CSI Rentals

Very friendly, helpful and professional rental house. I like them better than Adorama Rentals because their staff is actually knowledgable and don’t come off as arrogant film students with no real world experience. Prices are competitive with the best and equipment is in good condition.

I have rented from them twice. Both times part of the equipment was broken. The first time this happened, the staff member on duty was a smart and nice guy, and delivered a replacement right away. The second time, however, the shop was closed. Their early closing hours on Fridays are quite inconvenient when most events are over the weekends! When I called on Monday morning the manager Jacob refused to provide a refund. He stated that the equipment had been checked and nothing was wrong with it, and suggested that it was because I did not know how to operate it. Since it was the second time I rented the same equipment, and his colleague earlier had given me a personal tutorial on how to operate the equipment properly, this was not true. I found it pretty rude that he made this suggestion. Several other people helping me with my event for which I rented the equipment tried operating the equipment and also found that it did not function. I suggested that perhaps the equipment now works, which is wonderful, but it definitely was not working over the weekend. We asked to speak to the owner, and Jacob said to email him ourselves. Jacob is seriously lacking in professionalism and customer service skills. To ignore and refuse the request of a customer who clearly is not calling because she has extra time on her hands, and insisting the equipment works when it definitely did not, taking his own word over that of someone who is paying good money to support his shop’s business, is a mistake. I will not visit this shop again.

Great selection of equipment and fantastic rental prices. Very happy with this place and I definitely recommend it!

I have made CSI a regular go-​to rental house for my production needs.
They have an easy to use online ordering system, a large rental catalog, and great prices on a lot of the gear.
The staff is accommodating. They even made arrangements for me to pick up gear after closing time on a Friday, which was very much appreciated.
No rental house is perfect. I have used them all and have positive and negative experiences everywhere. 95% of my CSI rentals have been great, so I keep coming back.

I asked CSI for a simple price match (to match Adorama’s price) on a 5D Mark 3. They quoted me $ 40 more for the CSI 5D. In the end I offered to pay $ 10 more than Adorama but CSI flat out refused. They offered a $ 10 discount, no where near Adorama’s price for the rental. This is not the way to bring a customer back and I do not think I will return to rent from them.

I love this place. It’s awesome and they are so helpful.

Great place to get camera equipment at cheap prices. They almost always have what I need in stock. I just can’t afford to buy $ 2000 lenses, so I come to CSI and get them for less than $ 60 per day (I don’t remember how much, I think I pay something like $ 35 or so for one day sense rental. The staff is very friendly. They have a sign in the window that shows that Danny Devito rents his cinematography equipment here. I believe it, they have lots of cool things, lighting stuff, lenses, external batteries, and professional cameras of every kind. I go here any time I have a photo shoot and need the best equipment for a day or weekend.

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE GUYS!!!
I have used Unilocal for 5 years now and have never been compelled to write a review, much less a negative one. However, the experience I had today with CSI RENTALS has given me the proper amount of motivation. I have 10 years of film production experience between Los Angeles and New York, and I can say without a doubt that the people who run CSI are the most unprofessional and discourteous I have ever run into. I just got off the phone with one of the «partners» who yelled at me for at least 5 minutes before I hung up. Here’s what happened: I extended a $ 168 day rental for two days, then returned one day late. They did two things… they tweeted «Hi PLEASE CONTACT CSI ASAP Regarding gear due to return
» and then charged $ 3500 to my card. When I called today to ask why I was charged, they said it was because they billed me for the value of the lens I had rented, thinking I was not coming back. They did not inform me they were doing so or after the fact when I returned the gear. I had to find out at the ATM. When I expressed my concern that they would charge a customer’s card $ 3500 (over 20 times the rental price!) and not inform that customer, they turned all the blame on me, said it was my problem and continued to berate me for another five minutes… all for being ONE DAY LATE; which with these guys apparently means they have the right to charge their customers thousands of dollars. And I was a return customer, this was something like my 5^th rental. Unbelievable. What a business these guys run.
I’m taking all my business to B&H in Manhattan. 9^th Ave. & 34^th St. (
), VER Rentals (
) or AbelCine (
) … and you should too!
And I hope they actually refund me the $ 3500 like they said they would. Although in reading Allison H.‘s review, they might not do it unless I take down my review. Which I won’t.

Really good customer service. I got a little discount even though I was a new costumer. I really appreciated it considering their prices are competitive. Over all experience was great, I will be back again.
Staff is very well trained and know what they are talking about. They will present you with different options depending what you are shooting and will help you in any way. Very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
I would definitely choose CSI over Adorama Rentals anytime.

