Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS: Lensrentals' most-rented lens of 2025. Image: Canon

It's that time of year when Lensrentals gives a glimpse into the trends it's seen during the year with its annual list of most-rented gear. This years' numbers suggest Canon and Sony increasing a stranglehold, but not for the same purposes.

The Lensrentals list gives a fascinating insight into trends within the industry. It's a very different perspective from sales figures in that these aren't necessarily the lenses and cameras people are buying, but instead are the ones they're choosing to use rather than buying. Some of it will be people trying a product before making a purchase but the majority will be renting a lens for a special occasion that they can't justify purchasing, or getting hold of a body (or second body) for a particular event or shoot.

Interestingly, though, Lensrentals' inclusion of batteries in their most-rented gear list this year might be the key to making sense of the numbers.

The appearance of Sony's NP-FZ100 battery at number 3 and Canon's LP-E6NH in 20th place is interesting, given Sony cameras typically achieve significantly better battery life than Canon. But, put together with a look at the most-rented cameras from each brand: the FX3 video camera for Sony and the much more stills-focused EOS R6 II and it reveals a pattern: people are renting Sony for video and Canon for stills.

Ultimately, the precise motivations for rentals can't be divined from the numbers, but you can do a little tea-leaf reading.

This might also explain why the Sony a7S III makes the top 20 but the a7R V, which is a much better stills camera, doesn't. It's the 6th most-rented Sony camera, with the likes of the FX6 being rented more frequently. Also making the top 20 is a Compact Flash express Type A card, with the most-rented accessory list showing a larger capacity not far behind, which again suggests people are renting kits for data-intensive shoots. Though, in theory it could be read as people choosing to rent, rather than buy, a format solely used for high-intensity shooting on a single platform.

Lensrentals Most Popular Photo and Video Gear 2025

1. (⇑2) Canon RF 24-70mm F2.8L IS
2. (⇑3) Canon RF 28-70mm F2L
3. (NE) Sony NP-FZ100 Battery
4. (⇑3) Canon EOS R6 Mark II
5. (⇓4) Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS
6. (⇓5) Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L II
7. (⇑2) Sony FE 70-200mm F2.8 GM OSS II
8. (—) Sony FE 24-70mm G2.8 GM II
9. (⇓5) Canon EF 70-200mm F2.8L IS III
10. (⇑2) Sony FX3
11. (NE) Sony 160GB CFexpress A card
12. (⇑1) Sony a7 IV
13. (⇓7) Canon EOS R5
14. (⇑1) Canon RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1L IS
15. (⇓4) Sony a7S III
16. (⇓6) Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
17. (⇑1) Canon RF 50mm F1.2L
18. (⇑1) Canon RF 15-35mm F2.8L
19. (⇓3) Sony a7 III
20. (NE) Canon LP-E6NH Battery

Ultimately, the precise motivations for rentals can't be divined from the numbers, but you can do a little tea-leaf reading. For instance, the decline in the popularity of the Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS can probably be attributed to the arrival of the non-retracting RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS Z, which didn't itself make the top 20 but is likely to have split the vote, so to speak. We have to assume that the existence of the EOS R5 II (the most-rented camera not to make the top 20) is the main reason for the original R5's drop in position, given Canon rentals were up, overall.

The precipitous drops shown for the EF 24-70mm and 70-200mm F2.8s and the EOS 5D IV suggest that we're beginning to see the twilight of DSLR systems, after a surprisingly strong performance last year. This backs up the trend we see in the production data: DSLR shipments in the first ten months of 2025 were down 26.7% and now sit at around 580K, vs the 5M mirrorless cameras shipped in the same period. As a region, the Americas have seen the smallest declines in DSLR shipments, but the Lensrentals numbers suggest that trend is present here, too.

Again it's interesting to note that, despite Nikon having a very strong lineup and there being a lot of buzz around the likes of the Z6III, there are no entries at all for the Z-mount in the top 20. Only the seven most-rented cameras make the overall top twenty and the Nikon Z8 was the 17th most rented camera. The value of Nikon rentals fell, in percentage terms, relative to 2024. That said, given the popularity of the FX3, we'll have to see whether the ZR has any impact on these figures next year.

