Canon and Sony Dominate Lensrentals’ Top Rentals of 2025

Lensrentals has shared its top photography and videography rentals of 2025, continuing the company’s annual tradition of recapping the cameras, lenses, and accessories customers want the most. Yet again, the list is dominated by Canon and Sony equipment across the board.

Looking first at the 20 most popular rentals overall, it’s a healthy mix of cameras, lenses, and accessories, including common Sony and Canon batteries in third and 20th place, respectively. The most popular photo and video gear rental of 2025 is the Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens, a classic part of the “holy trinity” and a piece of nearly every professional photographer’s kit. The similarly impressive (and influential) Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L lands in second place, just ahead of the Sony NP-FZ100 battery.

The first camera on the list, the Canon R6 Mark II, lands in fourth place. The R6 II was very recently succeeded by the Canon R6 III, PetaPixel‘s Camera of the Year, which will likely make Lensrentals’ Top Rentals breakdown in 2026.

The following two most-rented pieces of equipment are both Canon lenses, the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II. Speaking of EF lenses, the 24-70mm f/2.8 is not the only one to make the cut. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III is also on the list in the ninth spot. The only DSLR on the list is the Canon 5D Mark IV in 16th place.

Sony’s first appearance on the list, aside from the ubiquitous NP-FZ100 battery, is the Sony FX3 cinema camera in 10th place. The Sony a7 IV, a7S III, and a7 III also all made the list. As for Sony glass, the FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II and FE 24-70mm f/2.8 GM II were the only two to make the overall top 20.

In addition to the overall top 20 list, Lensrentals also shared the top 20 camera and lens rentals of 2025, providing more insight into the cameras and lenses customers wanted to use this year.

Unsurprisingly, among the 20 most popular camera rentals of the year, Canon and Sony utterly dominate. The first camera from another company is the GoPro Hero13 Black action camera in 10th; the next is the DJI Osmo Pocket 3 in 16th. The only other non-Canon or Sony camera on the list is the fantastic Nikon Z8 in 17th, although, as the list of top lens rentals below shows, no Nikon lens made the cut.

The most rented cameras list is quite diverse, although there are some notable trends. Most of the cameras are either hybrid models with strong video performance or video-first cameras, like the Sony FX3, FX6, FX30, and Canon EOS C70 and R5 C. The inclusion of the Canon 5D IV DSLR is interesting, as it’s not much cheaper to rent than the Canon R6 II mirrorless camera, suggesting the lasting appeal of DSLRs for some photographers. The Sony RX100 VII compact camera is also a fascinating inclusion. It is the only point-and-shoot camera of its type on the list.

When it comes to top lens rentals, it is Canon and Sony all the way to number 20: the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II Art for Sony E. It is also a list heavily skewed toward zoom lenses, with just two prime lenses making the list. The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L and RF 85mm f/1.2L, a pair of fast, professional portrait primes, landed on the list in ninth and 19th positions. As Lensrentals notes, the most-rented lenses are all very standard, practical choices that work for a broad range of shooting situations.

Lensrentals also tracks revenue shares by brand, further illustrating the dominance of Canon and Sony. Both companies gained revenue share this year compared to last, with Canon reaching 26.5% and Sony hitting 21.7%. Nikon is in a very distant third at 5.6%.

While Fujifilm is a very popular camera brand among purchasers, it has historically lagged behind other brands in rentals. That hasn’t changed in 2025, either, with the brand at 2.8% revenue market share. While this is actually up slightly from 2024, it still trails behind DJI, Blackmagic, and Sigma. The next major camera brands are Panasonic (2%) and Leica (1.5%).

Lensrentals’ complete breakdown offers additional analysis and offers a look at the most rented gear released this year.

Image credits: Lensrentals. Header photo created using assets from Canon, Sony, and Depositphotos.