments etc. not a a7III.