If you’re really keen to shoot with a particular camera or lens, but you can’t afford to buy it, you don’t have many options. Renting gear for long periods of time can get very expensive, very quickly.
Parachut is a new subscription-based service that allows you to borrow from a wide variety of equipment – old and new – for $ 149 per month. Pitched as a service geared around ‘exploration’, Parachut allows subscribers to lease equipment based on their personal interests. You can add specific items to a wish list, but the precise contents of your first delivery – called a ‘Chut Drop’ – will be tailored to your picture-taking preferences, and skill level, and may include ‘surprises’.
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| Parachut is a subscription-based service for long-term leasing of photographic equipment, both old and new. |
Once you take delivery of a piece of equipment, provided that you maintain your subscription, you can keep it for as long as you like. An additional $ 49 per month covers accidental loss or damage.
Parachut is currently in beta, and only available to US-based subscribers. Expansion to other countries is planned, and an official launch for ‘founding members’ is scheduled for later this year. Right now, $ 149 will get you on the founding members list, ready for the first Chut Drop in autumn.
For more information, watch the (slightly cringeworthy) video, above, and check out Parachut’s website. What do you think? For what amounts to almost $ 2000 a year, would you make use of a service like Parachut? Let us know in the comments.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)