More worrying for Nikon, perhaps, might be the fact that RED rentals have dropped from just over 2% of rentals in 2023 to 1.11% last year. Lensrentals isn't primarily a video rental house used by the production industry, but such a big decline doesn't seem like a promising signal.

A breakdown of each brands' contribution to Lensrentals' revenue, in 2025. As noted in their blog, this disproportionately favors brands with expensive gear, such as Red and Leica. Image: Lensrentals

The overall brand share shows Canon and Sony cementing their hegemony, with only DJI showing an appreciable uptick in revenue generation share. There are fractional improvements for Fujifilm and Leica, but overall the story appears to be that Canon and Sony are increasingly dominating Lensrentals' business. It's interesting to speculate on the degree to which that's indicative of wider market trends.

Read more about the most-rented gear over on Lensrentals' blog

Image: Westend61 / Westend61 via Getty Images

Welcome back to our Question of the Week series! This reader-focused series aims to get our photographic community to share thoughts on all sorts of photography-related topics in our forums. We pose questions about gear, favorite camera stores, advice, problem-solving and more, and you share your thoughts and opinions.

This week, we’re leaning into the holiday spirit! The season of giving (and occasionally re-gifting) is upon us, and that means it’s time to unwrap some memories – both heartwarming and hilarious.

What are the best (and worst) photography-related gifts you've received?

What’s the best photography-related gift you’ve ever received? Maybe it was a dream lens that caused you to take on an adventure deep in the mountains, or a handmade camera strap that’s now an essential part of your kit. And what about the worst? Perhaps someone thought you needed yet another "World’s Best Photographer" mug, or that odd lens filter set that turned every photo a shade of green.

In this edition of our Question of the Week series, we want to hear your gift stories: the memorable, the useful and the truly baffling. Share your favorites (and flops) in the forum link below. Photos of the gifts (or what you created with them) are also more than welcome! We'll highlight some of your most entertaining and heartfelt responses in next week's roundup.

Click here to answer the Question of the week

Photo: Abby Ferguson

2025 was inadvertently the year of medium format photography for me. It started with my husband gifting me a medium format film camera for Christmas last year, which was the camera I used to take my favorite photo of 2025. We also saw two digital medium format camera releases this year: the fixed-lens Fujifilm GFX100RF and the Hasselblad X2D II 100C. The Fujifilm camera was certainly intriguing, but I've been a Hasselblad fan from afar ever since I got into photography (I mean, just look at the 503CW), and I was highly impressed by the new release, at least on paper.

Sometimes, we build things so much in our heads that when we finally get a chance to experience them in real life, disappointment follows. There's a reason people say to never meet your idols, after all. Luckily for me, such was not the case with the X2D II 100C. Instead, it simply confirmed what I had originally expected: this is one heck of a camera.

With the 35-100mm lens, it's still a relatively reasonable size to bring along on adventures. Photo: Abby Ferguson

Given that my previous medium format experience has been film-based, I'm used to medium format photography being an extremely slow and clunky process. I had heard that was largely the case with previous digital offerings that used the larger format, especially compared to smaller-sensor modern mirrorless cameras. The X2D II bucks that assumption, though.

I was able to pick up the X2D II and use it exactly like my Sony a7 III without much thought, especially since I was using it with the XCD 35-100mm F2.8-4 E, which is surprisingly small and fast for a medium-format standard zoom. Yes, as a whole, it's larger than my typical kit, but it was by no means unreasonable to take it out of a studio setting. In fact, I brought it on a (short) hike and had no issues or complaints about the size or weight.

"Simply put, it made medium format photography easy."

More so than the form factor, though, I was impressed by the autofocus. In fact, given the age of my Sony, it even seemed like the autofocus, especially eye detection, was better on the Hasselblad. It found eyes pretty much immediately and was very sticky, including when the subject, or I, moved around. It even had no issues with my husband's tinted glasses and did a great job finding the eyes of my black dog and cat, something cameras often struggle with. Simply put, it made medium format photography easy, something I didn't necessarily expect.