Pros: Convenient online ordering, reasonable prices (especially for weekend rentals which are charged at a single day’s rate), decent selection of lenses, friendly staff.
My experiences with CSI have been generally pleasant. Only on one occasion was I not entirely satisfied, specifically because a lens I had rented required cleaning (due to dirt + residue on glass and sides). After cleaning it myself, I didn’t have any problems. Suffice to say it was an atypical experience given the great condition of all the other lenses I’ve rented.
That being said, I definitely recommend CSI to anyone looking for affordable rentals.

Just to make it clear. I was contacted by customer service rep who said they would reimburse me IF I TOOK DOWN MY REVIEW. Knowing this was just bad business i declined.
I should have been refunded because they messed up my order multiple times, not because I gave them a truthful bad review.

Great selection, very easy to order, they offer delivery and pickup, the staff is very knowledgeable about photo & video equipment, great prices. Love this place and use it on a regular basis.

Horrible customer service!
I have been searching for the past week for a camera rental company with affordable prices and CSI seemed to be the most reasonable considering I live only an hour north of NYC and shipping wouldn’t be that bad. I called CSI this morning with one question the first time about shipping costs and a second time to inquire how I can apply the 25% first order discount.
Both customer service reps who answered the phone were short, rude and seemed totally unwilling to let me even ask my question. I’ve been working directly with people for a long time and could totally read their tone (I sometimes use it, too, when I’ve had an especially rough day) but it’s early in the morning! The day isn’t even half over yet and you guys are acting like I’m the most annoying customer in the world? Not cool.
I hate writing bad reviews but I feel that the two people I interacted with via phone at CSI have earned this one star for their huge lack of friendliness and patience. I will not be doing business with them.

DO NOT USE THEM. I rented a camera and they failed to include in the kit all of the items that I paid for (lens, computer adapter, etc.) which left me completely unable to use the camera. I called back and very calmly explained that there must have been a mix up because various items were missing from the kit that I paid for, and the INCREDIBLY RUDE manager Jacob refused to take responsibility and would not give me a refund. He yelled at me on the phone for a few minutes and then hung up. I was shocked, especially because I certainly didn’t speak to him in an angry or accusatory way, I just assumed it was an error (which everyone makes!) and just asked them to correct it. But, apparently, that’s not something they’re interested in doing.
The rest of the customer service people were very friendly, but just know, that as a whole, they’re clearly dishonest, rude, and poorly organized.

Just got my first rental here and I am so glad I found this place. First, I reserved a lens and a flash over their website. Large selection and easy to navigate. Got there a few days later and picked them up. It’s pretty much a big warehouse and close to several subway lines which made it easy for me to get to from both work and home. I had a few questions about the equipment and the girl who worked there was very helpful. As a new customer, the person I’m guessing is the owner gave me a nice discount as a new customer which was really appreciated considering their prices are competitive. Over all experience was great, I will be back again. I would definitely choose CSI over Adorama Rentals.

Helpful staff, great service. A great alternative to Adorama and only about a block away… They also have regular specials during the holidays which can really make your rental worth it…

It all started with my equipment reservation online. It’s fast, simple, easy. But that’s not what impressed me. I reserved two Canon 7Ds with lenses and two SD cards. If you know about the 7D, they hold Compact Cards for storage, NOT SD CARDS! So so far, I’m setting myself up for failure… :) You would think I was screwed… But no… I get a call like 5 mins after I placed my reservation and was informed that the SD cards I reserved weren’t compatible with the 7D cameras. That saved a whole day’s shoot right there. The lady kindly replaced the SD card reservation with the Compact Cards compatible with the 7D. Now THAT’S customer service! :)

for the most part, i like csi rentals — they open early, have wknd specials, and are reasonably priced. theyre also conveniently located off the 1 train.
whenever they run out of lenses, they try hard to accommodate customer needs.
one time (and there are always exceptions), however, i rented a 24 mm 1.4 lens, and the lens was faulty! the left side of each image would always be blurry, but at least after they ran a test on the lens, they returned my money back …
but for the value/​price and convenience, i will continue to be a customer!

I just can’t say enough great things about CSI Rentals. Complete selection of lighting and camera equipment for rental. Also can deliver to a location at very short notice.
I’ve been a customer for over 5 years and as a professional photographer I can say that they’ve been incredibly helpful and always reachable to solve any problems.
In fact I was just in there today, a fuse had blown on one of my flash heads and it would of taken one month to order one from Profoto. George very kindly sold it to me even though it was supposed to be kept aside for their own repairs.
Highly recommend them!