Lens News

What were the most popular cameras and lenses of the past year? A good barometer of photographers' tastes in photo products is LensRentals' annual Hot Gear list, where the company shares its most rented equipment.

According to LensRental's 2019 list, which was just released, photographers were willing to try out a wide variety of new gear, some of which is not strictly photo-centric. For instance, the top two new products in 2019 were the GoPro HERO7 Black and the Blackmagic pocket cinema camera 4K.

In terms of the most rented gear overall, which includes older products, several stalwart lenses from Canon made the top five, including the Canon 24-70mm f2.8L II lens, which was the most rented product from LensRentals in 2019.

You can check out the lists below but first, here are some insights from LensRentals, which has the largest inventory of photography and cinematography equipment for online rental in the United States.

Key insights from the 2019 Hot Gear list from LensRentals

- The most popular products haven't really changed much over the years. In fact, Canon's 50mm f1.2L lens from 2007 still features in the top ten list. 

- There is growth in usage of photography and video equipment market. Almost every brand in every category has seen positive growth this year. 

- Canon continues to dominate as the most rented brand.

- Does significant growth in more portable and manageable video equipment allude to the future of imaging being more about moving images?

- Mirrorless sensor adoption continues to increase in pace up 20% in 2019  

Mirrorless Cameras vs DSLRs: Which Was More Popular in 2019?
Mirrorless camera rentals were up 20% in 2019. DSLR rentals are just in front with 50.22% of photo camera rentals but mirrorless cameras are only trailing on 49.78%, almost neck and neck in rental volumes now. In terms of mirrorless brands, Sony E mounts led the way. Canon RF and Nikon Z are significantly behind but both have more than 800% incremental growth in rental from a year ago. Canon's EOS R has even crept onto the top 20 list, and is renting twice as often as Nikon's Z6, Z7 or Z50. 

The following list relates to equipment rented from Lensrentals and LensProToGo between January 1, 2019 and December 12, 2019. You can read more detail about the list at this blog post on LensRentals' website. For comparison, here is info about LensRentals' 2018 Hot Gear list.  

 

Top 5 NEW products 2019

1. GoPro HERO7 Black

2. Blackmagic pocket cinema camera 4K (the 6K made the top 20 list)

3. Sony FE 24mm f1.4 GM

4. Sony Alpha 6400

5. Nikon Z6

 

Top 5 rental products overall 2019

1. Canon 24-70mm f2.8L II 

2. Canon 5D Mark IV

3. Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II

4. Sony Alpha a7III

5. Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS III

Notes: Top three products were the same in a slightly different order in 2018. 

Canon EOS R joins the top 20 list, and Canon 5D Mark III is still in top 25 despite being introduced in 2012. 

 

Top 5 lens rentals by system 2019

1. Canon EF 45.5% (up 1.5%)

2. Sony E 23.9% (up 18%)

3. Nikon F 14% (down 1.5)

4. MFT 7% (up 9.8%)

5. Fuji X 3.5% (up 14%)

 

Top camera rentals by system 2019

1. Canon EF 36.3% (down 7.5%)

2. Sony E 27.1% (up 7.4%)

3. Nikon F 13% (down 8%)

4. MFT 9.23% (down 7%)

5. Fuji X 4.3% (up 16.7%)

 

Top lens rentals by brand 2019 

1. Canon 35.84% (up 5.5%)

2. Sony 15.4% (up 14%)

3. Sigma 13.9% (up 17%)

4. Nikon 8.8% (up 12%)

5. Tamron 4.3% (up 21.8%)

 

Top camera rentals by brand 2019

1. Canon 36.2% (up 1%)

2. Sony 26.2% (up 8%)

3. Nikon 9.7% (up 6.1%)

4. Panasonic 7.66% (up 2.8%)

5. BlackMagic 4.8% (up 130%)