I used the X2D II to photograph one of my recurring subjects, broken glass. Photo: Abby Ferguson

The Hasselblad also uses an 'Ultra HDR JPEG' workflow, the same approach that we were surprised to find on the Sigma BF (Sigma didn't market the feature at all). What's nice with the X2D II, though, is that the rear monitor is HDR-capable, so you can see your HDR photos in all their glory right there on the display. It made me excited to look at the pictures I just took, especially when photographing in dramatic light. Because, wow, they looked good (and this is not a comment on me as a photographer, but rather on the quality of the display).

Unfortunately, I don't yet have a computer capable of displaying these images in their full glory. For now, viewing them on the tiny screen on my phone is the only way for me to bask in the HDR-ness. Needless to say, I greatly look forward to a bit of a computer upgrade soon that will allow me to appreciate the images fully.

If you click through to the original, you can see the HDR version (provided you are using an HDR-compatible display). It's a good example of how much more depth you can get in certain situations. Photo: Abby Ferguson

Lastly, although a feature that often gets overlooked, I also truly appreciated Hasselblad's approach to the menu system on the X2D II. It was drastically simplified and pared down compared to just about every other camera system. Instead of having to wade through page after page of options, there is a limited selection of icons that take you to straightforward settings. Plus, all essential things that might need to be changed while photographing can be adjusted without entering the menu system at all. It was a refreshing switch, and was again a surprise on a camera as robust as the X2D II.

Of course, Gear of the year isn't supposed to necessarily be waxing on about the technical aspects of a camera. It's a series that isn't here to highlight the best gear of the year (although the Hasselblad X2D II did win our best high-end camera award this year), but instead looks at gear that made for a memorable experience for each of us, personally. The Hasselblad was just that for me.

"Even more important, the camera made me excited to take photographs."

Experiencing the X2D II satisfied a lifelong dream of at least using a Hasselblad, so that's a check on the memorable part. But beyond that, the camera looks nice, feels nice, and made medium format photography highly approachable (I'm strictly speaking about the process here, not the price of the system or the size of the files you have to deal with later). While I'm not sure if I took any museum-quality photos with it during my short testing window (actually, I'm sure that I did not), I do like many of the images I took. Even more important, the camera made me excited to take photographs, something that I often struggle with, so that's a notable win in my book.

Gallery

You can see a small selection of the images that I took (and edited) with the Hasselblad X2D II 100C below.

Image: Viltrox

Viltrox has announced that its AF 35mm F1.2 Lab lens, previously released for E-mount, is available for Z-mount cameras. As a result, Nikon users now have access to both of the Lab series primes (35mm and 135mm) currently offered by Viltrox.

The Lab series sits at the top of Viltrox's lens lineup, offering fast apertures and representing what Viltrox describes as the pinnacle of its optical innovation. The Nikon version of the AF 35mm F1.2 Lab lens is identical to the E-mount model in most ways, including optical design. It is made up of 15 elements in 10 groups, with 5 ED elements, 3 high-refractive-index elements and 2 aspherical lenses.

Image: Viltrox

The lens features nano multi-layer coatings to minimize flare and ghosting, and a moisture-resistant coating on the front element as well. Viltrox says that the optical design provides reduced vignetting even at its maximum aperture. It also promises minimal edge distortion.

Four Viltrox HyperVCM motors power the autofocus, which Viltrox promises to be fast, quiet and accurate. It supports face and eye recognition autofocus, and the company says it can adjust from the closest to the farthest focus points in 100ms. It also promises goodc focus breathing control for video use.

The AF 35mm F1.2 Lab offers useful on-lens controls, including a multi-function ring, two customizable Fn buttons, an AF/MF switch and a click/de-click switch for aperture adjustment. There's an LCD that can be customized to display desired information as well. It also features a dust and moisture-resistant design.

Not surprisingly, the difference between the Sony and Nikon versions comes down to size and weight. It's still a hefty lens, but at 970g (2.1lbs), the Z-mount model is slightly heavier than the E-mount model's 920g (2lbs). It's also a hair longer, measuring 124mm (4.9").

The Viltrox AF 35mm F1.2 Lab for Z-mount is available today for $999.